Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 Review

Today we are taking a look at Fractal Design's latest micro-ATX offering, the Arc Mini R2. Based on the excellent Arc Midi R2, the Arc Mini R2 boasts support for multiple 240 mm radiators or a single 360 mm radiator, 7 fan positions and power supplies up to 220 mm in length. So, is its £70 asking price justified? Specifications: Motherboard support: Micro ATX, Mini-ITX. 2 x 5.25" bays. 6 x 3.5" drive trays. 2 x 2.5" drive positions behind motherboard tray. 4+1 expansion slots. Supports up to 7 fans. Supports CPU coolers up to 165 mm in height. Supports power supplies up to 220 mm in length. Supports graphics cards up to 400 mm in length. 20 mm space behind motherboard tray. Case dimensions (WxHxD): 210 x 405 x 484mm Net weight: 9kg Package weight: 10kg Staying true to the Arc series, the Arc Mini R2 is very sleek and understated. The front and top panels feature two large mesh covers acting as dust filters. The side panel features a relatively large window that is protected by a film layer on both sides. The I/O panel has been integrated near the front at the top of the case. At the very bottom of the front panel we can see the only visible branding on the case. Changing our angle and moving closer gives us a better look at the brushed finish on the front panel. The front panel is slightly deceptive at first sight as as it appears to be made of aluminium. Upon closer inspection we can see it has been crafted out of plastic. Turning the case around shows how large the window really is, hiding only the drive cages. The I/O panel houses the Reset button on the far left. Moving to the right there are audio and mic jacks, a Power button, two USB 3.0 ports and the 3-step fan controller. Although very minor, it is nice to see Fractal Design have etched the fan controller's settings into the panel. Moving to the back of the case shows the white expansion slot covers and one of three included fans. Along the top of the case we can see the top panel is held in place with two thumb screws. Finally, flipping the case on its side shows the large dust filter underneath the power supply and mounting position of a bottom in-take fan. Four large feet provide plenty of clearance for users who set their systems down on carpet. Starting at the front we can see there is space to install two 120 mm front in-take fans. The I/O panel has been integrated separately from the top and front panels to prevent any accidents that may occur as a result of taking the case apart. Turning the front panel around reveals one of the included Silent Series R2 fans. This fan is rated to provide 40.6 CFM of airflow at 1,200 RPM with a maximum noise level of 15.0 dBa Moving to the inside of the case we can see Fractal Design have chosen to accentuate the Arc Mini R2's design with white drive caddies. At the bottom we can see there are four rubber feet for the power supply to rest on. Directly to the right of these feet are four holes to facilitate the installation of a 120 mm bottom in-take fan. Each drive cage can hold three 2.5" or 3.5" drives. Thumb screws hold the cages in place. Users who decide to remove the drive cages can instead install either a thick or slim 240 mm radiator here. In the bottom centre of the case is a large rubber grommet to aid with cable routing. Its position behind the power supply means only the longest of power supplies will block the grommet. Above the white expansion slots covers we find the second 120 mm Silent Series R2 fan. This fan's specifications are identical to those of the front in-take fan. A relatively large CPU cut-out is available to facilitate the installation of CPU coolers without removing the motherboard. Three rubber grommets are placed directly to the left of the drive cages. The rear exhaust fan can be removed and a 120 mm or 140 mm can be installed instead. A shot of the roof shows the third fan, a Silent Series R2 140. This fan is rated to provide 66.0 CFM of airflow at 1,000 RPM with a maximum noise level of 18.5 dbA. There are four additional mounting holes available for an additional 120 mm or 140 mm fan. Alternatively, a 240 mm radiator can be installed without the need for any modifications. Directly below the roof there are also two additional rubber grommets to route and hide additional cables. Removing the top 5.25" drive cage is required for those who want to install a 360 mm radiator in the top. It should be noted that some cables are routed across the top of the drive cage. These should be routed away before such a radiator is installed. Moving to the back of the case shows the 6 rubber grommets and relatively large space behind the drive trays. This additional space ensures there will be no issues if there is a shortage of angled SATA connectors. Additional cable tie points have been included to route cables underneath the CPU cut-out and along the centre of the case. Directly below the CPU cut-out are two Solid State Drive mounting positions. Each mounting bracket is held in place by two screws and four additional mounting holes are provided to keep a drive in position. The metal caddies come with rubber spacers pre installed to reduce vibrations from mechanical disks. As is standard, 2.25" drives can be secured with four screws in the centre of the caddy. The connectors on our Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI motherboard are clustered at the top of the case. Despite their