Fractal Design Define R6 or Define 7
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 2:58 pm
I've got a Define R5 at the moment housing my old i5 4670k system, with a 1070ti and several SSDs and HDDs.
I'm going to keep this system for general stuff and gaming (even though it's a bit outdated, I've never had any problems playing games with it) but I'm building a new system which will primarily be more music production, using:
MSI MEG x570 Unify motherboard
Ryzen 3850x CPU
Noctua NH-D15s cromax.black (with an extra Scythe 120mm fan on the front)
64GB DDR4 3600Mhz
I've currently got this on the bench. As the 3850x doesn't have any onboard GPU, I'm using my 1070ti as it's the only card I have and my i5 is just using the onboard GPU for now, which is fine as I'm too busy for gaming at the moment anyway and I've got my Xbox if I get some free time. Obviously I don't really need a 1070ti in a music production PC but its impossible to get even a basic dual/triple output graphics card at the moment. Hopefully sometime I'll be able to get a more modern GPU for gaming for a decent price and stick that in my i5 (which will no doubt bottleneck the GPU but I'll probably upgrade that machine to an 8 core CPU like the 5800x sometime), so I may just end up leaving the 1070ti in the new PC.
So, I'm trying to decide between the Define R6 (probably the USB type-C version) or the Define 7 for my new PC. Both have some improvements over the Define R5, such as:
sound dampened panels on both sides (only the left one on the R5);
slightly higher CPU cooler space (185mm vs 180mm);
vertical GPU mounting (won't be visible because I'd be using the solid panels but it will take the weight off the motherboard, which can only be a good thing);
space for 3x120mm front fans (only 2 on the R5 and if using 140mm fans the R5 and R6 both support 2, whilst the Define 7 supports 3);
swappable solid or filtered top panel (I'll probably use the solid one for maximum sound reduction but it's nice to have the option to try the filtered).
Things I don't like about the R6 and/or Define 7 include:
the PSU shroud. That seems to only make sense if you're using a windowed panel and want to make things look nice but with a solid panel it doesn't really serve any purpose and means the HDD rack has to sit above the shroud instead of reaching all the way down to the bottom of the case. Whilst there's space for a couple of drives under the shroud, they're going to get hotter there and if you're using a front fan at the bottom, the shroud cuts across the middle of that which isn't good for airflow. Can the PSU shroud be removed in either the R6 or Define 7?
on the Define 7 the highest front fan is also cut across, as shown here
https://static.tweaktown.com/content/9/ ... w_full.jpg
and it isn't aligned with the CPU, which results in worse thermal performance. Is it possible to move both fans down, so that the highest one is aligned with the CPU and neither are cut across by the frame or the PSU shroud? Presumably this picture shows the two included 140mm fans, so if its impossible to lower them to achieve this, maybe replacing them with 120mm fans would fix that problem but then of course they'd have to run faster and louder to produce the same amount of airflow, so that wouldn't be ideal.
despite being 14mm and 24mm higher than the R5 and only having one 5.25" bay vs two on the R5, the R6 and Define 7 only support six 3.5"/2.5" drives, plus two 2.5", although you can buy extra 3.5"/2.5" brackets for the Define 7 for £10/two trays, up to a maximum of 14, and an extra two dedicated 2.5" brackets (the R5 is 8+2 out of the box). To be honest though, with a couple of NVMes on the motherboard, plus a couple of SSDs, I'll probably only need 2-3 large capacity HDDs for archiving projects.
So my main concern with the Define 7 is the front fan arrangement. If I can rearrange them so that two 140mm fans sit lower down and aren't blocked at all by the frame or the PSU shroud, then I can put up with the PSU shroud. If that can't be done, I guess I'll have to get the R6, which is about £50 cheaper and a bit more compact in all three dimensions.
The R5 is 521 x 232 x 451 mm
the R6 is 543 x 233 x 465 mm
the D7 is 547 x 240 x 475 mm.
I'm not sure how the R6 is only 1mm wider than the R5 yet it fits a 185mm CPU cooler vs a 180mm one and it's still 185mm for the D7, despite being 7mm wider than the R6 but hey ho. I don't really need any extra depth or height over the R5. I guess the extra depth is either to accommodate longer GPUs (I don't know if modern ones are much longer) or thicker radiators but I'm not planning to use either with this build. I suppose it might make sense in future, if I get a longer GPU, to move my gaming PC into the new case and put my music production PC in the smaller R5.
