Fractal Design Define S

Darksaber · Apr 12, 2015

The Fractal Design Define S sports the same build quality and look as the Define family of enclosures, which we have come to love, but bears one very big difference: It is geared toward those building a custom liquid-cooling loop. With dedicated mounting possibilities for radiators, pump, and reservoir, the Define S shines where most other mid-tower cases fail by offering more than just a mounting possibility for pre-assembled liquid-cooling solutions.

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Sihastru · Apr 21, 2015

There's something wrong with the case.

There, I fixed it!

Caring1 · Apr 21, 2015

Sihastru said:
There's something wrong with the case.

There, I fixed it!

That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

Jetster · Apr 21, 2015

I love Fractal cases. So simple and functional

ZeroFM · Apr 21, 2015

Caring1 said:
That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

now think what happen with HDD when shorter case !!!

Caring1 · Apr 21, 2015

ZeroFM said:
now think what happen with HDD when shorter case !!!

Behind the motherboard and on the base of the case.
Plenty of room for SSD's and a PCI-e drive

Frick · Apr 21, 2015

I'm not a fan of vertically mounted HDD's like that. Three is better than the normal 2 though, but then there's no 5.25 bay... I usually love Fractal stuff, but this is not for me.

It looks really good though.

SmokingCrop · Apr 21, 2015

Caring1 said:
That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

It's wasted space for that particular reviewers-build. It's not wasted space when you want to use it to put a big reservoir or so there.

WithoutWeakness · Apr 21, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
It's wasted space for that particular reviewers-build. It's not wasted space when you want to use it to put a big reservoir or so there.

Exactly. That space is for thick rads with push-pull fans or mounting a vertical reservoir to the motherboard tray. This isn't designed for people running 1 GPU and an AIO CPU cooler in mind. This is Fractal's case for full custom liquid cooling loops with 3 or 4 radiators.

MxPhenom 216 · Apr 21, 2015

Sihastru said:
There's something wrong with the case.

There, I fixed it!

Caring1 said:
That's better, it didn't look right before, all that wasted space.

Fail. There is a reason the front has so much extra space. its so people and run radiators + reservoir mounted to the back well with the brackets the case came with.

R00kie · Apr 21, 2015

Goddamnit, where was this case when I bought my CM690 III? Really wanted them hard drives out of the way of the airflow

radusorin · Apr 21, 2015

Wow, it feels like they read my mind wen i was looking at R5. (that is spooky). The only thing missing is the front door for better dust filter cleaning. If i can get this cheaper than the R5 it's going to be my next case for sure. Love it.

Sihastru · Apr 22, 2015

MxPhenom 216 said:
Fail. There is a reason the front has so much extra space. its so people and run radiators + reservoir mounted to the back well with the brackets the case came with.

Yeeeaaah.... but no... The reason is that they used the same tooling from the R5, but with a different front and mid plate. You'd think it's built for complex custom water cooling loops, but it's not. In reality you can't fit triple front + triple top + single back radiators at the same time as they interfere with each other. You can have a triple on top + a dual in front, or a dual on top + a triple on front. And with that limitation in mind, most people will just ignore this case since they can do the exact same build in a Define R5 with minimal tweaking.

So Fractal disappoints this time as they've chosen to save money rather then actually design a water cooling friendly case. Fail indeed.

MxPhenom 216 · Apr 22, 2015

Sihastru said:
Yeeeaaah.... but no... The reason is that they used the same tooling from the R5, but with a different front and mid plate. You'd think it's built for complex custom water cooling loops, but it's not. In reality you can't fit triple front + triple top + single back radiators at the same time as they interfere with each other. You can have a triple on top + a dual in front, or a dual on top + a triple on front. And with that limitation in mind, most people will just ignore this case since they can do the exact same build in a Define R5 with minimal tweaking.

So Fractal disappoints this time as they've chosen to save money rather then actually design a water cooling friendly case. Fail indeed.

You can definitely run a 360 in the front and 360 in the top, but the top one is limited in thickness. and who the hell would run 2 triples and a single rad.

Ciric · Apr 22, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
It's wasted space for that particular reviewers-build. It's not wasted space when you want to use it to put a big reservoir or so there.

This
+with 60mm rad @ push/pull, the space is gone :laugh:

Sihastru said:
Yeeeaaah.... but no... The reason is that they used the same tooling from the R5, but with a different front and mid plate. You'd think it's built for complex custom water cooling loops, but it's not. In reality you can't fit triple front + triple top + single back radiators at the same time as they interfere with each other. You can have a triple on top + a dual in front, or a dual on top + a triple on front. And with that limitation in mind, most people will just ignore this case since they can do the exact same build in a Define R5 with minimal tweaking.

So Fractal disappoints this time as they've chosen to save money rather then actually design a water cooling friendly case. Fail indeed.

I Would choose this over the R5 any day.
The clean front with no 5,25" bays alone is enough to make that choice

Sihastru · Apr 22, 2015

MxPhenom 216 said:
You can definitely run a 360 in the front and 360 in the top[...]

Nope.

Ciric said:
The clean front with no 5,25" bays alone is enough to make that choice

This seems to be the only redeeming feature of this case.

SmokingCrop · Apr 23, 2015

MxPhenom 216 said:
You can definitely run a 360 in the front and 360 in the top, but the top one is limited in thickness.

you still won't have the space to mount a fan.
check: 23m35s

But It's still great value.

