Fractal Design Define R5 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Peter Donnell / 10 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Fractal Design Define R5 is a premium grade chassis, which means it commands a premium price tag. It will set you back £82.99/$109.99/€104.99 for the standard model, while the window equipped edition will be £89.99/$119.99/€114.99. This is fairly expensive, but given the range of features on offer, it’s still very competitive.

Overview

I think Fractal Design have really outdone themselves this time. They’ve managed to create one of the best made chassis’ on the market, that supports an incredible amount of ultra high-end hardware and they’ve managed to do it with a perfectly understated design. There’s a big market out there for ultra high performance systems, that don’t have all of the glaring lights and flashy front panels often associated with gaming rigs. Sure there’s a lot of fun to be had dressing your rig in a crazy looking chassis, but the Define series is the chassis equivalent of a well-tailored suit.

The frame and panels of the chassis are incredibly strong and cut from thick steel. This is very good news for those who are packing massive graphics cards and extensive water cooling into their system, as there is no doubt that the Define will be able to handle the extra weight. The build quality is further enhanced with heavy-duty sound dampening material, which combined with the thick and heavy panels should mean that there is barely a whisper from your system.

The Define R5 comes equipped with high quality dust filters on all major intakes for clean airflow, and there are protective covers on the top and side fan mounts to help keep noise in and debris out. This is perfect for those who don’t want to mount any additional cooling solutions, giving you great flexibility over your build. It’s up to you to choose more extreme cooling performance or better noise reduction.

Sound dampening materials, thick panels and removable covers are just the start. Fractal Design has also included their Dynamic GP14 140mm fans, which promise high airflow and minimum noise. In addition to this you’ll also benefit from the three speed fan controller, helping you further tailor the acoustic and cooling performance of your system.

Pros

Extensive air and water cooling support
Fully removable hard drive bays
Fully removable 5.25″ drive bay
2 x 2.5″ mounts behind motherboard
Vast amounts of cable routing space
Extremely durable build quality
Sound dampening material pre-installed
Washable and easily accessible dust filters
Built in fan controller
Competitive price
Reversible front panel door

Cons

None

“The Fractal Design Define R5 is easily one of the best chassis’ on the market. It’s packed full of features that make it ideal for an ultra-high end, ultra-quiet build. If you need no compromise on features and performance, combined with sleek and professional looking aesthetics – look no further than the Define R5.”