Fractal Design Arc XL review - Article

From big, to BIG.

We'll be reviewing the Fractal Design Arc XL, it is a notch bigger yet also better as far as we are concerned. This all black and white chassis comes with plenty of cooling options, great design and aesthetics and is so big that it will even house the biggest motherboards up-to E-ATX and XL-ATX. This product is made with airflow and liquid cooling in mind to serve the more performance oriented PCs. You'll be excited about storage, style, USB 3.0 options and an even integrated three-speed fan controller. The Fractal Design Arc XL is what you can tag as big-tower chassis. So it'll be present in your room or work-space and will offer you space to go wild with your cooling and components. As such liquid cooling fanatics should not be disappointed, on the contrary, it can hold multiple thick 240mm radiators and slim radiators up to 360mm in length with enough room left for pumps and reservoirs. The chassis comes with three high-performance but silent R2 fans that are already factory installed, and that means good ventilation versus fairly little noise. You can tie the fans towards an internal fan controller. Fractal Design Arc XL many other features that we'll show you in this review, like cable routing space, removable fan filters, CPU cooler sizes limits of up to 180mm, a black paint job and a top I/O panel with two USB 2.0 and two 3.0 ports, audio in/out, power button, HDD activity led, reset button and fan controller.

Key features

• Delivering maximum airflow within a sleek and minimalist body design
• Spacious internal layout with 9 PCI expansion slots allowing the biggest, most demanding components and cooling setups
• Designed for extensive water cooling configurations, accommodating multiple thick 240mm radiators and slim radiators up to 360mm in length with space to spare for pumps and reservoirs!
• Offering added value with three Silent Series R2 fans included, giving you excellent cooling straight out of the box!
• Featuring a three-speed fan controller strategically integrated in the front panel for easy access
• With multiple easy-to-clean dust filters designed into the case, you can ensure a dust free interior
• Providing ample storage capacity with a flexible hard drive mounting system for up to 8 x 3,5” drives while accommodating an additional 2 x 2,5” drives behind the motherboard
• Innovative SSD position mounting, using brackets to allow for easy access once your system is completely built
• Featuring a window side panel to show off your set up in style

Specifications

• ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX, E-ATX, XL-ATX motherboard compatibility
• 4 - 5.25" bays
• 8 - 3.5" HDD trays - all compatible with SSDs
• 2 - 2.5" dedicated SSD positions behind the motherboard plate
• 9 expansion slots
• 7 - Fan positions (3 Silent Series R2 fans included)
• Filtered fan slots in front, top and bottom
• CPU coolers up to 180 mm tall
• PSU compatibility: ATX PSUs up to 190 mm deep when using the bottom fan location; when not using this fan location longer PSUs (up to 345 mm deep) can be used
• Graphics card compatibility: Graphics cards up to 330mm in length with the top HDD cage installed - With the top cage removed, graphics cards up to 480mm in length may be installed
• 26 mm of space for cable routing behind the motherboard plate
• Thick rubber grommets on all holes on the motherboard plate
• Window side panel included
• Colors available: Black
• Case dimensions (WxHxD): 232 x 572 x 552mm
• Net weight: 13.8kg
• Package dimensions (WxHxD): 322 x 625 x 635mm
• Package weight: 16.3kg