unconventional positioning we had no issues routing our cables through the relatively large rubber grommets in the top of the case. As always, we aim to find out how forgiving a case is by stacking cables cable deliberately and only applying minimal cable management. The Arc Mini R2 certainly offers plenty of opportunities for demanding users to create a clean build with clever cable tie points to keep the SSD brackets clear. We are using the Cooler Master Hyper 103 cooler to keep our Intel Core i7 3770k cool and perform our tests with the CPU at its default clock speed before then overclocking it to 4.3GHz with the voltage set to 1.3v. Test System: Processor: Intel Core i7 3770k Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI Memory: 8GB G.Skill Ares Blue Graphics Card: Sapphire HD 7790 2GB GDDR5 OC Power Supply: Seasonic G-Series 650W Chassis: Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 Monitor: Acer X243HQ Boot Drive: Intel SSD 510 Storage Drive: 2TB Seagate Barracuda System validation can be found here. Software: CPUID HW Monitor 1.23 CPUID CPU-Z 1.65 Prime95 v27.1 Furmark 1.11.0 We are testing the Fractal Design Arc Mini R2's performance as follows: Room temperature is kept at 22°C throughout our tests. The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control. Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes. CPU load temperatures are obtained after running Prime95′s Small FTTs test for 15 minutes. GPU load temperatures are obtained after running Furmark’s Burn-In Test for 15 minutes. To measure noise levels we disable the CPU fans and GPU fan. We cleaned up our cable management to ensure nothing obstructs the path of airflow to the components we test. Excellent results across the board. The rear and top exhaust fans do a great job pulling warm air away from our small cooler. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation. Ambient noise in the room measures close to the limits of our sound meter at 30dBa. We use the integrated 3-step fan controller to measure noise levels at 5V, 7V and 12V. The CPU and GPU fans are manually disconnected to eliminate unwanted noise. KitGuru noise guide 10dBA - Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves 20-25dBA – Whisper 30dBA - High Quality Computer fan 40dBA - A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator 50dBA - Normal Conversation 60dBA - Laughter 70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer 80dBA - City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal 90dBA - Motorcycle or Lawnmower 100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output 110dBA - Orchestra 120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine 130dBA – Threshold of Pain 140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range) 160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum The fans produced less noise than the lower limits of our meter at both 5V and 7V. Even at full speed the three fans only produced 35 dBa. Though noticeable we would not classify this as loud or intrusive. There is no doubt that the Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 is an excellent case. Over the past couple of months we have seen a number of manufacturers introduce micro ATX and mini-ITX cases although they have been rather hit and miss. The ARC Mini R2 is a simple, yet elegant design making it an ideal choice for those who want a low-profile build. Fractal Design have built up a loyal fanbase over the last year specifically for their attention to detail. The Arc Mini R2 falls within these parameters and is sure to appeal to a wide audience. It is extremely well built and the use of metal drive caddies adds to the premium feel of the materials and construction. Another interesting trend is the increased attention for water cooling enthusiasts. With support for a 360 mm radiator in the top and a 240 mm radiator in the front there are plenty of opportunities to keep the most powerful hardware running cool. Additionally, based on our test results, those on a tight budget have not been forgotten as even a modest cooler can benefit from the Arc Mini R2's excellent airflow. The Arc Mini R2 truly shines when it comes to noise levels. Operating at 5V and 7V the fans are almost inaudible. Using the case as a HTPC at a distance of several meters means users will be able to forget it is even there until the fans are set to operate at 12V. Even then, a TV's speakers or headset will easily drown out the fan noise. At the end of the day, our only concern is the windowed side panel. Dust is, and will most likely remain, an everlasting threat for windowed side panels and sadly Fractal Design's window is no exception. Until the industry unlocks the secret to dust-free acrylic windows there will be users who may be put off. At the time of writing, Scan appear to be the only retailer stocking the Arc Mini R2 for £70 inc vat., though we expect availability will increase in the coming weeks. Pros: Excellent build quality. Sleek, elegant design. Metal drive caddies. Excellent noise levels. Excellent cooling performance. Cons: Side window gathers dust rather quickly. KitGuru says: The Arc Mini R2's acoustics and thermal performance makes it a stylish and tempting option for HTPC and high-performance builds in a smaller package.

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Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 Review

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