Search the Community

Hey everyone. So I'm going to be building my first computer very soon, and I'm excited as hell for it. =D I've not had the opportunity before to build my own computer and have always been stuck with really crummy prebuilt ones or cheap laptops. So, freeeeeeedoooooooooooom! I will be primarily using it for gaming, but I will also be using it a lot for PhotoShop, 3D work with Blender, capturing and editing gameplay footage in 1080p, editing full HD video etc. Now I'm pretty much decided on my build in regards to what I generally want and the price I can afford. But because I'm new to building my own computer I wanted to just share my build here, get some feedback and see if I'm doing anything wrong. So, here's my build: Intel Core i7 3770k CPU Corsair H100i Liquid CPU Cooler MSI Z77 MPOWER ATX Motherboard Kingston Beast 16GB DDR3-2400 RAM (2x8GB) Samsung 840 EVO 500GB SSD EVGA GeForce GTX Titan GPU Fractal Design Define R4 Case Corsair ATX12V / EPS12V Professional Gold 750W (80 Plus Gold) PSU I know a lot of people will probably tell me "But Whiskers! Don't get a Titan, it's so overpriced!" But I've tentatively put it in there because it's the only single-GPU card that I know will suit what I'm going for. My intention is to get a triple-monitor setup, and potentially in the future (when the screens have become cheap enough) a 4K monitor. I realize I could just get two GTX 770s in SLI but I'm not really a fan of SLI and Crossfire or dual-GPU cards personally. So what I want to know is, would it be worthwhile getting the Titan for a triple-monitor setup and later 4K? Or would a GTX 780 do well? (I had assumed that the 780 would suffer somewhat given that it's got half the VRAM of the Titan) Any advice or pointers would be awesome. Thanks guys!

Hello, I have a fractal R4. I have two stock fans in the front of the case exhausting air. My H80i is in the back intaking air. Is this setup ideal or is there a better setup? I originally had all my fans intaking but then I figured that was stupid and made my front fans exhaust. Thanks!

Hey guys, i'm kinda new here and this is my first modding post here. I don't know if it's just me or is there just a hand full of people modding a define r4 case. Maybe because of its clean lines and minimalist aesthetic? So this is my first mod, and i didn't have that much of a budget, i would just like to share this so that those with little cash to spend could also make their own mods. To start off, here are the specs of my pc: CPU: i7 4770k OC'ed (well not that much) to 4.0 ghz CPU Cooler: Corsair h80i RAM: G-skill Ripjaws 1866mhz 4x4gb or 16gb GPU: Sapphire r9 270x toxic edition Mother Board: MSI z87 gd65 gaming Storage: 1TB western digital black SSD: 120gb Corsair force ssd Those are the specs and boring stuffs about my build. I'll just skip to the Pictures so this first pic shows the materials i used for the mod. the orange thingy you see is a pvc tile that i will use to build my shrouds. these pics are the hdd shroud progress pics. glass sticker thingies that i printed the PSU shroud, with a mesh i cut from an old generic PSU heres the shroud attached to the build. and here are the shrouds when painted matte black. looking pretty nice there. and now for some detail shots. i added a blue strip LED from bitfenix heres the finished product with leds turned off aaanndd finally with LEDs turned on going to post glamour shots soon when i get the time... also planning to add additional r9 270x and put shrouds on it since the yellow is kinda distracting, or maybe just buy a r9 290x msi one thanks, for viewing, and i hope you guys enjoyed my build log. have a good one.

Will the Asus GTX 780 fit in the Define R4 with out having to remove the upper HDD cage?

So, I want some personal opinions for my build (real soon, probably a week or two) should I buy the Define R4 or the Enthoo primo? Now, I know one is much bigger and more expensive but I can't decide between the two. What do you guys think?

So, I've been planning on giving my PC a makeover. I'm upgrading pretty much everything in it and decided to get a new case as well. Currently I've got an old Raidmax case (If anyone remembers when they were a thing). I had already decided on the Define R4, but then I laid my eyes on the NZXT H440. What a beauty! What I'm here to ask is: Is it really the "Define R4 killer" or does the r4 still reign supreme among these forums? Also, which would you personally choose? I am personally leaning toward the H440 as of right now, but the airflow is holding me back a bit. Plus, the R4 still holds a special place in my heart so I don't know which to choose.

