Amusingly and appropriately enough, the wave of silence-oriented enclosures that have been popping up recently haven't really drawn attention to themselves as a trend. Yet all of a sudden, we have results from a couple of solid contenders from Nanoxia and a few less expensive (and more readily available) also-rans. For a little while, this was a wave that Fractal Design was riding high, but the Define R4 wound up being a little underwhelming. As it turns out, they might just have something better lying in wait. We never had a chance to play with the original Fractal Design Define XL, so it's tough to draw a direct comparison there. Yet one look at Fractal Design's page for the original tells you that while the...

Fractal Design Launches Core 3000 USB 3.0

Last year, we looked at Fractal Design’s Core 1000, their entry level chassis that can be had for under $40. It performed “okay”, which is about all you can...

11 by Jarred Walton on 2/1/2013

Fractal Design Node 605 Case Review: Is Fractal Design Ready for Primetime?

Media center enclosures can be a very tricky business. 25 years ago, horizontally-oriented cases were the norm, but the ATX standard complicates things. We're also dealing with hotter components...

28 by Dustin Sklavos on 1/1/2013

Holiday 2012 Small Form Factor Buyer's Guide

There have been many interesting developments in the small form factor market segment since our last SFF buyer's guide. Specifically, current-generation Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs and AMD Trinity APUs...

74 by Zach Throckmorton on 12/5/2012

Fractal Design Node 304 mITX Case Review: Paving the Way to the Future

We've said it before but it bears repeating: desktop systems are getting smaller. ATX is becoming less and less necessary, and mini-ITX-based machines more and more offer the same...

76 by Dustin Sklavos on 11/23/2012

Fractal Design Define R4 Case Review: Evolution, Not Revolution

Around November of last year we had a chance to take a look at one of the most popular enclosures from up-and-comer Fractal Design, the Define R3. Impressions were...

53 by Dustin Sklavos on 7/20/2012

fractal design's Node Series HTPC Chassis at Computex 2012

Fractal design just launched two new cases at Computex under the Node family brand. The Node 304 is a mini-ITX chassis with aluminum face priced at $90. Internally there...

7 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 6/5/2012

Fractal Design Core 1000: How Little is Too Little

Extreme budget enclosures are interesting creatures. While the best balancing acts usually show up around the $100 price point, and going north of $150 will generally get you the...

51 by Dustin Sklavos on 4/13/2012

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

One of the perks of this job is getting to see some up-and-comers get championed by our readership and then turn around and find out what the fuss is...

84 by Dustin Sklavos on 11/11/2011

Fractal Design Arc Midi: The Mid Tower You've Been Waiting For?

The more enclosures we get in, the more amazed I am at just how competitive the market is for $99 cases. That market is made only more competitive by...

52 by Dustin Sklavos on 10/7/2011

File Server Builder's Guide

The proliferation of mobile devices, multi-computer homes, broadband internet access, inexpensive mass storage, and the replacement of many other home electronics by the PC (such as media devices like...

150 by Zach Throckmorton on 9/4/2011

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