Fractal Design Define XL Black E-ATX Mid Tower Silent Computer Case 4X5.25 10X3.5INT No PS

Comment:
This case is working great as a high capacity file server. The only two real problems I had with the case were that the fan controller that came with my motherboard has a place on the case meant for such controls so that they don't use up a PCI slot. That slot didn't work well and I had to take a metal file to it to make it usable.Also, the motherboard and PCI slots in the case didn't line up well at all. I double checked and the motherboard was installed properly. It resulted that any cards installed in the motherboard slots could not be easily screwed in.

Comment:
Fantastic case. I now have two of these cases for my systems. Lots of space for most anything you want to throw in to a build. Plenty quiet and can be setup with plenty of airflow with minimal noise.With a pair of crossfired cards and a Noctua D14 cooler cooling my i5 760 at 4Ghz the system is amazingly silent. The vibration dampeners on the hard drives paired with the sound dampenning make it so even sitting beside my tower I can just barely hear my WD Raptor and WD Black drives.Be aware that you will need long power cables to get good cable routing done.

Comment:
i used this case for my first build and it was vary easy to work with. the cabal routing was a breeze with the exception of the CPU connector which on my OCZ ZX850 was not long enough to rout throe the back of the case. the back fan vent is capable of ether a 140mm or a 120mm despite it not being listed. the included fans are very silent and keep my case temp at about room +5c on the down side there is no front USB 3.0 and the top lacks a spot for additional fans however this maintains its minimalistic appearance

Comment:
Unfortunately, when I laid my motherboard down in the Fractal XL and tried to route a cable from my Corsair Gold AX750 Watts power supply, I found out it was not long enough to get there. You need to open up the space between the PSU chamber and the board's place to get the wire up to the connector. This really is annoying. My motherboard is the Maximus Formula IV EATX. I strongly advise to either find long motherboard power cables or choose another case.

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This is by far the best case that I have ever owned. Totally silent even with 7 fans running. I highly recommend this if you want a silent and cool system.

Comment:
Great case, I just finished switch cases and it must say it is exactly as advertised. It runs nice with little to no sound and there were plenty of options for cable management. But as in the other reviews the space you left with for wiring your power supply to your mobo can be a problem as the opening can be partially blocked by the power supply. I highly recommend you install a modular PS to maximize the amount of room to thread the cabled. Also I would not really recommend this case if you move your computer around a lot as this beast can be pretty heavy with the side panel attached. But otherwise I am very happy with this purchase.

Comment:
I bought this case so because I needed a case with a lot of hard drive bays. The case has 10 and then I added 2 drive bays in the 5.25" slots for a total of 16 hard drives. Perfect case for a file server.

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I'm using it for my file server. Drives are cool, processor is cool and it's quiet as hell (10 hard drives).No complaints at all, exactly what I wanted/needed. :)

Comment:
This is a really great case, with just a few issues.The biggest issue is probably the situation with the power supply: the hole that you route power cables out of the lower chamber from is going to be at least partially blocked by your PSU unless it is very short (Not likely for an enthusiast system). The only alternative is to open the hole in the barrier between the chambers, which sucks. Unfortunately, my EPS cable wasn't quite long enough to reach its place on my mobo after routing behind, so I had to do some ugly routing through the opening in the barrier. It would be way better if they had the same sort of hole in the barrier as they do to route around back, instead of the giant opening you are stuck with.There also isn't USB3, if that's important to you. Most new cases have added it already, but Fractal Design have stated that they won't add it until the spec is finalised (It pretty much is now, it's just not quite official, much like the state wireless-n was in for a long time). This means you're stuck with USB2 for the top ports. Since even front USB3 would be stuck behind the door, this is actually a bit of an issue if you need it.This case is very big, and made of steel, so it is very heavy. Be prepared for that. It's not an issue for me, as I always get steel cases (They're cheaper), but if you're used to an aluminium case, it's going to surprise you.Finally, there were a few issues screwing things in where sizes weren't quite right that caused a lot of flexing. The space for optical drives is a bit wider than it should be, so if you screw in an optical drive on both sides it bends the whole thing a bit, especially with the 3.5" adapter that fits the space perfectly forcing the bending.Screwing in the PSU also causes some ugly flexing in the PSU plate that you attach it to because it is padded and the screws they provide don't account for that. You end up screwing the padding tight, which makes it flex outwards where the screws aren't.Also, due to the amount of stuff you're supposed to route behind the mobo, it can make the side panel very difficult to reattach, and will cause quite a bump in the panel as well.I still gave the case 4 stars because those issues are pretty minor/aesthetic issues, and the case is still the best I have had yet. I look forward to Fractal Design's next revision of it, which will hopefully fix some of the issues I've seen.

Comment:
I built my new computer system with the Define XL for the purpose of silence. Some secondary things I wanted was for adequate airflow and a fair amount of hard drive space. This case gave me everything.There is plenty of room to work in and I see no potential problems for longer graphics cards to fit in this case as the top hard drive rack is removable if need be.The case is built with quality and weighs like a monster due to the noise isolation material used, and the thick metal used.Their were only 2 problems I encountered. My CPU power cable were too short for me to route the cables through the back to the motherboard connector and thus I needed to route it from the bottom panel which separated the cooling zones.The second problem was from the placement of the cut-out for the power supply cable routing. For slightly longer power supplies, you will almost completely cover it. My True Power Quattro 850w covered it a good 60%. So beware, if you fall into this category.

Comment:
Own this case since last week. Must say it is a very good case but my personnal experience was ruined buy NCIX...I received the case and it had been used and side door had been forced in place. Paint in the back to secure the door was all grinded and door was even bented.Since this thing is huge and heavy, sending this monster back to BC from Quebec was out of price so I corrected with a good old hammer and flat bar + black metal paint. Big disapointment. Once fixed, this case is VERY nice, not perfect, but silent and cool. The stock fan are good, but since iam a little picky, replaced with Noctua's one and all is soooooo silent now

Comment:
this case is pretty awesome, from the moment i watched Linus' unboxing i wanted one, id been planning a home server build for a while but now i have no need, i can easily fit 10TB in this case along with my everyday media/work/light gaming pc.it is quiet, reviews seem to be reporting it as one of the quietest, the fans are also near silent, if i didnt have a 120mm fan on my video card b 2200RPM it would be silent.. building in this case was a pleasure for someone who is used to smaller/htpc stuff, ive never has so tidy cablesone last thing, i gave this thing a weigh, 50.3LBS, thats 2 hdd's atx mobo, soundcard, vid card, hyper 212+, smallish dual fan 500w psu, no 5.25"

Comment:
Compared to the SilverStone case for $40 I bought at the same time, the case is very heavy and lacks the tool-less mounting of peripherals. The side panels initially did smell, I had to air it out for a few hours to get rid of it - but the case is extremely quiet. I don't like top mount fans, which is why I liked this case - lots of airflow front to back. Lots of space and chassis holes to route cables. PSU can be mounted to take air from the bottom (filtered) or top/front. Middle drive cage can be removed, but I could not turn it sideways with a drive in it.. it did not fit. Make sure your PSU has long cables or buy extenders - I had issues with my 4pin mobo and sata power cables being too short. Front air ducts do not seem to go through the front filters. Choose this over Antec 183/Corsair 700 and am still happy with my choice (cost was a factor too).