This will be my first proper rig. My aim is to get as good a machine as I can afford since my budget's pretty tight as I'm a college student without a job. I've had a really good laptop IMO for a year or so; ASUS N55SL, but I've decided it's much more practical for me to have a desktop instead as I never actually moved the laptop from my desk. I make videos which I put up on YouTube, hence the i7 for a boost in rendering. Specs: Arrived Intel 2600K MSI MPower Z77 Corsair H90 Corsair XMS3 1600 MHz 4 x 2GB Corsair AX850 Corsair individually sleeved cable kit Corsair AF140 x 3 Seagate Barracuda 2TB SSHD EVGA GTX 670 2GB Fractal Design Define R4 Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium Apologies? I know that the AX850 for this system is overkill but I got a good deal (66% off) and better to get a really good PSU that will last future upgrades than buying the one with 'enough' wattage for the current system. I would've got a H100 but I had my doubts about whether it'd fit in the R4. The AF140's aren't designed for static pressure but Corsair HASN'T MADE ANY DARN SP140'S, *clears throat*, so I've used an AF140 in pull for the H90 and put the other two in the front. The 2600K idles at ~26°C and has yet to hit 70°C with ~19°C room temperature. An SSD would've been nice but I felt that I could do without for a while. I need space for all those ​legally obtained movies and TV shows. I have them on DVD, somewhere. Lighting: I bought a cool white LED strip which I cut to the right lengths. It's wired up to a control board comprising of a variable resistor for the top and the bottom strip for dimming and a switch to turn both off completely. I took this approach since I'd rather have my rig lit elegantly and also to allow me to sleep if I'm leaving it on to download overnight. Modifications: I sanded down my optical drive and gave it a couple coats of black to keep it as low a profile as possible. I also switched out the blue LED that illuminates the ring around the power button for a white one. As simple as taking the front of the R4 off, pealing off the glue, pulling the old LED out of it's hole, de-soldering, soldering the new one, heat shrink and pushing it back in with a dab of glue for good measure. Housekeeping to-do list: Get rid of the yellow accents on the MPower ✓ Install the 670 and re-organize cables in the back ✓ Fix the R4's power switch ✓ Future Upgrades: Dell U2414H x 2 Corsair Vengeance 2100's ✓ Corsair RGB K70 with MX Browns (LED's set to white) SP140 for the H90? SSD ✓ GTX 980 w/ Reference Cooler HTC One Pictures: Glamour shots coming soon...

Hello, i recently built my first desktop pc, and trying to make it quiet i chose a define R4, an nh-u14s for the cpu, and a direct CU II GPU i was pretty excited about it, but once i put the rig together i felt quite disappointed by the noise level let it be clear: it's quiet. if i listen to something at low volume, or talk or whatever the noise is inaudible, but when i am in a silent environment i can hear it. it's quiet, but it's a lot louder than the laptop my high expectations come from my laptop, which happens to be pretty cool because when it idles, the noise is zero: all the fans are off, the hdd is not moving, i can't tell if it's on or off. no sound at all. no. zero. this new desktop pc, on the other side, always makes that little noise. i'm happy about the amazingly quiet state that it keeps when it goes under load, but dammit that background sound on idle bothers me. i'm writing from my laptop now, i usually use that to surf the web so that i don't have to bear the noise. my full specs are here http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/80480-%E2%82%AC1400-build-check/, i swapped the black drive for a green one i tried to open the pc to check if the cable management is too terrible, causing that noise, but i don't think that's the case, it's not so bad i checked if the noise comes from my PSU which is the only not-low-noise piece in my pc, but nope tell me guys, did i have too high expectations?

Hey guys I will be building my first rig very soon. Anyway, I want to use the Define R4. I was supposed to get the H100i for cpu cooler. The problem is, the exhaust fans are where the H100i is supposed to be mounted (The radiator). Any help? I really need these exhaust fans to work... Maybe give me another good case I can use? Thanks!

