Well it's about time. I would say though (and don't take this the wrong way, I am not trying to steer the market particularly) that £120 for a case seems steep and even inflationary and I would be happier with the around £60 I paid for my Define S (no recommendation implied - it's quality but the market is so strong it's not likely the best option).
I have no problems with Fractal I just worry about the ever increasing prices of GPU, Mobo, PSU, Memory etc. It's not good for the people who need access to the interweb the most. Maybe they'll be content with their phone and 4G/5G but I see no reason why the PC Hardware Desktop market should be premium for people in (for example) India or Vietnam. You're getting ahead of yourselves, people, this is a communication and collaboration technology, don't approach it as a luxury good.
Sigh, will there ever be a case that will be good enough to replace my high airflow Corsair 450D?
This R6 certainly isn't it.
In fact, if Corsair just did a 450D refresh in metallic gun metal grey or white I'd buy one tomorrow.
Oh dear, completely misses the mark for me as an R4 owner. The R4 is a simple, silent £70ish case. The R6 moves it into the £120+ bracket and takes away some features that made the R series good.
I get the feeling they dont know what to do with this model anymore and are trying a new audience. Fractal seem confused with what they want to achieve, they've kept the industrial/office look but want you to put in RGB & watercooling that just doesnt suit the outer asthetics at the expense of useful features, it just seems completely confusing.
A big attraction for the R4/R5 was the 8x 3.5" HDD bays. This made it a very suitable case for a home server/workstation at a cracking price. The R5 fixes some R4 issues & adds worthy features, but keeps the foundation that made the R series good.
Are the dust filters any good though? I got an XL R2 four years ago, with one of the main attractions being the inclusion of dust filters when other cases didn't still. However, they've been quite the let down due to firstly being naff, and secondly being hard to access - and have since been supplemented with ones of a better quality. I see they have rectified the latter in recent attempts, but what about the former?
AGTDenton
Oh dear, completely misses the mark for me as an R4 owner. The R4 is a simple, silent £70ish case. The R6 moves it into the £120+ bracket and takes away some features that made the R series good.
I've got the R5 and it cost about the same as your R4. For £120 it's still good for what it does (a good silent case) but it's such a massive increase in price it moves it from a strong candidate to one hard to recommend at all.
Try to buy this item from Amazon, instead of Scan, as Amazon has a super easy returns policy whereas you'll get stung by a restocking fee from Scan.
P.s. Scan… All it takes is to annoy one customer and they NEVER forget.
Any idea if Fractal Design will be selling additional 3.5" HDD trays? Cos it looks like you could fit an extra 5 trays in the machine on top of the 6 supplied with it, if you really wanted, which is a really quite nice density of disks.
Bagpuss
A can of spray paint in my hands is a recipe for a disaster.
Couldn't be any less competent a job as Fractal's design and marketing departments could it?
Saying that, I'll be entering to win one in the competition on here when its announced - ah crap there go my chances of winning. Didn't think that one through properly, bit like the design and mar….. <doh>
Hope they'll sell additional 3.5" drive trays, as it looks like you can fit an additional 5 over the 6 provided with the case. That'd be a nice potential drive density.
I like it, it's an impressively modular design. Fitting a 5.25" drive and having the potential to be put together as a hard-drive-tower-less design is a neat party trick (and as far as I can tell you need to got back to
january for the last hexus review of a case that took 5.25" drives). Replace the glass with anechoic tile and you should have a very quiet PC.
Is it just me, or does it look like you could fit
up to 11 3.5" drives, if you could source more of the drive sleds?
I don't see the lack of default USB-C as a big issue, because I think a better opportunity is presented instead.
The ability to change that front panel with more choices, such as front HDMI for a VR system, a Card Reader etc.
All it would need is Fractal to actually make the additional panels.
Xlucine
Is it just me, or does it look like you could fit up to 11 3.5" drives, if you could source more of the drive sleds?
Yup, hopefully they'll be available for sale. Fractal has become decent for making parts available, so I don't see this being unrealistic.
Think if I was paying this much for a case I'd go with phanteks, it just looks less cluttered to me.
Rubarb
Think if I was paying this much for a case I'd go with phanteks, it just looks less cluttered to me.
that argument goes off in HEXUS towers regularly :)
especially with our bit-tech colleagues :)
Looks most promising, the basic model could be interesting, with no glass panel and no USB-C: quiet, no frills design. Don't know about the price though…
No RGB lights => I'm buying
HollyDOL
No RGB lights
Indeed. A welcome move from Fractal, IMO. I do hope this marks the beginning of a move away from the “RGB everything” mindset.
A similarly featured true mATX version would be of great interest to me. Not too bothered about the offset GFX card mount (my PC is under the desk, where it should be), but I like the rest of it.
AGTDenton
Oh dear, completely misses the mark for me as an R4 owner. The R4 is a simple, silent £70ish case. The R6 moves it into the £120+ bracket and takes away some features that made the R series good.
I get the feeling they dont know what to do with this model anymore and are trying a new audience. Fractal seem confused with what they want to achieve, they've kept the industrial/office look but want you to put in RGB & watercooling that just doesnt suit the outer asthetics at the expense of useful features, it just seems completely confusing.
A big attraction for the R4/R5 was the 8x 3.5" HDD bays. This made it a very suitable case for a home server/workstation at a cracking price. The R5 fixes some R4 issues & adds worthy features, but keeps the foundation that made the R series good.
I agree. I have 2x Define R4's and I won't be getting rid of them anytime soon at this rate. Absolute bargains at the price they were sold at.
I don't see why they don't just make two models of this case. One for server/workstation use, that is durable maybe has a steel front panel etc, less holes, less flimsy plastic crap and “features”. And another model for the gamers and watercoolers that's full of holes and stuff for whatever crazy things they want to shove in their rig.
I see a similar but more extreme thing with Silverstone and their fortress series, people still rave about the FT02 today. Yet Silverstone has given us FT03 aka the bin, FT04 aka plastic gamer crap and FT05 which is the best effort yet but still pales in comparison to the old FT02. I don't think Silverstone know what made that case great :rolleyes:
Once you add in the price of the window and USB-C, you a potentially paying more than the be quiet Dark Base 700, which includes two very nice Silent Wing fans… I think Fractal need to drop that price.
Stu C;3907025
Once you add in the price of the window and USB-C, you a potentially paying more than the be quiet Dark Base 700, which includes two very nice Silent Wing fans… I think Fractal need to drop that price.
This comes with three GP-14 fans. Fans are pretty much all I trust Fractal with, but they do them very well.
It's a nice traditional looking case. Priced similar to R5 currently on Scan but with 1 minus 5.25 bay.
Just a case of do you want HD hidden or visible. hmm..
pp05
It's a nice traditional looking case. Priced similar to R5 currently on Scan but with 1 minus 5.25 bay.
Just a case of do you want HD hidden or visible. hmm..
I hid mine, but a new graphics card might change that, can tell if it'll fit with the panel in place. Will find out Friday if the RTX cards make it out on time!
