Fractal Design Define R4

Darksaber · Sep 8, 2012

Fractal Design has once again refreshed the Define series, now called R4. It brings a few small changes to the table, further improving on the already excellent design.

Show full review

Shinshin · Sep 19, 2012

I would really like to see a section in case reviews with noise measurements.

rpsgc · Sep 19, 2012

I don't think 8.9 is fair. The Define Mini got 9.1 (Editor's Choice) and it had more negatives.

damric · Sep 19, 2012

This kind of looks like my mini-fridge.

mmm beer...

Bjorn_Of_Iceland · Sep 20, 2012

You may also move three bottom HDD trays away from the front, which comes in handy if you want a radiator in the front.

I see.. so you can mount 2x 120 radiator in front? Or is it just single 120 rad? How about a 2x 120 on top?

Vancha · Sep 20, 2012

Bjorn_Of_Iceland said:
I see.. so you can mount 2x 120 radiator in front? Or is it just single 120 rad? How about a 2x 120 on top?

You can mount a 240 in the front and the top.

Sherlock · Sep 20, 2012

You could also just remove both HDD cage to clear the way for airflow, use one optical bay with a 5.25"-3.5 adaptor for your hard drive, back panel mount your SDD.

Ferrum Master · Sep 26, 2012

Just bought it for 66Ls = ~ 125$.

I am very pleased with it. The only downside it could be a bit higher, you cannot mount water cooling heatsink in the roof plane.

Overall the design is very good. The material thickness could be more THICK in the inner parts, I was very unpleased mounting motherboard nuts in, looked quite fragile and they stand a bit curved :roll:

. But it is solvable with scewing a simple nut from the backside.
Those fan adapters should have more heads than for two coolers and an option to transmit tachometer data to motherboard. But... after all it is all doable by yourself... the overall basis are perfect for that price. I am thinking about making a engravment in the frontal panel. It should add a more personal feel to it... like for example upside down cross, burning stake, pentagram etc...

Frick · Sep 26, 2012

Ferrum Master said:
like for example upside down cross

To show you're a proper catholic?

Ferrum Master · Sep 26, 2012

Frick said:
To show you're a proper catholic?

I suppose showing to be a "proper" catholic means abusing little boys? :nutkick:

I am just making fun of the the Nordic Design idea, that I actually really like. It has to be more perfected

.

EiSFX · Oct 2, 2012

Thiis is actully going to be my next case

tedy · Nov 1, 2012

is it normal that power led blue constantly blinking?

sneekypeet · Nov 1, 2012

If I recall correctly, the ring on the power button is steady, the line on the face is the
HDD activity LED, so yes it should flash.

tedy · Nov 1, 2012

pretty anoying :/

thebluebumblebee · Apr 4, 2013

232 x 464 x 523 mm = 9.1339 x 18.2677 x 20.5906 in.

EiSFX · Apr 13, 2013

This case only has one LED. With one LED wire that says right in the manual can be used for either HDD LED or Power LED I have mine hooked up to power so the light around the power and out the front dosen't blink. There is no HDD activity light or power light depending on how you have it hooked up.

matagyula · Apr 13, 2013

tedy said:
is it normal that power led blue constantly blinking?

You aren't forced to connect it to the HDD activity pin on the MOBO

Mine is just always solid blue, no HDD activity is shown as I don't need it. The LED is so bright that during the night I cover it up with a piece of cloth

System Name	Meshlicious Monster
Processor	Intel Core i5-10600T
Motherboard	MSI Z490I Unify
Cooling	NZXT Kraken Z53 with 2x Noctua Redux 1300 RPM PWM fans
Memory	ADATA 16 GB 3200 Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio
Storage	TeamGroup 1TB NVMe SSD
Display(s)	Asus ProArt 27" 1440P, 75Hz
Case	ssupd Meshlicious with mesh side panels
Power Supply	Fractal Design Ion 660 W Platinum ATX
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro Wireless
Keyboard	Microsoft Sidewinder X4 Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Home

