Fractal Design Define R4 Case Review: Evolution, Not Revolution
by Dustin Sklavos on July 20, 2012 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- mid-tower
- Fractal Design
Testing Methodology
For testing Micro-ATX and full ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-2700K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 4.3GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 |
| Graphics Card |
ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP (tested at stock speed and overclocked to 1GHz/overvolted to 1.13V) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| Accessories | Corsair Link |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Plus 750W 80 Plus Silver |
Each case is tested in a stock configuration and an overclocked configuration that generates substantially more heat (and thus may produce more noise). The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running seven threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU and OC Scanner (maximum load) on the GPU. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. This is done for the stock settings and for the overclock, and if the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i7-2700K.
- Thank you to Gigabyte for providing us with the GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 motherboard.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Corsair for providing us with the Corsair Link kit.
- Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with the Hyper 212 Evo heatsink and fan unit.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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piroroadkill - Monday, July 23, 2012 - link
Completely disgree on the door - I have a Fractal Design Define R3, and closing the (foam padded) door makes a HUGE difference to the noise you perceive from the front of the case. Using my phone and a ghetto app, we're talking a few decibels different.piroroadkill - Monday, July 23, 2012 - link
Just in case I wasn't clear, I mean I absolutely DO want the door. Cleans up the look, massively reduces noise.Grok42 - Sunday, August 12, 2012 - link
My current case has a door and it too reduces noise a lot. There isn't anything magically about putting a hinge on a solid panel that stops noise, it's the fact that it's a solid panel and no noise doesn't leak through the small openings around the bay ports.dj44 - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
After reading I may have missed this, but is there any mention of dust filters under the PSU and on the fan mount just in front of it? I can't remember if the R3 had these either. :PRegarding the top fan mounts, I must be one of the 5%ers as I love 'em - I currently have the CM Centurion 590, and use both top 140mm mounts at the top, theoretically, with good fans it should help with overclocking on air - heat will always rise more easily than go sideways.
dj44 - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
Apologies, I just went back through the pics and saw that a filter covers both.Another question though, would anyone be able to please tell me what the total wattage the fan controller can handle?
vanwazltoff - Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - link
no reviews emphasize that the bottom hard drive cage can be moved back to accommodate a 240mm rad in the front and that bottom cage can be moved anywhere in the case because it has the same bolt pattern as a 120mm fan. that is a substantial difference between the r3 and r4.I actually sent fractal a long email about how they can improve apon the r3 and they used 90% of the ideas I gave them, its nice to sea that a company that listens to its customers. one of the many ideas I sent was an option between windowed and non windows versions and a window upgrade kit for the r3
chloroprocaine - Sunday, August 5, 2012 - link
Great article, Dustin. Really helpful as I've been waiting for the R4 for quite some time now.Quick question, in your closing statement, you say:
"...while the Corsair 550D is a generally better performer, it also has more trouble spots that give me some pause in regards to its longevity"
Could you elaborate on this point? 550D seems like a great, albeit more expensive, alternative to the R4, but it would be horrible if it wasn't as nicely built.
chrislue - Monday, August 13, 2012 - link
Does it have a HDD led?tigersty1e - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
going forward, it would help to keep the cpu and gpu fan constant. that way, we can compare the temps and decibal ratings with apples to apples.some cases give great cooling to cpu, but are poor for gpu cooling. and a few percentage points for the gpu fan can really throw the db ratings much higher.
ifdefmoose - Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - link
The lack of a hard drive activity indicator makes this case a non-starter for me, which is really unfortunate. Other than that, it looks like a great design.Does anyone else feel that this is a critical omission?