PSU is a RM 650W

Hey guys! I just got a NH-D14 and 2 NF-F12 for christmas, but I'm wondering if I should run the two NF-F12 in the front and one Fractal case fan as exhaust or one Fratcal case Fan and NF-F12 in front and one NF-F12 in the back? Also should I be having my Psu draw air from inside the case or draw air from bottom of my case. Originally I have my Psu drawing air from the bottom. If it helps, I have a Gainward Phantom 770 (It's a trippel fan cooler, that is 2,5 Pci brackets wide.

Or should I choose another case that supports 2x H110 for the G10 Kraken and the CPU Would like too know!

This post explains every step to replace or modify the LED, that is mounted in the socket of the powerbutton of any Fractal Design Define (R2, R3 or R4) case. If you have any questions I will gladly answer them. The reason I did this is the pointy light the illuminated plastic socket emitts which could possibly blind the user or other persons in the room. Tools you need mid-sized crosstip screwdriver small flat-headed screwdriver Before you start Power off your PC and disconnect the powercord or switch off the PSU. Step 1: Removing the front cover To remove the front cover simply pull on it. On the bottom side you will find an opening which you can use to do so. Please be carefull when removing it since the frontpanel is still connected. For easy acces to the powerbutton's socket I suggest you to now disconnect all frontpanel cables and pull the front cover off of the case itself. Step 2: Removing the USB-Connector-PCB This is necessary to later pull out the socket the LED is sitting in. To remove the USB-connector-PCB undo the two screws with the mid-sized crosstip screwdriver on both sides. Then carefully pull it back a bit and then down and out. Step 3: Removing the Socket of the Powerbutton and the LED This is a critical step due to the fragility of the plastic you are about to work with. To remove the socket undo the two screws that are fixing it into place and push it down without any tools until it stops. It will barely move a millimeter but that is enough for now. Now take your small flat-headed screwdriver. To prevent scratches during the next step I suggest you to wrap plastic tape around it before you go on. If you look carefully you will notice a small gap between the front cover and the socket. That is where you want to put your screwdriver and carefully leaver the front covers's plastic up while you push the socket down and out from above. Step 4: Removing the LED from the Socket The LED is a standart round-headed 3 mm LED with flange. It is glued in with hot-melt adhesive. To pull it out do not pull on the LED's contacts but take your screwdriver, stick it in between the socket and LED's flange and carefully leaver it out. Please take note that the actual button can be easily removed towards the top by pushing on the connector-side. Step 5: Modding or Replacing the LED When choosing your LED keep the following data in mind: Voltage: 3,3 V Diameter: 3 mm As I stated in the beginning I am bugged by the pointy light of the LED. To change that I use very fine grained sanding paper to matt the LED's surface. As you can see the light is now spread more evenly. In addition to that I also matted the powerbutton's and LED's socket. This spreads the light out more evenly over the socket's surface. Step 6: Remounting the LED The LED just slides back in. If it is too loose you should consider glueing it in. Step 7: Remounting the Socket Line the socket's front-facing fin up and slide it in until it stops. Then push the socket up using the ring around the powerbutton as a guide for its final mounting position. After that screw the two screws back in by using the crosstip screwdriver. Step 8: Remounting the USB-connector-PCB Line the USB-connectors up and slide them up until the PCB finds it's place into it's mounting frame. Then screw the two wide-headed screws on each side back in. Step 9: Remounting the front cover Pull in all cables and simply push the front cover back on. Reconnect the cables and you are done. Quite an improvement I would say.

I recently purchased a define R4 from fractal design. I'm planning to transfer my rig into it this weekend. I use an h100i; there are mounts for the cooler but I've heard that its a tight squeeze at the top. I'm using an m-itx mobo (rog impact). Do you think I'll have clearance issues? Has any one personally mounted the h100i?

