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Fractal Design Define Mini

Darksaber

Darksaber

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The Fractal Design Define Mini is not only a successful shrink of the award winning Define R3 or Define XL cases, but also adds USB 3.0 to the mix. We take the chassis for a spin to see if the small case really carries the same genes as its bigger brothers.

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Delta6326

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Nice review!

I like this case a good looking case.
Hows the noise levels? I have been looking for a new case with quite fans and a sleek look while being simi-small.
Would you say this is better than NZXT H2?
 
Sir B. Fannybottom

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I love the FD cases, but I've always found them to be too big.. this solves my problems with it :D Too bad it wouldn't fit ATX right :(
 
M

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Delta6326 said:
Nice review!

I like this case a good looking case.
Hows the noise levels? I have been looking for a new case with quite fans and a sleek look while being simi-small.
Would you say this is better than NZXT H2?
Click to expand...

Build quality of the Fractal cases are better than the NZXT H2, just check out the many comparisons people have done. Ive seen a few on youtube.

Great case, i like how they managed to keep all the features but put it in a slightly smaller form factor. Some of the pictures make the Define Mini look small but others make it only look marginally smaller than the R3. Overall great choice for a quite mini pc or htpc.
 
fusionblu

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I have one of these that I'm using for an i5 760 system and in some ways this case is an improved version of the Fractal Design Define R3 since it has USB 3.0, you can remove a HDD tray (it was first introduced with the Arc Midi which came out sometime after the Define Midi R3 was released) and the side panels and other parts of the case are a lot more solid (than the R3) too which makes this case considerably heavier than most normal Mini-ITX PC cases.

With the case being small the ideal cooler to use would be Water Cooler such as the Corsair Hydro H80 (I intend to use this when I put my new i5 Sandybridge system into my Mini Define case) since that shouldn't take up as much room as most Air Coolers would and it wouldn't block any RAM slots either.

All in all this is a good case and it certainly looks nice when side by side with it's older brother case, the Define Midi R3. :rockout:
 
Delta6326

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fusionblu said:
I have one of these that I'm using for an i5 760 system and in some ways this case is an improved version of the Fractal Design Define R3 since it has USB 3.0, you can remove a HDD tray (it was first introduced with the Arc Midi which came out sometime after the Define Midi R3 was released) and the side panels and other parts of the case are a lot more solid (than the R3) too which makes this case considerably heavier than most normal Mini-ITX PC cases.

With the case being small the ideal cooler to use would be Water Cooler such as the Corsair Hydro H80 (I intend to use this when I put my new i5 Sandybridge system into my Mini Define case) since that shouldn't take up as much room as most Air Coolers would and it wouldn't block any RAM slots either.

All in all this is a good case and it certainly looks nice when side by side with it's older brother case, the Define Midi R3. :rockout:
Click to expand...

Post back here once your done with the build, I would like to know how it goes and the sound level, if I get one I also want to put in a H80.
 
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