Any Fractal Xl R2 owners here ?

[Temuka]

Hello everyone! I want to buy this case,althought it was released 3 years ago,but I think there's nothing better in quiet solution for full towers in 150$ range. (If you disagree,please post your ideas/solutions)





So,I'm interested in your short reviews guys who have this case. I'm not going into water cooling,just need something really quiet and full tower.



Is it really that silent? Did anything changed through you bought it? (Sound changed,something broke,etc...)



Thanks in advance !!!



P.S Of course I wanted to buy something new from 2015,but as I mentioned before there is no better solution in this price range......

 

[chelhxi]

I built a machine for my friend with that case. Loved it, so quiet especially with fans on low ( and I added a second 140mm fractal in the front) The doors are hinged and come off really nicely, the whole thing was a pleasure to work in. Easiest case ever to wire with as well, I don't think I even put any effort into tidying the wires after building, there is so much room everything just kind of hangs behind the motherboard. Good temperatures with a 4770k under a hyper 212 evo, and Asus Direct CU II R9 290 and all case fans on LOW. The only issue I saw was that one of the front usb ports didn't work, and the ports themselves felt a bit cheap. Good build quality otherwise though.

 

[lehtv]

Check out Nanoxia Deep Silence 6. It comes with five 140mm fans and a dual channel analog fan controller, supporting up to six fans. Fractal Design XL R2 comes with only three 140mm fans and a three-speed fan controller supporting only those three fans (more with the use of splitter cables).

According to bit-tech's review:

With its minimalist aesthetic, focus on low noise and outstanding attention to detail, Nanoxia has always reminded us of Fractal Design. However, Fractal doesn't really have a price-point competitor for the Deep Silence 6. It does have the sub-£100 Define XL R2, which is a large, low-noise chassis, but there's plenty separating the two cases that justifies the Deep Silence 6's premium. For starters, the Deep Silence 6 has a more premium construction, and strikes the better balance between noise and cooling. It also has HTPX support, which the Fractal case lacks, as well as many more drive cages, more USB 3 ports and much better water-cooling support too that's more in line with the sort of systems that are likely to be installed in this size of a chassis.

Deep Silence 5 is a smaller version of DS6 with 3 fans. It's still a full tower and has that same fan controller, but doesn't support such extensive water cooling.

If you're absolutely sure that a mid tower won't do, then I'd say Nanoxia DS5/DS6 is the case to get. However I would check out Fractal Design Define R5 if there's even a chance that it's spacious enough.

 

[Charlie98]

The only issue I saw was that one of the front usb ports didn't work, and the ports themselves felt a bit cheap. Good build quality otherwise though.

Funny you should mention that... I'm starting to have problems with the USB ports on my Define Mini. The left USB2 port is good... but it always has my iPhone charger plugged into it... but the right USB2 port is getting wonky.

Other than that, I think the Fractal Define series cases are top-notch and certainly quiet enough... I use one as my HTPC case in the living room.

 

[Essence_of_War]

If you're absolutely sure that a mid tower won't do, then I'd say Nanoxia DS5/DS6 is the case to get. However I would check out Fractal Design Define R5 if there's even a chance that it's spacious enough.

I agree with this. OP, are you certain that the R5 doesn't fit the bill for you?

 

[SunnyD]

I put together a build with a Define XL R2... but it was purpose built. I needed a case that would fit an SSI-EEB motherboard but I didn't want to buy an ugly overpriced industrial chassis and I wanted something with good cooling options but was still fairly quiet. After research and asking around, I found the XL R2 would fit my board and was highly regarded, and often goes on sale for around $80. The ample storage bays, the minimalist style and most importantly the extremely low noise profile made it perfect for a livingroom server.

I wouldn't hesitate to build my boxes around this case, provided I wasn't looking to ever move the machine. In this day any desktop machine doesn't need much more than a video card and a couple harddrives in it, there's no reason to get anything more than a nice microatx case and mobo and keep the profile low.

 

[Temuka]

Thing is that in my city there is no R5. We have XL R2 for 120$ and R4 for 100$...

 

[Charlie98]

Thing is that in my city there is no R5. We have XL R2 for 120$ and R4 for 100$...

Unless you just had to have the room... I'd go with the R4... it's still a very solid case.

 

[smitbret]

Unless you just had to have the room... I'd go with the R4... it's still a very solid case.

Agreed. I just moved my server from a Define Mini to an R4. When I first put the server into my Define Mini, it was quiet enough that my wife asked me what I planned on doing with that old, empty case that had been sitting downstairs for a week. It was actually on at the time, stocked with 5 HDDS, 3 120mm case fans and a 120mm CPU fan. The R4 is just as quiet.

I had been trying to decide if I wanted to go for the XL R2, R4 or R5. Since I run my OS and cache drives on an SSD and 2.5" laptop drive I was able to mount them on the back of the motherboard tray with the R4 or R5, freeing up HDD bays for my 3.5" HDDs. The only advantage that I could get with the XL R2 was the 2 extra 5.25" external bays and I just don't have any use for them in the near future since I didn't feel like paying extra for the XL R2 and then another $100 for the hotswappable RAID cage to make use of them.

With the R4 going for about $80 on New Egg, right now. It was pretty much a no-brainer.

Really, really quiet and cool. I don't run a video card in the R4 since it is a server that I run headless. If you are looking at an SLI setup, the XL R2 might make a little more sense, but otherwise the R4 (or R5) is plenty roomy.

 

[Charlie98]

Agreed. I just moved my server from a Define Mini ...

If the OP didn't need an ATX case... the Define Mini is on sale at the Egg for $70 AR. It makes me want to buy another one and swap my game rig out of the Arc Mini.... ... then I'll have 3 Define Minis running!

 

[Temuka]

I think I'll stick with XL,cause it's almost same price as R4 and also it's bigger for future upgrades + tests show that it's better with sound dampening than R4,thanks everyone for attention.

 

[Charlie98]

I think I'll stick with XL,cause it's almost same price as R4 and also it's bigger for future upgrades + tests show that it's better with sound dampening than R4,thanks everyone for attention.

Although I won't argue your logic... 'bigger for future upgrades' in an already big case just means more room for drives and the unlikely instance you would go to E-ATX. The XL weighs 36#!!! ...no wonder it's quieter.

 

[Temuka]

Although I won't argue your logic... 'bigger for future upgrades' in an already big case just means more room for drives and the unlikely instance you would go to E-ATX. The XL weighs 36#!!! ...no wonder it's quieter.

Yeap,at this moment I'm paranoid about noise which comes from my 8 year old case with 3 year old 80mm coolers

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Huge. Tons of room for activities. Very heavy once fully populated.

Mine had an issue where the headphone/mic jacks were reversed. Shot Fractal an email, got a reply back the same day, and a few days later a package arrived with the correctly wired jacks; they even threw in an extra 140mm fan for all the "trouble." That's damn good customer service in my book.

Although I think you're being overly worried about noise. The R4 might be a bit louder than the XL, but compared to your 80mm fans case (presumably with no fan controller) it might as well be silent. If a tree falls in a forest....