I am setting setting up a new system. This will be my first water cooling setup. My components are: CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VI FORMULA Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans - (Total of 8 fans - 2 from case & 6 SP120's) Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 850W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply Water Cooling components: CPU Block: Koolance CPU-380I Intel Liquid Cooling CPU Block GPU Block:EK Radeon R9-290X VGA Liquid Cooling Block - Nickel CSQ Radiator: Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper Dual 120mm Radiator Radiator: Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper Slim Profile Dual 120mm Radiator Pump: Swiftech MCP655-B 12v Water Pump w/ 3/8" Conversion Kit (317 GPH) Reservoir: EK D5 X-RES Top 140 - Swiftech MCP655-B/655/655-PWM Coolant: XSPC EC6 High Performance Liquid Cooling Premix Coolant Tubing: PrimoChilll 1/2" OD Rigid Acrylic Tube Fitting: PrimoChilll 1/2" OD Rigid Ghost Compression Fittings Anodized Black I will be water cooling my CPU, GPU and use the WC block provided with formula VI. I want help with flow sequence of the coolant. I have drawn up a sequence. Does it seem ok? There are two intakes 1st. intake push-pull configuration with the Alphacool XT45 & 4x Corsair SP120 in the front. 2nd intake. push configuration with 2x Corsair SP120 on the Alphacool ST30 on the top. With this I have 6 fans as intake and 2 as exhaust - one case fan rear exhaust and one case fan floor exhaust. Also the PSU fan will be facing the floor. Is this a good setup? If not what changes should I make? Somehow the number of intakes and exhausts does not look rite to me. Any advice?

Hello all, I'm thinking of mounting the kraken g10 at the bottom mount of the Define R4, doing pull. Do you guys think this is a good idea? The red arrows is the direction of airflow.

Hello All This is actually my first post, long time lurker (mainly of build logs) so thought its probably about time I contributed something to the forum. shout out to Snef and Hanoverfist, took a lot of inspiration from your builds. So here is my rig, completed a watercooling upgrade some 6 months ago with flexi tubing but as soon as I saw the Primochill Acrylic tubing I knew I had to use this in my build at some point. So finally got around to getting all the bits to complete an Acyclic tubing upgrade while also doing a bit of paint work as well. Don't normally give my rigs names but thought "Black Ice" worked given the colour scheme. Please note to others thinking of doing the same - fitting a 240 rad in the top of an R4 is extremely tight, only way i was able to do it was because the P67 Sabetooth has short heatsinks and low enough ram slots. So will completely depend on your motherboard. there's probably about 1mm between the fan and heatsink. The build is pretty much complete now which you'll see in the pictures, the only two remaining things to do now is put in a floor and panel to cover up the 5.25" bays/ mount SSD to. The question is do I go with Black Acrylic or Black brushed aluminium vinyl? opinions needed! second thing is to get an NZXT Grid fan PCB to clean up my fan cabling round the back. Component list: Intel 2500K Asus P67 Sabertooth (heatsinks painted white) 16GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile White Zotac GTX 670 Corsair Force GT 120GB (painted white) Corsair AX850 (with White cable kit) Fractal Design Define R4 Black NZXT LED Lighting strip Watercooling gear: Alphacool Monsta 80mm 240 Rad Alphacool ST30 30mm 240 Rad XSPC Raystorm CPU Block (painted white) XSPC Raystorm GTX 670 GPU Block and backplate EK D5 X-Res Combo Alphacool D5 Pump Corsair Quiet SP120 Fans x 6 (1 x AF140) Bitspower Deluxe White Fittings Primochill Ghost white Rigid tubing fittings Primochill Rigid Acrylic Tubing Clear Mayhems Pastel Ice White Coolant What it looked like before Some of tubing runs complete All complete Filled and leaked tested. but decided to make a last minute change so drained and pulled apart again. naked board Heatsinks painted - wasn't sure whether i should do this but the green annoyed me a lot. by the way temperatures have hardly been affected. Back together My dual monitor mount So thats it. let me know what you like/don't like. also opinions on what i should use for the floor and 5.25" side panel.

So I'm looking at the R9 290 cards and they look damm nice, especially watercooled. So I'm obvioulsy thinking about watercooling but I don't know anything about water cooling. I had two GTX 580s and I think they were kinda loud. So if I'm going to be getting two gpus watercooling might be the way. So can I watercool 3770K and two R9 290s in Define R4 and is there any reason to wait for non-reference cards if I'm going to be watercooling them anyway? Current build: i7 3770K at 4,7GHz with NH-D14 2x8GB 1600MHz Kingstone Black (Going to be changed to 2400Mhz) Asus P8Z77-V 7970 (some club3d shit. voltage locked etc. Really disapointed!) 840 ssd (mounted in the back of the case) 2x3TB WD Green drives (going to be change to 3x3TB WD Red or add one 3Tb Green. Don't know if it'll make any difference in Raid 0) Seasonic X-850 Fractal Desing R4 PS. Runnning 1440p and I would love to OC them!