Anyway, that's all I can think of. Are there any other pros or cons with the R6 vs the D7 that I should be aware of before making a decision?
I'm going to keep this system for general stuff and gaming (even though it's a bit outdated, I've never had any problems playing games with it) but I'm building a new system which will primarily be more music production, using:
MSI MEG x570 Unify motherboard
Ryzen 3850x CPU
Noctua NH-D15s cromax.black (with an extra Scythe 120mm fan on the front)
64GB DDR4 3600Mhz
I've currently got this on the bench. As the 3850x doesn't have any onboard GPU, I'm using my 1070ti as it's the only card I have and my i5 is just using the onboard GPU for now, which is fine as I'm too busy for gaming at the moment anyway and I've got my Xbox if I get some free time. Obviously I don't really need a 1070ti in a music production PC but its impossible to get even a basic dual/triple output graphics card at the moment. Hopefully sometime I'll be able to get a more modern GPU for gaming for a decent price and stick that in my i5 (which will no doubt bottleneck the GPU but I'll probably upgrade that machine to an 8 core CPU like the 5800x sometime), so I may just end up leaving the 1070ti in the new PC.
So, I'm trying to decide between the Define R6 (probably the USB type-C version) or the Define 7 for my new PC. Both have some improvements over the Define R5, such as:
sound dampened panels on both sides (only the left one on the R5);
slightly higher CPU cooler space (185mm vs 180mm);
vertical GPU mounting (won't be visible because I'd be using the solid panels but it will take the weight off the motherboard, which can only be a good thing);
space for 3x120mm front fans (only 2 on the R5 and if using 140mm fans the R5 and R6 both support 2, whilst the Define 7 supports 3);
swappable solid or filtered top panel (I'll probably use the solid one for maximum sound reduction but it's nice to have the option to try the filtered).
Things I don't like about the R6 and/or Define 7 include:
the PSU shroud. That seems to only make sense if you're using a windowed panel and want to make things look nice but with a solid panel it doesn't really serve any purpose and means the HDD rack has to sit above the shroud instead of reaching all the way down to the bottom of the case. Whilst there's space for a couple of drives under the shroud, they're going to get hotter there and if you're using a front fan at the bottom, the shroud cuts across the middle of that which isn't good for airflow. Can the PSU shroud be removed in either the R6 or Define 7?
on the Define 7 the highest front fan is also cut across, as shown here
https://static.tweaktown.com/content/9/ ... w_full.jpg
and it isn't aligned with the CPU, which results in worse thermal performance. Is it possible to move both fans down, so that the highest one is aligned with the CPU and neither are cut across by the frame or the PSU shroud? Presumably this picture shows the two included 140mm fans, so if its impossible to lower them to achieve this, maybe replacing them with 120mm fans would fix that problem but then of course they'd have to run faster and louder to produce the same amount of airflow, so that wouldn't be ideal.
despite being 14mm and 24mm higher than the R5 and only having one 5.25" bay vs two on the R5, the R6 and Define 7 only support six 3.5"/2.5" drives, plus two 2.5", although you can buy extra 3.5"/2.5" brackets for the Define 7 for £10/two trays, up to a maximum of 14, and an extra two dedicated 2.5" brackets (the R5 is 8+2 out of the box). To be honest though, with a couple of NVMes on the motherboard, plus a couple of SSDs, I'll probably only need 2-3 large capacity HDDs for archiving projects.
So my main concern with the Define 7 is the front fan arrangement. If I can rearrange them so that two 140mm fans sit lower down and aren't blocked at all by the frame or the PSU shroud, then I can put up with the PSU shroud. If that can't be done, I guess I'll have to get the R6, which is about £50 cheaper and a bit more compact in all three dimensions.
The R5 is 521 x 232 x 451 mm
the R6 is 543 x 233 x 465 mm
the D7 is 547 x 240 x 475 mm.
I'm not sure how the R6 is only 1mm wider than the R5 yet it fits a 185mm CPU cooler vs a 180mm one and it's still 185mm for the D7, despite being 7mm wider than the R6 but hey ho. I don't really need any extra depth or height over the R5. I guess the extra depth is either to accommodate longer GPUs (I don't know if modern ones are much longer) or thicker radiators but I'm not planning to use either with this build. I suppose it might make sense in future, if I get a longer GPU, to move my gaming PC into the new case and put my music production PC in the smaller R5.
Anyway, that's all I can think of. Are there any other pros or cons with the R6 vs the D7 that I should be aware of before making a decision?