Fractal Design Define R5 - Mid Tower Computer Case - ATX - Optimized for High Airflow and Silent - 2X Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 140mm Silent Fans Included - Water-Cooling Ready - Black

While the R5 is an older case, it's still very relivent today. It's large enough that it's easy to work in, it' sturdy, has good air flow, has sound deampening material, and is extremely customisable. I've had it for 5.5 years and i suspect i will keep it at least a full decade.

Purchased this case primarily for it's width and ability to utilize a tall air cooled cpu cooler, the Noctua NH-D15 G2. The ASUS ROG STRIX Z890-H GAMING WIFI motherboard, three SATA HDD, blu-ray burner all assembled ok. The cable management features make for a neat looking assembly. I wanted to avoid an AIO water cooled setup for long term reliability and simplicity. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K system is running cooler than my previous i7-7700K. In particular the M.2 NVME drives. Previously Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500GB NVMe - M.2 which ran pretty hot and now Crucial T705 1TB PCIe Gen5 NVMe M.2 and Crucial P310 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe 2280 M.2.

Excellent case, using for my NAS/home theater PC. Lot's of room for drives which is the biggest part, but it is also SILENT.

Building a PC for a friend. I might need to get one for myself. This has everything you might need for a decent server tower/NAS setup with the added bonus that it looks sleek. Pros: Lacks "gamer" rgb features; built for a power user; feels solid (not at all flimsy like many cases today). Cons: I bought another before finishing this review; bank balance negative; will never financially recover.

I finally hit the point of needing to replace the old case for my home computer, which had outlasted a couple motherboard/CPU combinations, and wanted a case that would be quieter, better fit the outsized heatsink fan/combo on my CPU, and be easier to work in. I'd narrowed it down to a short list, nearly got the Fractal Design Define R7, and then settled on the Define R5 because of the lower price and because the R7 would not have shipped for several weeks. I'm glad I went for this- the R5 is just the maximum size I would have wanted, and anything more would have been too large to comfortably fit the free space under my desk.When I got the Define R5 case, the first thing I realized is that it's the same case as my new computer at work; a bunch of our work machines were replaced with upgraded computers at the beginning of 2020, and I've been very happy with it there, so that was promising. Second thing I noticed was that the instructions were beautifully clear, in perfect English with good illustrations, making it much easier to go through setting up. (+ other languages, of course.) The third thing was, well, everything about this case.This is what people talk about when they say "Scandinavian design" - the focus on both function and aesthetics, with conscientious attention to even small details. It's all perfectly thought out, from the internal layout, the flexibility to change the layout around, the aesthetics even on the inside of the case, soundproofing, to cable routing and the careful selection of mounting screws and hardware - everything is incredibly thoughtfully planned.A few highlights:+++ Easy to work in - I've been building my own PCs since the late '80s (yes, really) and this is by far the easiest I've ever worked with in terms of how things go together.+++ The soundproofing is fantastic. As I sit here writing this review, I can't hear a single sound from this computer, unlike my old case. The case fans are completely silent, and the dampening on the panels cuts out any noise from the power supply.+++ Air flow is great - with just the two included 140mm fans, the board and CPU are staying cool despite moderate overclocking, but you could mount additional fans up to 6 more places if you thought you needed them. (3 top, 1 front, 1 bottom, 1 side panel.)++ Good drive mounting - you could fit an absurd number of hard drives in here, and they have lightweight metal snap-in "sled" mounts to make it easy to fit them in place, with rubber grommets to absorb drive vibration; besides those, there are two special mounts for 2.5" SSDs on the back of the motherboard tray.++ 2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0 slots, plus audio jacks on front top of the case where they're easy to reach, and a nice-looking power switch.++ Every mounting screw or component you will need, all good quality and black finished, with thumb screws wherever appropriate. There are rubber vibration-absorbing grommets for the hard-drive mounts, black cable zip-ties, and even a little plastic socket to slip over the hexagonal mobo mounting posts to make it easy to tighten them properly.+ Cable routing options - several cut-outs with rubber diaphragms to let you route cables around the backside (right) of the case to keep them out of sight, velcro ties to pull them together; well-designed/routed cables to the front-panel switches, audio, LEDs, and case fan(s).+ Alternative layouts - the instruction booklet shows you a number of ways you can change things around internally. Want the power supply on top instead of on the bottom? Want to mount a water-cooling system? Want to take out some of the drive cages, or reorient them? Want 3 more intake fans? There are a bunch of ways to do it.+++ Looks extremely classy, especially if you're into minimalist black monoliths, as I am. Blame the movie '2001'I can't think of many negatives, but for the sake of completeness:- The fan mount positions, especially the second front fan, really call for 140mm fans. I was going to stick a spare 120mm there but couldn't see how best to attach it. It's fine, as it's ended up not really needing it for airflow. I may buy another 140mm to add in later.- If you just have to have a 3.5" floppy drive or tape drive for old time's sake, you'll have to fit it into one of the two 5" optical drive slots. Sorry.

If you love SATA drives, get this case.

First let me start by saying that in its basic design, it is very quiet. Even with an extra fan installed, it's still quieter sitting next to me than the 10 gal aquarium across the room from me is. If you're in a room where you have constant air circulation, (like a portable fan or central air), you really won't notice this making any noise at all.I've noticed that the more fans you add, the noisier it seems to get. I've swapped one of the base fans on the front for a Noctua 140mm, and added a second to the front. The Noctua's run quieter than the Fractal Design base 140mms, but you do notice the increased airflow noise. Even with this change, it's still noticeably quieter than my old Thermaltake Soprano was. We're not quite silent, but it is a real improvement. I've not messed with the top fan placements yet, but I suspect these are the source of most of the negative noise comments. With these still on, adding additional fans doesn't seem to ramp up your noise levels by very much at all.I really appreciate the modular nature of the internal bays, however. Not only is this case quiet and has a decent cable management built in, but the configuration is really well done. I've tried out three of the modular drive bay configurations and they're quite easy to install and change. You will still be taking off both the side panels, but it isn't horribly difficult if you know how to use a phillips screwdriver. You have room for a massive number of HDDs, and once you get one installed in the 3.5" drive guides, you can easily swap it out between 3.5" bays should you decide to change your internal configuration. Actually, the main noise issue I noticed is I can now hear the HDDs and Optical Drives over the fans. If you decide to use all solid state drives and skip the opticals, all you should notice is a gentle whooshing noise.The fans are really my only issue with this case. The stock fans are easy to install and the case is well machined to fit the bolts, but the fans themselves do not utilize any grommets to separate the bolt head from the plastic shell of the fan. The Noctuas I installed have a multitude of rubber surfaces to absorb vibrations and maintain the tension on each bolt. On the stock fans, I can see myself needing to tighten the bolts in a few months as the fan vibrates them slightly loose and begin to rub. I may be wrong, but it just seems like a less solid grip without the rubber contacts. They do use the 1" fan bolts, however, so that will definitely cut down on the actual vibrations over the old .25" fan bolts most of us have used.