Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 microATX Tower

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Lawrence Lee
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Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 microATX Tower

Post by Lawrence Lee » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:23 pm


CA_Steve
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Re: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 microATX Tower

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:03 am

Thanks for the review.
This is also the first Fractal case we've used with a side window, something added to entice enthusiasts who can't help but peer into their systems' innards to admire their cabling or lighting, or to simply check if anything has caught fire.
Made me laugh.

tehcrazybob
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Re: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 microATX Tower

Post by tehcrazybob » Fri Feb 07, 2014 12:22 pm

Where did you install the fans for this test? I have the original Arc Mini, and I found that I got the best results with three fans, all at the top and rear acting as exhaust. The shape of the fan grills made any intake fans unacceptably loud.

I've had my Arc Mini for about a year, and I love it. It was a toss-up between the Define and the Arc, but I ultimately decided that I would be able to make the Arc quieter despite the missing features. I don't have a mechanical hard drive, just an SSD (all my bulk storage is networked), and all my fans are very quiet - the case fans are undervolted Nexus 120s, the CPU has an HR-02 Macho, and the video card has Gigabyte's two-fan heatpipe cooler. Since all of these items are basically silent when run individually, I wasn't actually worried about masking system noise, so much as preventing it in the first place. I went with the Arc for better airflow, and I removed all the dust filters and even cut out the lower layer of fan grill on the top of the case to further improve matters. I'm very happy with my results;espite having so many direct escape paths for noise, the free airflow means there's almost no noise to worry about.

JJ
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Re: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 microATX Tower

Post by JJ » Fri Feb 28, 2014 4:08 pm

The reviewer completely misses the point of this and other Fractal Design cases that aren't built to maximize silence. If someone doesn't want the noise suppressing features, then they generally just get in the way. They're not "missing" or "removed".

quest_for_silence
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Re: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 microATX Tower

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:36 am

Freshly released, the Corsair Obsidian 450D: better than the FD Arc-series?

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