Caring1 · Apr 23, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
you still won't have the space to mount a fan.

If you install a top radiator, then the fans can be mounted externally for a pull arrangement.

WithoutWeakness · Apr 23, 2015

SmokingCrop said:
you still won't have the space to mount a fan.
check: 23m35s

But It's still great value.

You would need to use a slim (~25mm) radiator in the top. There isn't enough room above the motherboard for a thick rad plus fans unless you mount the fans externally. They tried sticking a thick radiator in the top of the case. If they took the thin 360mm radiator that they put in the front and mounted it up top it would fit. They could then mount the thick 360mm radiator in the front with a single set of push or pull fans alongside the reservoir mounted on the motherboard tray. They could do push/pull on the thick radiator if they mounted the reservoir somewhere else like they demonstrated around 22m10s.

Here's what Fractal has posted on the product page showing the thin radiator up top:

2big2fail · May 29, 2015

Could someone comment as to whether the Define S can fit a thick 420 rad in the front (without top radiator)? Or even better the clearence from the case floor to the ceiling?

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	Prometheus
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5950x
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
Cooling	EKWB EK-240 AIO D-RGB
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 4070Ti Ventus 3X OC 12GB
Storage	WD Black SN850 1TB + 1 x Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB
Display(s)	DELL U4320Q 4K + Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 4K
Case	Jonsbo A4 ver1.1 SFF
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 Platinum SFX
Mouse	Logitech Pro Wireless
Keyboard	Vortex Race 3 75% MX Brown
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64

System Name	Black Box
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1260L v5
Motherboard	MSI E3 KRAIT Gaming v5
Cooling	Tt tower + 120mm Tt fan
Memory	G.Skill 16GB 3600 C18
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 Mini
Storage	Kingston A2000 512Gb NVME
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Case	Corsair 450D High Air Flow.
Audio Device(s)	No need.
Power Supply	FSP Aurum 650W
Mouse	Yes
Keyboard	Of course
Software	W10 Pro 64 bit

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Black Box
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1260L v5
Motherboard	MSI E3 KRAIT Gaming v5
Cooling	Tt tower + 120mm Tt fan
Memory	G.Skill 16GB 3600 C18
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 Mini
Storage	Kingston A2000 512Gb NVME
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Case	Corsair 450D High Air Flow.
Audio Device(s)	No need.
Power Supply	FSP Aurum 650W
Mouse	Yes
Keyboard	Of course
Software	W10 Pro 64 bit

Fractal Design Define S

Darksaber

Senior Editor & Case Reviewer

Sihastru

Caring1

Jetster

ZeroFM

Caring1

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop

SmokingCrop

WithoutWeakness

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

R00kie

radusorin

Sihastru

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

Ciric

Sihastru

SmokingCrop

Caring1

WithoutWeakness

2big2fail

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!

Processor	Intel Core i7-9700K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra
Cooling	Corsair Hydro H150i Pro
Memory	2x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3000 Mhz
Video Card(s)	Inno3D iChill GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1TB
Display(s)	Asus RoG PG279Q Swift
Case	Fractal Design Define S2 Gunmetal
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essence STX II (Sennheiser HD 650)
Power Supply	Corsair HX750i
Mouse	Logitech G903
Keyboard	Corsair K70 (Black)
Software	W10 x64

System Name	Ryzen Reflection
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling	2x EK PE360 \| TechN AM4 AMD Block Black \| EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory	Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s)	Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G \| 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage	WD SN850 500GB (OS) \| Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) \| Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s)	Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS \| Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS \| Asus 24" IPS (portrait mode)
Case	Lian Li PC-011D XL \| Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s)	FiiO K7 \| Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse	Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit

System Name	Main / HTPC
Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X / Ryzen 7 2700
Motherboard	Strix B550i / B450i Aorus Pro
Cooling	Lian-Li Galahad 360 / Wraith Spire
Memory	Corsair LPX 2x16 3600MHz / HyperX Predator 2x8GB 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	RTX 3080 FE / ARC A380
Storage	WD Black SN770 1TB / Sabrent Rocket 256GB
Display(s)	Acer Z301c / 39" Panasonic HDTV
Case	Corsair 2000D / Cougar QBX
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V379 / Realtek ALC1220
Power Supply	Corsair SF600 / BeQuiet SFX Power 2 450W
Mouse	Logitech G900
Keyboard	Drop Sense75 with WQ Studio Morandi's
VR HMD	Rift S
Software	Win 11 Pro 64Bit

Processor	Core i7 8700K @4.8
Motherboard	MSI Z370 GAMING PRO CARBON AC
Cooling	Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev. B
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING X flash to Z
Storage	960 EVO 500GB(boot) + Mx300 1T + Barracuda 3TB
Display(s)	Acer Predator XB1 XB271HB G-Sync 144hz + AOC e2752Vq
Case	Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition
Power Supply	Corsair AX760
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum RGB
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion - Cherry MX Brown
Software	Win10pro x64

Processor	R9 3900X
Motherboard	Gigabyte Auros Master
Cooling	Custom liquid cooling
Video Card(s)	GTX 1070 Strix
Software	Win10 Pro

System Name	Trashbox Pro
Processor	Intel Core i7 4770K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z87X-UD7-TH
Memory	G.Skill 2400MHz 32GB
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming R9 280x 6GB (2x)
Storage	Samsung Evo 840 1TB
Case	Fractal Design Arc Midi
Power Supply	Corsair AX 850