FRONTPAGE Fractal Design Arc Midi and Arc Mini

[Overclockers.com]

We'll be taking a look at Fractal Design's Arc series of cases, the Arc Midi and Arc Mini. When Fractal Design first moved into the US market, we had the opportunity to review one of their high-end cases, the Define R3. That case turned out to be a well-built, feature-rich case for the money, which followed Fractal Design's concept word-for-word...

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[MattNo5ss]

Update:

I overlooked some of the mounting holes on the Midi's 3rd top vent, rear vent, and bottom vent. The Midi does support 120 mm fans in those spots. Only the side and front panels do not support the 120 mm fans.

Just to be clear, the MSRP on the Midi is $109 and $99 on the Midi, as can be seen in the NewEgg link. But, that doesn't really change my conclusion about the pricing. The Midi, Mini, and R3 are all still very close in pricing, and it seems like the features of the R3 would cost more to implement than those of the Arc series. However, all three are great cases and well worth the $100-110.

 

[chaos]

Arc midi--I love the case so far! ...Still doing some modifications to it...

 

[MattNo5ss]

Thanks for the additional pics! I hope you don't mind that I stuck your mod in the article.

I still think you should flip your PSU

 

[bludd]

Arc midi--I love the case so far! ...Still doing some modifications to it...

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Nice looking mod, just wondering, where did you get your u channel molding from?

Thanks in advance.

 

[MattNo5ss]

I'm not sure where he got his molding, but here's a couple sites...

http://www.mnpctech.com/UChannel.html

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=130_132_1014

http://www.frozencpu.com/scan/MM=c6...=keyword_search&mv_searchspec=molding&mv_arg=

 

[Scuba Steve VA]

My stock Arc Mini with the standard Fractal Fans, Fractal fan controller, and top drive cage removed:

Although I have since jacked out the fan controller and fans and replaced them with PWM Noiseblockers....and added a second 120mm XtraFlo as an outflow on the CPU cooler.

Update:

<snip>

Just to be clear, the MSRP on the Midi is $109 and $99 on the Midi, as can be seen in the NewEgg link. But, that doesn't really change my conclusion about the pricing. The Midi, Mini, and R3 are all still very close in pricing, and it seems like the features of the R3 would cost more to implement than those of the Arc series. However, all three are great cases and well worth the $100-110.

The R3 has only two fans and, unlike the Define Mini and XL, does not have a removable upper drive cage. The Arcs have three fans and removable upper drive cages. They also have removable top and front panels, while the Defines have a door and acoustic foam. It's probably a wash.

The prices on all of them are routinely lower. The R3 was available for $79 recently and I saw the Arcs at Micro Center for around $90 not long ago..although they are both closer to $100 there now.


EDIT: Whoops...way old thread. LOL. My bad.

cheers,
Scuba