Fractal Design Vs. Silverstone mATX Case Choice

Hey guys,

On the cusp of pulling the trigger on a Ryzen upgrade and was planning to get a new case along with it. I've narrowed my choices down to these two:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=303 - $89 AUD on sale

VS.

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-mini-c - $129 AUD

I definitely want to stick to the mATX form factor as it seems to sit snuggly on my desk haha. If you guys have any feedback or suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.

PS. Budget for the case is $130 AUD

Cheers

EDIT
Planned Build:
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/

I'd prefer better temperatures over noise.

Can't provide any worthwhile reccomendation without knowing more.

  • Which Ryzen CPU?
  • Are you overclocking it?
  • What CPU cooler will you use?
  • What Video card?
  • What storage (2.5,3.5,5.25) are you needing the cases to fit?
  • Is temperature a primary concern or is lower noise preferred?

There we go, added some extra information in the original post.

Probably prefer airflow and temperature over noise.

The silverstone one will get better temps and offers better expandability. That said, the asthetics of the Fractal case might be worth it for you. Between the two, I would get the silverstone.

More realistically, why not get a MITX tower instead? None of the components you are using justify needing such large micro-atx towers.

Fractal design makes that same case basically, but in an ITX form factor.

Fractal Design Define Nano S ITX (Windowed) $55

Fractal Design Define Nano S ITX (No Window) $50 + free shipping

For ITX cases, instead of being smaller versions of MicroATX mini towers with the power supply offset, they can also come in cube formations, with the power supply on top of the CPU, or in "flat" layouts with the video card laying flat just like the motherboard.

If it is going to be sitting on your desk, and not double as a footstool like ATX-MidTowers, or Micro-ATX mini towers do, then ITX is the way to go.

If prioritizing temps, focus on one with a mesh front and/or a front fan like Silverstone's SG05 series or Cooler Master Elite 130.

Newegg List of Mini ITX Towers: https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007583%20600545970&IsNodeId=1

Edit: If you have the budget for it, get a 1050 Ti instead. The non Ti version has an entire compute module disabled and that drags down performance significantly despite being very similar in price.

Ah awesome, thanks for the info!

Well, I've always simply liked the mATX form. Never been super keen on the mITX, might be a bit too small for my tastes. I also planned on working on this rig for future updates (more RAM etc.) so having just a little extra space for 4 DIMMs is nice.

Regardless, thanks for the info, I'll keep digging through the ITX cases though to see if anything strikes my fancy haha

Fractal Design, just different case...
Arc Mini R2...

Remove the drive cages, Mount the bottom one on the place for the optical drive bay and you have entirely opened front intake with no restrictions what so ever. SSDs can go behind the motherboard tray...

1 Like

That case looks sexy.

With a 5.25 to 3.5" mount, it should be able to fit 7 3.5" drives, 2 2.5" drives. And also a 5.25" drive or just 8 3.5" drives. I am so using that case for my next build if I can afford it. $110 + $10 shipping is expensive tho _:(