Fractal Design Define Mini Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on April 22, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- MicroATX
- Fractal Design
- Case
Conclusion: The Only Game in Town
I keep feeling like Fractal Design is what would happen if Corsair were a European company. They share a lot of the same strengths, but they also share a lot of the same weaknesses, and that's fairly evident with the Define Mini. One thing Corsair consistently does better, though, is convenience. Their cases are typically much easier to build in and make a lot of allowances for the end user.
The Define Mini isn't a bad enclosure by a longshot. 21 pounds for a micro-ATX case seems a little bit much, but this is a lot of steel being used to dampen noise in addition to the acoustic foam. That makes the case both sturdy and capable of containing noise. The white trays and white expansion slots continue to be signature for Fractal Design and reliably sturdy and secure, the lighting is minimal and attractive, and it's frankly a nice case for the $99 price tag.
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Where I think things start to fall apart for the Define Mini is its thermal performance. Liquid cooling in general is an excellent avenue for getting good cooling performance for internal components without generating a ton of noise. This is something that makes the Nanoxia Deep SIlence 1 such a strong contender, but unfortunately the Define Mini misses the boat. That wouldn't be so bad if the case was a solid performer with air cooling, but the included fans at least seem to be pretty inefficient. It's difficult for me to actually peg exactly why the Define Mini is such a weak performer where thermals are concerned, but it is.
I don't think all is necessarily lost with the Define Mini. It has some very strong points to its design and a smart builder could produce a competitive machine with it. The noise dampening does a fantastic job of keeping the system quiet, too. There are just missed opportunities here: a couple of allowances here and there for liquid cooling solutions could go a long way. Alternatively, better fans (probably ones comparable to Nanoxia's) or even bigger fans might be the order of the day. You're not getting a 140mm exhaust fan into this bad boy unless you widen the chassis by at least 10mm, but you can definitely get a pair of 140mm intakes in if you redesign the front, and those would help tremendously. The Define Mini is practically screaming for an R2.
Until Fractal Design comes up with a Define Mini R2, you're going to have to be okay with the trade-offs inherent to this version of the Define Mini. Alternatively, you may want to wait for Corsair's impending Obsidian 350D and see what they're planning to bring to the table where micro-ATX is concerned. The Fractal Design Define Mini isn't a bad case, but it does need some tender loving care, and it's not as great as it could be. It's the only micro-ATX case designed for acoustics, though, and if that's what you're looking for, the Define Mini's about the best option on the market.
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Icehawk - Tuesday, April 23, 2013 - link
I have this case, it has a high build quality and very quiet - not the best cooling in stock form, true, and I think that is due to weak intake design and the damping material acting as insulation. I get little airflow even without the middle drive cage installed, my RAM gets pretty toasty - definitely been the source of a few crashes. I have a Corsair H70 (blowing out), a triple fan GTX670, and fanless 500W PSU which all run within comfortable temps. My system is just about silent under the desk which was my goal, I think with one more fan the system would run plenty cool but as you will see in my next comment the spot where a fan would do the most good for me is unusable.One design flaw, at least for me, is the location of the side panel fan cutout - it's too far towards the back of the case and because of this I cannot put a fan here as it interferes with my H70 radiator. If it was a little farther forward this would not be a problem and would also put it in a better location to cool the mobo.
Two comments about the review - first, do you REALLY care about built-in standoffs? IMO it's a tiny "upgrade", it saves about 2 minutes max the first time you build a machine. Second, I was able to route all of my cable behind the mobo from the included fans & controller... barely. It IS doable but you may need to cut some wiring sheaths and get creative with routing.
At $100 I think it's great value in terms of build quality, materials, etc - I can't believe I've been buying $50 junk boxes all of these years when for not a lot more the boxes are way nicer. Would love to see a revised model that improves cooling and cleans up the front design with a more minimal drive setup.
Peroxyde - Tuesday, April 23, 2013 - link
Bought a Fractal Design R4 Mid Tower 2 days ago. This case is a jewel. Heavy, less sensitive to vibration. Everything in this case has been thought carefully: cable management, filter, noise reduction, paint job, even down to the screws and the metal rulers hiding expansion card slots. It is way better than more expensive case from Antec and Cooler Master. This company should make more marketing. Even better, it look nice! Even my wife finds that it looks beautiful.darkfalz - Tuesday, April 23, 2013 - link
I have the Define Mini. It's a nice case. It's heavy (sturdy) and very quiet. Having to manually adjust the fan is a bit annoying (and believe me, you will want it on max for gaming and min for anything else). It takes a stock 680 GTX so it handles a longer card than the specs specify. I added a second front fan as I have 5 HDDs inside (4 in RAID 5). LED is too bright (lights up the room in standby with blinking blue) and no HDD LED unfortunately.cpupro - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
It is for mATX motherboards but it is not small case, my other mini tower case with ATX board inside is only about 1 cm taller than Define Mini, including standoffs. Only cons with this case is irritating bright blue LED (I assume also red LED in white cases), it burn eyes, nothing minimal here as article suggest. Don't need to mention LED suspend mode blinking or bright blue LED when watching films in dark room.Overall, well built, quality case.
freedom4556 - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - link
My big problem with my Fractal Define Mini is that I bought it hoping to go to a 'smaller' computer, but I didn't really check the dimensions before I did it versus what I had. I was coming from an Antec 300 and I wanted a bottom power supply intake, some sound deadening, and a few tool-less amenities along with downsizing from an ATX board in that build to an mATX board in the current build. It only cut two inches off the height, but got an inch wider and over an inch deeper in the process. So while I can understand that these builds are "small" in comparison to things like 800D and HAF X, they still aren't 'small' when you compare them with more 'budget' full-ATX offerings. I feel like all I lost in the transition was the flexibility of three extra slots while gaining some noise reduction at almost twice the cost. I also wish the door opened wider, and my front intake fan has starting buzzing against the frame after only a few removals for cleaning.stanwood - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
I used a Define Mini for my most recent build. Totally silent under my desk. Very sturdy and looks good. I have been very happy with it. Only pet peeve is I wish the front door swing were reversible (PC sits to my right but door swings open to the left).Dustin, it would be nice if you'd make sure to include a picture of the final rig as tested, with GPU, so we're clear how you set it up. I have left the middle drive cage in rotated to funnel air flow over my CPU. Did you try that out and see any difference?
Sladeofdark - Monday, April 29, 2013 - link
I was just talking about how good this case was. I got it for my girlfriend in White because the Corsair case is still too pricey right now. This case was all sold out and i had to order the one with a window kit because i liked it so much. I have used it in 3 builds just this year. Great Case. The front door likes to act up, but if you are a veteran builder you will have the parts on hand to reinforce the mechanism that catches the door and makes it stay closed with a click.