A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior of the case, you may simply pull the covers off the sides. The interior of the Meshify 3 series, while unique in some ways, doesn't really push the engineering envelope. One such aspect is the fact that the case is not BTF capable, for example. The shroud has a subtle logo punched into it, and sports a bowl shaped front element to guide air from the fans in the front. Fractal has placed a very compact cable management hole at the bottom, which is not wide enough to accommodate a PCIe plug to get past any pins of the motherboard. This is rather unfortunate and makes for a frustrating build experience, as you are forced to route the cable less efficiently. Similarly, as the opening can't extend forward due to the plastic air guide, your will end up routing some additional cables in through the left side.


Above that, you will find a simple but effective cable cover with another bit of branding made of metal. This shaped plate is held in place by thumb screws. The top one sits inside an elongated hole to allow for a sliding mechanic, but the bottom is designed in a way that can't offer that same type of cutout. As such, there is really only the one position.


On the backside of the case, the frame continues with the simple approach, providing one big, grommet-less opening at the top. While this provides ease of access, it also means you will not be able to hide wires easily. To make matters even more difficult, Fractal has not placed any hooks in the area underneath that opening, but instead in the ceiling above it. The Fractal Design Meshify 3 Ambience Pro RGB can hold up to four 2.5" drives or two 3.5" units in the backside of the motherboard tray thanks to an implementation of mounting rails. You are meant to remove these, install them on the drives and then put the whole contraption back into place. While having to deal with two separate pieces is a bit more work, dealing with sturdy metal is quite nice.


This variant of the Meshify 3 also includes Fractal Design's latest retail ARGB and PWM controller, called the Adjust Pro. This uses USB-C as a physical interface and the three fans are pre-wired to these. The upside to this is the fact that you only have one flat-band cable to deal with. In the image above, the fans are plugged in the top, using a wider cable than the case ARGB elements connected at the bottom. This is due to the fact that the fan wires also carry the PWM signal. While the Adjust Pro has a magnetic backing, Fractal has also wrapped a Velcro strap around it to keep it secure during transport. For those wanting the Adjust Pro, it will be available for $40 on its own.


Fractal is also introducing a new way to cable manage with this case series. It consists of three large plastic clips with rounded wings. These can easily be removed by squeezing down on the center element and pulling them off. In turn, when pushing them back in, they ratchet into place to hug any cables. Fractal also goes as far as to pre-route the wires within the Meshify 3 quite well, so you could just skip this step of working things out yourself.


On the floor of the case you will find two additional 2.5" mounting positions. While it may seem that these are difficult to get to at first, the intent is for you to pop off the air guide and access these from above. That means that Meshify 3 series can easily hold up to six 2.5" drives or, at the very least an equal mix of four 2.5" and 3.5" units - plenty for most scenarios. Above that, the three fans look great from within as well, as Fractal has ensured the stickers on the hubs are black on dark gray which blends into the chassis beautifully. Just another cool detail within the Meshify 3 Ambience Pro RGB.


In the rear the PSU bay is pretty straightforward with two foam pads at the deep end for the unit to rest on. The seven expansion slots are also nothing out of the ordinary, but well-built, with large thumb screws, which are easily accessible under a plastic clip-on cover. As such working with these is a breeze and clearly follows the "simple but effective" mantra. In the very top, there is that vent that is a fan mounting position in disguise - not much else to say here.


The design of staggered oval openings continues in the ceiling. There is ample room, so your AIO won't interfere with board components.


The wiring for the Meshify 3 Ambience Pro RGB is a bit unique, as you only get a single power switch cable for your FP header on the motherboard. This is due to the fact that the case lacks a reset button or HDD activity LED. The power light is taken care of by the ARGB elements built into the chassis. A small inconsistency is the fact that the USB-A cable is flat, while the USB-C wire is round. The Adjust Pro Hub uses a PWM interface wire to allow the motherboard to control the fans alongside a USB 2.0 interface for data between the device and your system.

Fractal Design Adjust Pro Hub

The Fractal Design Adjust Pro Hub is worth a closer look, as it is a full retail product. Interestingly the naming "hub" does not do it justice as it is actually a fully fledged controller. As with the fans, the design of the unit is very clean and understated, but there is a tiny status LED located in the bottom left corner. On the backside there is a rubber lining, but comes with magnets that still feel strong enough to hold it in place securely unless you plan to transport or ship your system.


On the top, you will find the PWM input which interfaces with your motherboard. Next to it, there is a Micro-USB 2.0 port to allow for that aforementioned data line. On the other end, you will find a cleanly embedded SATA port, which is a refreshing departure from the cables one usually has to deal with instead. The meat of the controller can be found on one of the long sides where you can connect up to four of the proprietary USB-C shaped cables. These wires can be daisy-chained, but our reviewer kit did not provide any details on the maximum power draw per channel or the upper limit of RGB LEDs each can address.