Fractal Design announces Define S, silent case with watercooling support

Fractal Design announces Define S, silent case with watercooling support

Fractal Design has long had a reputation for making sleek, minimalist cases with separate product lines focused on different features like air flow, silent computing or home entertainment form factors. The Swedish company has now expanded its Define line of silent computing cases with the Define S, a mid-tower case designed for watercooling enthusiasts and featuring sound dampening pads for quieter operation.

The noise dampening material and closed design of silent computing cases can often compromise cooling performance, but Fractal has made every effort to ensure that airflow is not compromised in the Define S. It has made some bold design changes to the case’s internal layout, doing away with optical drive bays and hard drive cages to facilitate a clear straight path for air from the front intake fans and provide more room for custom watercooling setups.

But given the readily availability of digital copies of games and other software, we don’t see many people missing the removal of the optical drive bays. However, users hoping to install fan controllers or LED controllers like the NZXT Hue will probably have to find some other workaround. Fractal has also moved all the drive mounts around to the back of the motherboard tray. Users will be able to mount up to two 2.5-inch SSDs and three 3.5-inch HDDs; the latter mounts can also accommodate 2.5-inch drives.

The Define S will support CPU coolers up to 180mm in height and graphics cards up to 425mm length – without any front radiators installed of course – thanks to the absent hard drive cages. The case also features a total of 9 fan mounts (the windowed version of the case has 8) for extensive radiator support for watercooling setups. The three 140mm fan mounts at the top will support a 420mm radiator, while the front mounts can take up to a 360mm radiator. The top mounts also come with ModuVent fan slot covers that can be removed depending on the user’s preference for additional cooling or maximum sound absorption.

In addition, the Define S sports smart reservoir brackets, drill-free reservoir mounting on the front of the motherboard tray, and pre-drilled pump mounting holes on the bottom panel to further cater to watercooling enthusiasts. The side panels screw on with captive thumbscrews – you’ll never lose these – and further ease the installation process.

Furthermore, it is nice to see that Fractal has included rubber grommets on its cable routing holes, with a large cut-out at the bottom for passing the largest power supply cables to the back. There are also dust filters for the front and bottom intakes, and we wouldn’t expect anything less from Fractal.

The Fractal Define S will come in both window and non-window versions, which will retail for US$89.99 and US$79.99 respectively in June. 

Source: Fractal Design