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We never bothered to review Fractal’s popular Define R5--by the time we got a chance, it was already old news. Since the R5’s release, we’ve reviewed both the Define C (and Meshify C) and given them very high marks. Now, the R5’s successor is here, ready for 2017 with a full PSU shroud and a tempered glass side panel. There are no LEDs, though, so we must all mourn. In standard layout(storage layout), you'll only be able to fit a 240 or 360 mm radiator. The 240 mm radiator will fit without any restrictions, but with a 360 mm, you would have a maximum motherboard component height of 36 mm. This mainly is affected by the motherboard I/O-shield, big VRM heat sinks, and RAM, so I'd recommend having low-profile RAM in combination with the top radiator. 280 and 420 radiators will not fit in this layout. Conducting thermal tests requires careful measurement of temperatures in the surrounding environment. We control for ambient by constantly measuring temperatures with thermocouples and laser readers. We then produce charts using a Delta T(emperature) over Ambient value. This value subtracts the thermo-logged ambient value from the measured diode temperatures, producing a delta report of thermals. AIDA64 is used for logging thermals of silicon components, including the GPU diode. All models of the Fractal Design Define R6 can be found here at Caseking. Fractal Design Define R6 Review
Prior to load testing, we collect idle temperature results for ten minutes to determine the unloaded cooling performance of a case's fans and air channels. Thermal benchmarking is conducted for 1400 seconds (23 minutes), a period we've determined sufficient for achieving equilibrium. The over-time data is aggregated and will occasionally be compiled into charts, if interesting or relevant. The equilibrium performance is averaged to create the below charts. For AiOs with fixed connections, this is likely to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, due to the limited height. In addition, the recess for the power supply unit is considerably narrower than 140 millimetres, which is why a 120 millimetre wide radiator without connections, which must also be fitted with fans beforehand, can pass through without much fiddling at most. To ensure that the cables for the power supply have enough space, the radiator must also be pushed all the way to the front. Only then can it be connected to the water circuit through the recess. It may then collide with another radiator on the front. In the open design, i.e. without the drive cage, a 120 mm or 140 mm radiator at the bottom of the front panel or better a compensation tank as part of a custom water cooling system fit stress-free in the open design. Comprehensive Conversion Campaign We tested using our new Skylake case test bench, detailed in the table below. This particular configuration is brand new with the launch of the 570X & 270R. Results on this test platform cannot be compared to previous case benchmark results, as the platform has completely changed. We simply replaced the fans – of course with RGB LED lighting. After all, we wanted to put the tidy interior of the Define R6 in the limelight. The Corsair HD-140s run at higher rpm, but unfortunately are also louder than Fractal Design’s HD-140s. Only then did the temperature of the graphics card remain within a reasonable range, but it still became too hot when doddling graphically more demanding games. Heat Wave as Hardness Test However, rendering on the GPU, average GPU dT was 29.2. Relative to other cases, it fared better than it did in Firestrike, but still not enough to compete with the two be quiet! Cases. It did cool better than the Meshify C and Define C, though, and it beat the Enso by 3 degrees. This teaches us that the Define R6 primarily starts struggling with GPU thermals when both the CPU and GPU are under load, as it doesn’t have enough pathways for hot air to escape the enclosure. Fractal R6 Noise LevelsWe recently validated our test methodology using a thermal chamber, finding our approach to be nearly perfectly accurate. Learn more here. OK, mourning over. This Fractal Define R6 review looks at build quality, thermal and acoustic performance, and cable management features. This enclosure is one of the few to impress us in the last few months, given the prevalence of cases like the Bitfenix Enso, and we found the R6’s build quality to be even better than the already-liked Define/Meshify C. Rendering our blender test on the CPU, average CPU dT was 36.9. That’s cooler than any case we’ve run that test on except the Silverstone RL06, including the DB Pro 900 and DB 700. The R6 is definitely capable of keeping air-cooled CPUs at safe temperatures under load. A lot of this comes down to that shroud: Although the enclosure gets decent airflow into it -- roughly on-par with a case that has 2x 200mm front fans, no less -- the shroud is trapping some heat from the open face card. There’s not much that can be done about this, aside from focusing more airflow toward the bottom of a chassis. Fractal Define R6 3DMark The Define 7 has an USB Type-C port on the front panel while to get this on the Define R6 you have to either specifically buy the "Define R6 UBS-C version" or buy an upgrade kit from Fractal.
Replacing the AiO with a CPU tower cooler and attaching two more Corsair fans to the lid made hardly any changes. It should be noted that these observations were made during the heat wave of the last few days – a test of endurance, so to speak. We tried the AiO at the front and a vertical airflow with two fans at the bottom and two at the lid. In the end we came to the conclusion that a horizontal airflow with the AiO on the lid is the most effective structure.
There is a single 5.25” bay included, a somewhat unusual feature in modern cases. It’s just a removable metal rectangle behind a bay cover, but it’s nice to have the option for an ODD, especially in a silent case that could be used as a media PC. Like the R5, the R6 has an oddly fancy 5.25” bay cover with a little latch with a handle that swings out for easy removal. To be sure, the FD fans included in FD cases are definitely high "quality" fans. That is, they are well designed, well made, and use quality precision (thus quiet) bearings.
The front panel is now magnetic on the Define 7 (not a big change TBH) and the 5.25" drive bay in the Define 7 has a small dust filter instead of a plastic cover and allows for fans to be shifted "up there" meaning the front now supports maximum 3*140mm instead of 3*120mm as it was on the R6. With that established, it has got to be said that, as a general rule - there are exceptions, of course - but as a general rule and with all else being equal, quieter fans are the result if them running at a slower RPM. But slowing down the rotation speed of any fan, while making it quieter also reduces the amount of air that fan moves.Essentially they are the same case, the R6 is already an excellent product and the Define 7 is it's natural evolution, there are some minor improvements (which is what it's supposed to happen with these products!) or aesthetical changes. The filters are massive. The top, front, and bottom sides of the case are all fully covered by individual filters, which is the most basic and practical approach possible. The one downside to the top filter not being a cheap square of mesh is that it is essentially the top of the case and must always be installed, or else there’s just a big ugly hole left behind. Top exhaust will always be obstructed by the filter, especially with a top-mounted radiator. Still, most users will probably keep the steel plate in place, which prevents top exhaust altogether. Case Testing Methodology There’s no wasted space on the interior of the R6. Motherboard installation can be a little cramped without removing the hard drive cages, but there’s still a generously-sized grommeted cutout above the motherboard for the CPU power connector, typically a weak point for compact cases. GN’s Steve may think rubber grommets are a waste of money, but Fractal’s have a clever zig-zag pattern that allows small cables to be routed subtly. Cable management is decent, but there’s so much space inside the PSU shroud that it’s hardly worth worrying about.
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