Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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silenceorgtfo
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Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by silenceorgtfo » Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:12 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVDyMTJ334I

Anyone knows what is this about? No idea about what they are saying on there
Is there any diferences with the original other than the logo? :?

edh
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by edh » Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:24 am

More than just logo, there are also different coloured fans, HDD mounts, power LED and the number of fan mounts is 4 rather than 7. The two fan mounts at the top of the case have gone for example. This may be better suited for some users and may be quieter for some but the differences are small.

It all seems to have been done with the German 'PC Games Hardware', hence PCGH:
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Gehaeuse- ... n-1030701/

Wonder if this might be German market only then?

flemeister
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by flemeister » Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:30 am

  • Black HDD trays and expansion slot covers (instead of the stock white colour)
  • Black fan blades for the 2x 140mm fans (instead of the stock white colour) -- they are otherwise identical to the stock fans
  • Solid top and side panels (instead of the optional fan mounts with the stock version) -- cleaner aesthetics, especially if you weren't going to use those vents anyway)
  • White power LED (instead of the stock blue colour)
  • Metal PCGH logo included with the case (in the accessories bag, for you to stick on where you want it)
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Gehaeuse- ... n-1030701/

silenceorgtfo
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by silenceorgtfo » Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:29 am

flemeister wrote:
  • Black HDD trays and expansion slot covers (instead of the stock white colour)
  • Black fan blades for the 2x 140mm fans (instead of the stock white colour) -- they are otherwise identical to the stock fans
  • Solid top and side panels (instead of the optional fan mounts with the stock version) -- cleaner aesthetics, especially if you weren't going to use those vents anyway)
  • White power LED (instead of the stock blue colour)
  • Metal PCGH logo included with the case (in the accessories bag, for you to stick on where you want it)
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Gehaeuse- ... n-1030701/
lol that's barely the same thing. If they added an HDD activity led I would get that one, but I like the option of having upgradeable fans just in case. Blue led also looks cooller than white.

anonapon
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by anonapon » Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:22 pm

I really like it. I just put a server in a standard R4, and think it's the best case I've ever used. Now I'm looking for an R4 for my desktop, and for my purposes, this seems to be an improvement in every way. I'd like to get one, but as someone who doesn't speak German, I'm having trouble finding an online shop. I could trust in Amazon and hope that its standardization with Amazon.de might help me avoid mistakes, but I'm not there yet.

My only disappointments with the standard R4 are with the LED, although not with its lack of a sibling to display HDD activity. One, it's too bright, and two, it's blue, when I would much prefer something else, say, if there was another option and I was to get lucky, white. The PCGH edition solves one of those disappointments exactly.

Also, I thought I would note, because it's suggested but not exactly made clear in the video, and it's something I was wondering about, that it looks like the logo is a decal which comes with the other accessories and is not pre-applied to the case.

edh
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by edh » Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:00 am

anonapon wrote:One, it's too bright, and two, it's blue, when I would much prefer something else, say, if there was another option and I was to get lucky, white.
You could do an LED swap perhaps? Any shop that sells modding kit should have suitable LEDs although again you might have the same problem with brightness. Maybe finding a 12V LED and hooking it up to the power LED header (3.3V) would suit you as then it would be a dim glow.

anonapon
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by anonapon » Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:13 am

Thank you for the tip. I'm a little worried that I won't be able to get at the LED in the case, but I'll have to give it a look.

Cistron
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by Cistron » Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:57 am

anonapon wrote:My only disappointments with the standard R4 are with the LED, although not with its lack of a sibling to display HDD activity. One, it's too bright, and two, it's blue, when I would much prefer something else, say, if there was another option and I was to get lucky, white.
Either don't plug it in, or tape over it. I'm not sure what the obsession about power LEDs is in the first place. Surely you'll notice whether your working PC is on or off within a few seconds.

edit: not trying to peeve anyone off, all in good jest! ;)

edit2: I speak German natively, so if you have any issues with a webpage, I might be able to help you out.

anonapon
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by anonapon » Sun Feb 03, 2013 4:42 am

I'm not sure what the obsession about power LEDs is in the first place.
edit: not trying to peeve anyone off, all in good jest!
Don't worry, I understand. :) I focused on it, in part, because I'm pretty happy with the rest of the case (I say that as I try to buy a slightly different version). The LED is a very minor and easily solvable problem. If I can't easily replace it, I'll simply disconnect the header, and pretty soon after, will barely think about it.

Thank you very much for your offer to help me, it's very kind of you. I asked Fractal Design directly, and they told me that the case is only being stocked by German stores. None of the Amazon.de affiliated stores would ship it to the US, and it seems to be disappearing from many other independent sites, but Alternate seems to have it in stock, so I'm going to take a chance and order it from there.

The form to fill out my billing information etc. mostly resembles any other web form, but there are a couple of fields in my Google translated version which I might or might not be getting correct. Below should be a link to a screen cap of the non-translated page; any thoughts you have to offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again. :)


Image

Cistron
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by Cistron » Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:37 am

anonapon wrote:Below should be a link to a screen cap of the non-translated page; any thoughts you have to offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again. :)


Image
I think you did a good job. Given that "anderes Land" just means "other country", it would be advisable to fill in your City, State and Country into the box labelled "Ort" next to "PLZ".

Also, don't forget your country code with the phone number.

According to the Box on the right, reading "Versandkosten Auslandsbestellung" they will get back to you with a purchase offer showing the overall costs (P&P and local VAT).

Fingers crossed.

edh
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by edh » Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:52 am

That seems a very expensive way of getting hold of a case. Within the EU/EEC it seems reasonable enough but you will have to get it through customs and pay duty on it to get it to the US.

Alternate.de only list some EEC countries (Norway for example is EEC but not EU) and anderes Land could therefore mean those other EEC countries, in particular some in the East are not shown. I think you'll get to the same point of them not being able to sell to you as they will not do exports - EEC is not export.

Why not contact a US Fractal reseller and ask if they'd order on your behalf? State that you're willing to pay extra and some of the smaller more specialist sites might actually do it for you.

HellDiverUK
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by HellDiverUK » Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:35 am

You folks do know that Google Chrome automatically translates web pages for you, don't you? :D

Cistron
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by Cistron » Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:54 pm

HellDiverUK wrote:You folks do know that Google Chrome automatically translates web pages for you, don't you? :D
Google translate _was_ used. But the subtleties of some languages aren't that easily unlocked, nor are the address customs of some countries.

anonapon
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by anonapon » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:49 pm

Thought I would post an update. The purchase, unfortunately, didn't go through at Alternate. I e-mailed them and they let me know that at this time they do not ship to the US. They do ship to Great Britain, however, so, following on edh's suggestion, I contacted a shop in Scotland, Kustom, with which I had a particularly good customer service experience a couple years ago when I was trying to get a hard-to-find item, and asked them if they would buy a case and then sell it on to me for a premium.

I'll report back when I hear from them.

anonapon
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 PCGH-Edition

Post by anonapon » Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:07 pm

Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be purchasing the case, although not because, in the end, it's unavailable, Kustom got back to me quickly on the request, and was willing to provide the case, asking only for a very reasonable margin, but estimated (couldn't be certain without the case on hand) that the final shipping charges I would accrue from the two shipments, which I expected to be high, could about equal the price of the case itself, putting it out of my range.

If anyone else out there is interested in getting the case shipped to them in a country outside of Alternate's area, though, Kustom would have my recommendation.

My thanks to Cistron and edh for the help, and silenceorgtfo for the original post.

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