Fractal Design Define S review

PC Cases and Modding 227 Page 8 of 8 Published by

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Final words and conclusion

Conclusion 

Fractal Design offers a nice new chassis with the Define S, a lot of attention and detail has gone into making the product as silent as possible. Realistically though, we can't complain about their other chassis and series as these are fairly silent as well. Still, a new range and product line we understand that. While we like the Define S, we also admit that there have been some small compromises made with this chassis. The lack of a 5.25" unit, or even slim-line form factor optical storage unit will not sit well with many of you. And though we like the new tray design for HDDs and SSDs, we can't help thinking that it was a design choice to make the product a notch cheaper to produce. It works well though, but at almost 100 EURO I have no idea how well this will sit with a very tough consumer base these days. We really miss the fan controller, as simple as Fractal Design's implementation always has been, it was a huge plus in my book. The chassis itself is once again stylish and has been designed in a tasteful fashion but here again it's more metal and plastic than we have ever seen from Fractal Design. So yes, choices has been made to lower production and build cost with in the end a more acceptable MSRP. This is not critique, but it was an observation alright. Still this is a spacious and feature-rich product overall. The matte black design looks great. The chassis is fairly tool free. Mounting an SSD or HDD will still require good old screws, tut hat work fine of course and at this point I do wonder how tool free a chassis really needs to be these days.

Low Noise

Our review unit arrived really late and as such I have not had the chance to make photo's with the finished build. However I can confirm that a big plus is the sound level this chassis produces, well the lack of it really. Now it's not 100% silent with the two fans, but realistically with two 140mm fans at 1200 rpm you will still have decent airflow, I'm quite picky when it comes to computers and computer parts making noises. But overall yeah, it's fine really.

The Innards

The Define S offers enough room for pretty much anything you like to install. Keep in mind that up-to ATX sized motherboards will fit, thus EATX an XL-ATX are not an option. There's enough space to maneuver in which will make component installation a breeze really. Cable management options are good. I like that 3cm clearance for cable routing behind that motherboard tray. Good to notice are the rubberized grommet holes, excellent for tucking away all cabling. The HDD/SSD drive trays works simple enough, though you do need screws to secure the actual HDDs, installation otherwise is easy. We like the fact that you can hide all these storage units at the backside. The looks are quite nice and with the side panel window you can peek at your hardware as well. It surely is a complete chassis for its size alright and with the side window will offer very clean looks.


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The Exterior

The matte black paint job on both in and outside has been done well. The looks are simple yet as always sophisticated. But as we always state, each and every individual is different, and thus so is taste. What I might be labeling as a good look, you might find revolting. I like that sterile, simple and stylish look. And that certainly is what the Define S is offering. I mean look at the photo above, subtle certainly does apply here as well. No screaming logos, LEDs and mismatched colors. It's all done just right. Yeah, cool looks, though taste differs per person. We do feel that it's a lot of plastic and metal though, but I am nitpicking here a bit.
 

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Final Words

The Define S is a chassis entering a saturated segment where players like Cooler Master, NZXT and Corsair have a big piece of the pie, it's a good performing chassis with subtle looks. We do miss the fan controller, especially on a chassis designed for low noise we expected that. Still the two 140mm fans are silent. The bay-less design is something that I need to get used to, but the storage units located at the backside hanging in tray, myeah .. I kind of like that as with the window you can more clearly see and look at your components. 5.25" Optical units are not an option, but I mentioned that already. Excellent are all the space and mounting options for anything liquid cooling related, a huge plus needs to be tagged for that alone. Overall the chassis is feature rich with the removable dust filters, offers enough HDD/SSD trays, and thus is aimed at the audiophile crowd. The Define S has pretty okay airflow with its two big fans. Though not 100% silent it is fairly silent. You can purchase the Define S for roughly 100 EUR. Fractal Design has brought a nice and silent chassis to market, and if you are in for such a product, then definitely place it on your short-list.

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