Fractal Design Define R3: A Fan Favorite Keeps the Noise Down

Noise and Thermal Testing, Overclocked

While I'm certain the R3 could handle our overclocked testbed with aplomb if its cooling system were modified, its stock configuration, geared more towards silence, does make things a bit more complicated. Still, modification to the cooling is an allowance Fractal Design offers that the NZXT H2 and to a lesser extent the Antec Solo II have trouble competing with.

CPU thermals are pretty poor and at least a little troubling (nobody wants to see cores running north of 90C), but again, the middle-of-the-road thermal performance elsewhere is justified by the silent running. A key point worth noticing, too, is the SSD temperatures recorded: the SSD is sitting behind an intake fan, and it's pretty clear that the R3 is able to pull in plenty of cool outside air through the ventilation in the sides of the front panel. Fractal Design dodged the bullet that mortally wounded NZXT's H2. I suspect a pair of SilverStone AP120s would go a long way towards improving thermals while still keeping a pretty quiet noise profile.

Unfortunately, while the R3's able to keep things quiet at idle, under load the case and CPU fans have to work overtime and the Solo II and H2 steal the lead. Still, performance isn't necessarily that bad here and again, the R3 has room to grow.