Hello. I'm building a new PC and found all the parts, except just the CPU cooler. I'm going with air cooling, and left just these two to think about and then buy. They are : Be Quiet! Dark Rock 2 or Noctua NH-U14S. I heard, that NH-U14S, when installed is very close to the GPU slot. Is that going to be a problem, since I'm going to use Asus GT640-DCSL-2GD3 on ASUS Z87-C? Next thing is RAM. I'm going to use Corsair Vengeance 16GB kit (2x8GB), but I'd like to add another 2x8GB kit later. Will Noctua block the 1st slot? How should I mount it, that it would work cool, silently and wont block the slots? Maybe fan facing to the back I/O (like in Linus's 2000 dollar PC build)? Parts for new PC: Asus Z87-C Intel Core i7-4770k | No overclock! Corsair Vengeance Black 2x8GB (later it's gonna be 4x8GB) Asus GT640-DCSL-2GD3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121706) Fractal Design Define R4 White (no window) Seasonic SSR-650RM 2 Western Digital HDD's (from old PC) + 1 Seagate 3.5" SSHD DVD or Bluray drive (haven't decided yet) Two PCI slots will be used by Creamware (aka Sonic Core) Pulsar 1 and Luna 2 cards, which bridges like that This will be an Audio Workstation PC, so it has to be very quiet and cool. I will wait for your opinions. Maybe you would tell me if some of the parts are bad, and if there's a better choice. ___ Jonas (John) Sorry for bad english, I'm Lithuanian..

Hello everybody! I have decided to post my pc after an upgrade. 3570K@4.5ghz H100i UD5H z77 16 gb RAM GTX 780 Seasonic 750 watt 2X120 gb SSD in raid 0 1tb HDD 120mm Air Penetrator

USA NCIX: http://bit.ly/16XO0px Amazon: http://geni.us/lu0QxOg Newegg: http://bit.ly/161DvRn Microcenter: http://bit.ly/19BMbwN Canada NCIX: http://bit.ly/16XNzLV Newegg: http://bit.ly/17n2XMm Memory Express: http://bit.ly/1bnAhWM Worldwide: http://bit.ly/1csBm2N The Define R4 is one of the most popular cases among users on this forum, so when I was discussing with Josh from Fractal what kind of messaging we wanted to run for our Q4 campaign, it seemed kinda obvious: Let's acknowledge the stuff that our viewers already love! If you haven't seen them already, here are the build logs for the featured Define R4 rigs in the pre-roll ad https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/7346-build-log-water-cooled-r4/page-4#entry425990 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/24214-liquid-cooled-fractal/ https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/12089-zeus-fractal-r4-blueblack-internal-ut60-rad-by-alpenwasser-complete/page-6#entry367963 https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/12550-my-r4/ https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/13559-project-storm-trooper/

Hey guys. I'm planning on upgrading my ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 motherboard to the Gigabyte GA-X79S-UP5-WIFI. This is an E-ATX motherboard, and I'm wondering if it will fit in my Define R4? I know the Define R4 only officially supports ATX, but I've heard rumors that people have managed to fit E-ATX in there as well. Can anyone confirm or disconfirm this?

Hi guys! Ive been reading this Forum quite a while now, but now it is Time for my first Post! I am going to upgrade my Case to an Define R4 and was whondering if my Alepnföhn Himalaya MK 1 does even fit in it! I cant get the appropriate Specs for the Model, but i measured it myself and its aprox 17.3 cm high, altough the R4 only supports coolers up to 17 cm. Anyone got experience with that build or knows if it fits? Thanks Guys! PS: Sorry for my English, not my native Language! ^^

Hello All I'm new here in the forum but lets get going. My question is what people would recommend if one would create a custom watercooling solution for a 660ti SLI setup in the Fractal Design Define R4 case. And no, I dont want to cut in the case or what so ever, it should be a quiet solution that fits in the case as it is. And its only the GPU's I want to cool, not the CPU. Looking forward to your replies Regards Zortoxon

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352022&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=7034161&SID= Linus' various unboxings and overviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-BnJrtXZk4 Sticking in HardwareCanucks' review since it's always pretty to watch (also because it's actually the titanium grey version):