Fractal Design Define R4 Case Review: Evolution, Not Revolution
by Dustin Sklavos on July 20, 2012 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- mid-tower
- Fractal Design
Testing Methodology
For testing Micro-ATX and full ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-2700K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 4.3GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 |
| Graphics Card |
ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP (tested at stock speed and overclocked to 1GHz/overvolted to 1.13V) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| Accessories | Corsair Link |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Plus 750W 80 Plus Silver |
Each case is tested in a stock configuration and an overclocked configuration that generates substantially more heat (and thus may produce more noise). The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running seven threads in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU and OC Scanner (maximum load) on the GPU. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. This is done for the stock settings and for the overclock, and if the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i7-2700K.
- Thank you to Gigabyte for providing us with the GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 motherboard.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Corsair for providing us with the Corsair Link kit.
- Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with the Hyper 212 Evo heatsink and fan unit.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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mtoma - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
I doubt that such a fan cover exists. But I wonder, only the 2 top vents on the P280 are responsible for the weaker acoustical performance comparing to the Define R4? If not, on what ground Dustin Sklavos said that the acoustical performance in Define R4 is better that P280? I know he changed the testing methodology, but... how can we compare our favorites?Thanks!
surt - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
It looks deep enough, but I take it lacks the mounts for EATX?Grok42 - Sunday, July 22, 2012 - link
I'm curious, what are your reasons for using an EATX motherboard? Is it memory capacity? Followup is why you want to put it in a mid-tower case. I'm not judging, criticizing, complaining or anything, just wanting to know.gamerdad - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
I got an R3 last year on the strength of its reviews on this site and elsewhere. Love the rig in general, but I do have one complaint. The power button is big, round, friendly, accessible and has a pretty light around it that just calls out its seductive siren song. "Push me," it cries.Which my toddler loves to do.
So now I have a garish taped-down cardboard flap over the power button. Next time, I'm getting a case with the buttons behind the front door.
makken - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
Why not just set the power button to "do nothing" under power settings?gamerdad - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
You can do that? (looks it up...) Sure enough, you can do that! Thanks.Flying Goat - Saturday, July 21, 2012 - link
Another option is to turn off the light on the power button. This is what I do, since it's too bright for my tastes, though I do kinda miss having an indicator that my PC is on.UNHchabo - Monday, July 23, 2012 - link
I have an R3, and I hooked up the LED to the HDD LED leads; the LED is too bright for me too when it's constant-on, but I think it works great as an HDD light.chrislue - Monday, August 13, 2012 - link
R4 does not have a HDD led?danjw - Friday, July 20, 2012 - link
You don't mention the distance between the top of the case and the motherboard, it would be useful in evaluating if a radiator there is actually feasible.