System Name	Quiet Gaming PC v5
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite V2 (rev. 1.2)
Cooling	Thermalright TRUE Rev. C
Memory	2x16GB TeamGroup Vulcan Z Red DDR4-3600 CL18
Video Card(s)	XFX Speedster SWFT 309 RX 6700 XT
Storage	WD Blue SN550 1TB NVMe // TeamGroup MP34 4TB NVMe // Crucial MX100 512GB
Display(s)	MSI G27CQ4 E2
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1200
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x
Mouse	Logitech G502 Hero
Keyboard	MKPlus Slayer M3 RGB Mechanical Keyboard
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Main
Processor	Ryzen 5950x
Motherboard	B550 PG Velocita
Cooling	Water
Memory	Ballistix
Video Card(s)	RX 6900XT
Storage	T-FORCE CARDEA A440 PRO
Display(s)	Samsung UE590
Case	QUBE 500
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z623
Power Supply	LEADEX V 1KW
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710
Keyboard	Huntsman Elite
Software	11 Pro
Benchmark Scores	https://hwbot.org/user/damric/

System Name	Thakk
Processor	i7 6700k @ 4.5Ghz
Motherboard	Gigabyte G1 Z170N ITX
Cooling	H55 AIO
Memory	32GB DDR4 3100 c16
Video Card(s)	Zotac RTX3080 Trinity
Storage	Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD / Intel 250GB SSD / Samsung Pro 512 SSD / 3TB Seagate SV32
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 100hz IPS Gsync / HTC Vive
Case	QBX
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150 > Creative Gigaworks T40 > AKG Q701
Power Supply	Corsair SF600
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	Ducky Shine TKL MX Blue + Vortex PBT Doubleshots
Software	Windows 10 64bit
Benchmark Scores	http://www.3dmark.com/fs/12108888

System Name	HELLSTAR
Processor	AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling	2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory	4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX + under waterblock.
Storage	Optane 900P[W11] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO[FEDORA]
Display(s)	Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software	FEDORA 39 / Windows 11 insider

Fractal Design Define R4

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Shinshin

rpsgc

damric

Bjorn_Of_Iceland

Vancha

Sherlock

New Member

Ferrum Master

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

Ferrum Master

EiSFX

tedy

New Member

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator

tedy

New Member

thebluebumblebee

EiSFX

matagyula

System Name	Black MC in Tokyo
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard	Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling	Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory	2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s)	XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage	Kingston A400 240GB \| WD Black SN750 2TB \|WD Blue 1TB x 2 \| Toshiba P300 2TB \| Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s)	Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse	Logitech G602
Keyboard	Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD	Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Rimworld 4K ready!

System Name	Custom FX
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 1600X @ 4Ghz
Motherboard	MSI B350 Tomahawk
Cooling	EK A240 Kit
Memory	G.SKILL G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series DDR4 3200 8GB
Video Card(s)	EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 FTW3 Ultra
Storage	SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 250GB NVMe OS Drive/Seagate Hybrid SSHD ST1000LM014 1TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache
Display(s)	ASUS VE228H 21.5 inch
Case	Raijintek Thetis
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC892
Power Supply	Silverstone Strider 750 Plus 750W Modular
Mouse	Red Dragon M715 Dagger
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling	ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory	PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage	Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s)	Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply	be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse	ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard	ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Main/DC
Processor	i7-3770K/i7-2600K
Motherboard	MSI Z77A-GD55/GA-P67A-UD4-B3
Cooling	Phanteks PH-TC14CS/H80
Memory	Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) LP /4GB Kingston DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 660 Ti/MSI HD7770
Storage	Crucial MX100 256GB/120GB Samsung 830 & Seagate 2TB(died)
Display(s)	Asus 24' LED/Samsung SyncMaster B1940
Case	P100/Antec P280 It's huge!
Audio Device(s)	on board
Power Supply	SeaSonic SS-660XP2/Seasonic SS-760XP2
Software	Win 7 Home Premiun 64 Bit

System Name	mata_PC
Processor	Intel i5 2500K @ 4,3GHz
Motherboard	ASUS P8Z68V-LX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	Kingston HyperX Blu 1600MHz DDR3 2x4GB
Video Card(s)	Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6870 @ 980MHz/1180MHz
Storage	WD 750GB Caviar Black, Seagate Barracuda 2TB
Display(s)	DELL U2412M
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	SoundBlaster Audigy 2
Power Supply	Seasonic 500W Energy Knight SS-500ET 80+
Software	Windows 7 SP1