How long until NewEgg and Amazon have it?

Newegg is showing it in stock in several colors and is accepting orders. Amazon has never carried Fractal Design, although some of their resellers carry a few products. NCIX is the other big US and Canada dealer for FD, but they aren't showing the R4 yet.

Link the newegg? I only see the R3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... l%20Design

Not sure exactly what's what below... two of them are listed as "Black", two as "Titanium Grey". As I understand, the R4 is available in Black Pearl, Titanium Grey and Arctic White.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811352023

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811352021

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811352020

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811352022

Yeah, I missed it at first too somehow. I guess I didn't scroll down far enough.

Looks like Newegg has sorted out those R4 listings and also posted photos.

Black Pearl

Titanium Grey

Arctic White

... AND ...

Black Pearl with Window

Titanium Grey with Window

Arctic White with Window

It wasn't there for me. Maybe it was a glitch or I had an old cache or something. It is there now with the links provided by JJ (thanks!)

Adding a window to this case makes me laugh. Seriously Fractal Design?, what's next loud tacky LED fans and annoying bright cathode lights. Why in the world would you take one the best silent cases on the market and add an ugly,vibrating case window too it. I guess as long they still offer the window less version it's ok. Whatever helps them sell cases as long they don't become Thermaltake.

It's to show off the white fan and white slot covers in the photos.

You mean the black slot covers.

I guess we should be thankful they didn't add annoying finger print magnet high gloss paint job like on the Sonata series or Solo II damn those paint jobs are a pain in the ass. The R4 minus the windowed version is still the best slient case for the buck.

I dunno about that. I don't touch my case much. The matte black finishes can be a little delicate and have a tendency to scrape and scuff, unlike harder gloss finishes.

It's because enough people have begged them for a windowed version of the R2/R3's. Notice how they haven't put holes in the window, so apart from losing the bitumen dampening over that area it shouldn't be too much of a loss noise-wise. Although on the net I see some of the same people who were demanding a window cry about how the window is not full of holes. So true, it might simply be the wrong crowd to cater to. Also I'm not so sure this move to sell separate versions of the case with a window will be very profitable, compared to simply having the windowed side as an accessory. We'll see.

Your kidding? The gloss finish is scratched before you finish the build and the finger prints make your system look ugly. Not to mention over time the oils in hands eat into the gloss finish and make the prints permanent. I'll take flat black finish any day the week it would be even better if they gave it a really flat black like on the Bitfenix Merc series. Paint scaping off and scuffing only happens when poor quality thin pant is used. I wouldn't never buy Solo or Sonata again due to the paint.

I prefer high gloss. I have a rough-textured black case that is impossible to clean. You just get lint all over it when you try. Much easier to clean gloss finish.

You just have to ask... How much plastic is required simply to hold a filter in place over a fan?

The front fan filters on the R3 and Define Mini.

Heh, just noticed this... different fan too - 11 blades instead of 7.

Not just a different number of blades, a whole different size. 14cm. Which could partly explain the extra plastic on the dust filter, but I still think they could have done it less restrictive.

Ah, yes, I forgot that this was a 140mm fan. So the new design may be for a reason. Or they just found a different vendor to supply them.

It's one of their new line of fans that have been supplied with several of their newer case designs, but only just now starting to nudge out for separate sales. The fan line Silent Series R2 is looking to eventually replace the old one. I haven't seen one of those fans myself but they look like they could be at least a little bit nicer, especially at the 140mm size.

Anyone have used the R4 yet?

Just moved from Antec P180 to Titanium Grey R4. Love it so far. Fans are quiet.

If you have any other questions, just ask.

What voltage do you run the fans at?

Are you using the upper drive bay? Do you know how much it weighs? I'm thinking of moving from a P180 myself and I'm hoping with the upper bay removed on the R4 it gets a bit lighter. 27 lbs is a bit much.

For now, I am running the 2 stock fans @12 for now. Just built it. They are quiet. I did try the fan controller which does work. Have to hook it up to a molex connector which means I had to add a cable that had one which I didn't care for. Just installed a HR-02 Macho and it's fan is quiet too. This is *nothing* like the P180. It really is quiet and well done. Disclaimer: My GPU died over the weekend and have to RMA it. So I am running right now on the on board graphics. If one has a noisy GPU it might not seem so quiet.

I pulled both drive cages. The upper one is similar to the P180. Remove a thumbscrew and it slides right out. FWIW, the lower cage requires flipping it upside down & removing the screws on the bottom. I was surprised to see it had a small metal stabilizer arm as no reviews mentioned it. Popped the front bezel off (easily) and was able to get to those 2 screws. I decided to not use any 3.5" drives. I have a drive dock for those and just used an SSD and 2.5" 500GB, 7,200 RPM spinner from my laptop. I had replaced my laptop drive with an SSD and decided to use it. I used one of the drive rails to mount the spinner (there are 4 holes for mounting SSDs & added the SSD on top of it with a 2.5" mount. I could only screw in one screw on the side (it is just a drive rail after all) but it just sits on the bottom of my case.

Do I know how much the upper drive cage weighs? I really don't know. But I just picked both up and the R4 seems a *tiny* bit heavier than the P180 cage. 27 pounds is too much? I really like that it weighs so much less than the P180.

Thanks for the detailed response. I have a 3.5" and SSD that I use so I was planning on pulling both drive cages as well. What are the "drive rails" that you mount the SSD and 500 GB on? You can also mount an SSD on the back of the motherboard tray but you won't be able to remove it without removing the motherboard first.

The P180 is supposed to be 31 lbs so it shouldn't be too far off. I do think because the R4 is shorter it might be easier to carry etc so it might not feel as heavy.

You can mount a 2.5" SSD with double sided foam mounting tape. I'd do that before using a mount that requires removing the motherboard to remove the SSD.

Or velcro. Easier to remove/replace.

I shouldn't have said drive rails. But I was thinking about the P180. Instead I should of said drive tray. This is a large, close-up photo of it: http://www.fractal-design.com/img_prod/ ... 3-TI-8.jpg In that photo you can see where you can screw a 2.5" in from underneath. If you look closely you may make out a slight oblong depression near the rubber grommets.

FWIW, I read numerous complaints about the grommets falling out on the motherboard tray side of the case. None fell out as I pushed large cables from the PSU for example through. So they did in fact improve that.

I may end up cutting off the front prongs & using velcro on the bottom of the drive tray. But since it's a work in progress, right now it's fine. Not at all interested in mounting it in the back of the motherboard tray. What a PITA that would be to replace!

I had one pop out when assembling my Define Mini, but it wasn't a big deal. You do have to be careful. The problem is that the plastic compound is too soft and flexible. It wouldn't be difficult for Fractal Design to fix.

I will say that I sure could have used the added room of the R4 behind the motherboard tray for cables. Even with a modular power supply and no GPU, it took a lot of effort to get them all to fit. I probably plugged, unplugged and rerouted every cable in the case three time before it was right. Gave those grommets a good workout.