Fractal Design Define R6 Tempered Glass Edition Case Review

[Guest]

Fractal Design's reputation for high-quality, feature-rich, budget-friendly chassis is put to the test with the tempered-glass version of the company’s new Define R6 mid-tower ATX case.

Fractal Design Define R6 Tempered Glass Edition Case Review : Read more

 

[hannibal]

Not bad at all!
I would hope to see even one USB c-type port in the cases today and would not mind second 5.25" bay. Still use that good ole burner and then there need to be one slot for control panel. But maybe I need bigger case for that...
But good case in any way!

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

A bit overpriced for what you get in my opinion.

 

[TheDane]

Love Fractal Design cases! Only using them now.

 

[ddferrari]

It's hard to get excited about a $150 case with "mediocre thermal performance".

 

[madmatt30]

You pay for the build quality with the fractals.
That is expensive though comparitively for what amounts to a tempered glass side panel over the predecessors really.

32 pound in weight though ?!?!
That thing aint moving once you've planted it down.

 

[hannibal]

Upgrade kit Connect D1 will offer USB c Connection so even that is as it should be. Nice!
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/accessories/connect-d1

 

[Centrinox86]

Finally they put audio connector surrounded with metal instead of plastic which was prone to breaking.

 

[Jay_29]

I was never too satisfied with their cases; the sound dampening design didn’t really dampen my HDD noise all that much. The plastic cover feels cheap and the side panels warp.

 

[waylo]

What exactly has changed since the R5? Only major thing I could gather from my quick read-through was there's now a metal sheet separating the PSU area from the rest of the case? Is that a good thing?

 

[madmatt30]

^ well you're pretty much there , both the drive bays & hard drive cages have removeable sheet metal shrouds so you dont see any non-niceties with the full size tempered glaas panel.

Didn't matter with the r4/r5 as the panel only had a fairly mini window which hid these anyway (I do wish they included a shroud in both those former cases though -I ended up making my own)

For me its pretty much an r5 tempered glass edition rather than a brand new case but then thats not such a bad thing.

Too expensive though imo , retail in the uk is £134.99 - the define c glass is only £70-80, the r4/r5 can be had for less than £70 too & all the r6 really offers is a couple of extra drive bays & room.for an optical drive.

 

[Lutfij]

I think Fractal got it right with the design of the tempered glass side panel. The way they got metal to contact the glass panel with adhesive yet not show on the business end would be something of an industry first.

The price tag would be a downer since the case could appeal to air cooling folks or those who'd want to show off their home servers/NAS. On the flip side, the attention to detail and how it's pretty well geared to the watercooling crowd for custom level cooling puts it right up top for cases that need no modding at all to drop in large radiators, push/pull setups and yet hunker down with storage options.

Nice write up nonetheless

P.S: There's a video by Bill Owen from MNPCtech showcasing teh R6 and it's got some nice touches hence my mention of the attention to detail by Fractal.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Still it's a $100.00 case tops.
$150.00 is a little high for what it is.

 

[jeff.vandyne]

I've been using the non-windowed versions of the Define series since the R3 for small and quiet media server builds. The loss of two 3.5" bays is a deal killer for me. I guess I'll be looking for a new server case. Bummer...I really liked these cases.

 

[cleetose]

"Designed to mimic the look of brushed aluminum, the front of the case is a large plastic door."

It's not just made to look like brushed aluminum, it actually is brushed aluminum.

 

[Crashman]

"Designed to mimic the look of brushed aluminum, the front of the case is a large plastic door."

It's not just made to look like brushed aluminum, it actually is brushed aluminum.

I realize that some cases of this style have aluminum inserts on the front panel, but I don't see it on this one. And many cases in this style have a textured grain designed to mimic the look of brushed aluminum. So I didn't think he was mistaken when I edited his review, and I still doubt that he was mistaken since I've seen larger images that still don't show any aluminum insert/skin.

 

[cleetose]

"Designed to mimic the look of brushed aluminum, the front of the case is a large plastic door."

It's not just made to look like brushed aluminum, it actually is brushed aluminum.

I realize that some cases of this style have aluminum inserts on the front panel, but I don't see it on this one. And many cases in this style have a textured grain designed to mimic the look of brushed aluminum. So I didn't think he was mistaken when I edited his review, and I still doubt that he was mistaken since I've seen larger images that still don't show any aluminum insert/skin.

Fractal Design's product page says the cover is anodized aluminum. I guess they could be wrong about their own case, but I doubt it.

 

[marksavio]

well if you live in europe. these cases are cheaper than in most other countries around the world (minus all the customs/trade tax). but you cant deny the fact that fractal makes really good and well thought out cases for build enthusiasts. but in the end you cant make them all happy rofl.

 

[madmatt30]

The r6 absolutely 100% does have an anodized aluminium sheet insert on the exterior of the front panel .

You could argue because the main hinged substructure of the door is plastic its a plastic front - id argue the other way & call it a metal front.