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Full-Tower Chassis Fractal Design Arc XL Review

Fractal Design approved itself as a reputable manufacturer of PC chassis long time ago. Nowadays, the company’s inventory embraces four lines of cases, intended for varied customer groups. Curiously enough, Arc series is a twin-brother of Define series in terms of framework, although it is differentiated by an improved ventilation. The Arc XL is a large-scale representative of the line, featuring a sleek design and offering huge integration facilities.

Basic Features

Fractal Design Arc XL is a full-tower chassis featuring 572x232x552 mm dimensions. The case is made of black steel with plastic inclusions. Its internal layout is ready to accommodate all types of motherboards, including the largest formats (XL-ATX, E-ATX, ATX, mini-ITX, micro-ATX). Storage section is rich in four 5.25-inch drive cages (external) and ten 3.5/2.5-inch cages (internal). The availability of nine expansion slots allows for the creation of various graphics and multimedia configurations.

A set of external interfaces includes four USB ports (even number of 2.0 and 3.0 versions) and two audio sockets. Great attention has been paid to the cooling system and ventilation. The chassis provides for the integration of two frontal fans (120 mm or 140 mm), three top fans (120 mm/140 mm or one 200 mm), one rear fan (120 mm or 140 mm), one base fan (120 mm or 140 mm). Initially the model comes with one frontal, one top and one rear 140 mm fan; all the others might be added optionally.

It should be noted that the work of the three included fans is monitored with the help of a three-position switch ( 5V, 7V, 12V). Moreover, frontal ventilation grommets have got removable dust filters.

The nominal delivery kit boasts a large variety of components: 6 cable couplings, 32 screws for 2.5-inch drives mounting, 16 thumbscrews for 5.25-inch drives mounting, 33 screws for 3.5-inch hard drives mounting, 10 screws for the motherboard, 11 stands for the motherboard, 8 screws for the drives slides, 4 screws for the PSU, and 4 long screws for an additional frontal 140 mm fan.

Framework and Layout

The Arc XL boasts an elegant frontal panel with rounded corners and a middle-sized acrylic window on the left-side facet. The upper part of the clipboard is taken by the interface panel, whereas its bottom part is all about ventilation grids. The top facet houses a decorative grid with tiny grommets; it covers another grid but with larger perforations and seats for three 140/120 mm fans.

The rear facet consists of ventilation grids too, which cover a seat for one fan and nine expansions slots. The seat for a power supply unit enables its twofold orientation: with upper or lower fan localization. The PSU is accompanied by a lengthy dust filter.

The chassis’ base features a lengthy dust filter and a seat for 120/140 fan intended to cool down the integrated graphics adapters. The case is set on four rubber prop stays with a glossy plastic. They ensure an ideal surface traction and an optimal vibration control.

Spacing inside the case is sufficient to accommodate CPU coolers of up to 180 mm in height, graphics cards of up to 330 mm in length with the installed drive cages and up to 470 mm in length without them. The length of supported PSUs should not exceed 190 mm.

The distance between the motherboard and the top fans makes up 70 mm; this is quite enough for the incorporation of 200 mm or 360 mm heatsink that is a part of a liquid-cooling system. The motherboard tray features seven voluminous grommets and the same number of loops for an efficient cable management. Grommet for the backplate is rather spacious to comply with all modern CPU sockets.

To continue, there are two removable cages for 2.5-inch drives behind the tray. They are fixed by two screws only with a universal orientation. A set of frontal facet cables includes 4x cords for Power and Reset buttons, Power indicator and drive activity, one internal USB 3.0 carrier socket, one USB 2.0 carrier socket, and one HD Audio cable.

As it was mentioned above, the chassis is equipped with three pre-installed fans, which belong to Fractal Design Silent Series R2 line. All of them are based on a fluid-film bearing and connected via 3-contact sockets.

They start rotating at 400 RPM (5V) producing not more than 35 dB noise. Switching to the second mode at 7V, the fans operate at 650 RPM, although the noise level barely rises (up to 37 dB). On full load at 12V, the rotational speed index approaches 1000 RPM; this is when the noise surpasses the level of 43 dB and triggers an unfavorable acoustic effect.
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  • 13 February 2014, 18:23
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