Fractal Design Define Mini Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on April 22, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- MicroATX
- Fractal Design
- Case
Noise and Thermal Testing
In a bid to focus on providing only useful information and keeping things clean, simple, and to the point, I've culled idle thermal test results from this review (and will from reviews going forward). Idle thermals are borderline irrelevant, and only important when they're comically high; at idle, the most important statistic is noise.
As I mentioned on the Testing Methodology page, due to retiring the micro-ATX board from the primary testbed, micro-ATX cases will now be tested with the mini-ITX testbed. That means that I can't compare the Fractal Design Define Mini directly against the SilverStone SG09 and the Rosewill Line-M. As it turns out, that may not be as big of an issue as it first appears.
The Fractal Design Define Mini was tested with the included fan controller at its lowest and highest settings. Ambient temperature ranged between 22C and 25C during testing.
Already things aren't looking that great for the Define Mini. Changing the fan setting doesn't do a whole lot fo the CPU, but the system just isn't very good at keeping the CPU cool. In Fractal Design's defense, this case looks better suited to a tower-style cooler, but as you'll see later, the problem may not be simply a cooler not being right for the case.
While the highest fan setting is definitely louder than the lowest, it's not tremendously slow, and it's still below the 30dB floor of our sound meter. If nothing else, in our barebones stock configuration, the Define Mini is very quiet.
Ordinarily adding a dedicated graphics card will bump the CPU temperatures up a couple of degrees (sometimes it actually can reduce them a little since the IGP is no longer in use). Not so, here. The GTS 450, typically a model citizen, just makes a bad situation worse. And despite having direct airflow from the front intake, it still runs hotter than the bulk of the cases tested.
Noise levels continue to be low, but they can't really make up for the consistently poor performance of the stock fans in the Define Mini. Bumping the graphics card up to a bigger monster like the GTX 560 Ti does seem to help at least a little, though.
Comparative performance improves some and the two fan settings start to really separate. While not strictly comparable to results from the main testbed (which has an extra 30W of CPU heat to dissipate alongside the 560 Ti), the graphics card's performance is now at least competitive. CPU thermals continue to underwhelm, though, with the highest fan setting being required to produce decent results.
The Define Mini does a strong job of proving its worth once the noise results come in, though. Things are running pretty warm, but they're reasonably quiet, too. At idle the system remains inaudible, while load noise is fairly low. This is one of those instances where a higher case fan speed can actually produce lower noise, though, as the graphics card's fans don't need to spin as fast to move cool air over the GPU.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
57 Comments
View All Comments
Sleepingforest - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
Dustin, how would you say this compares to the TJ08e? They have essentially identical price points and both promise quiet performance.smellykaka - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
I have a TJ08e and I can't imagine how it could be called quiet. Its single fan on low setting is very audible. My main PC (in a Fractal Design R3) with 6 case fans (and a water pump, and four GPU fans) is considerably quieter at idle.EnzoFX - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
It can be quiet. It's loud just like any open? case with direct airflow. So it's up to your components. The big 180mm? fan on the TJ08e can be undervolted and be set quiet, it's 180mm! so it'll still pump out good air. After that it's up to your components, so pick a good cpu hs/f, quiet gpu, HDD's that don't vibrate too much, etc, etc.But yes, if you don't want to approach it this way, a case like this will be the best bet in terms of quiet potential, without having to try too hard.
Sleepingforest - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
Weird. Even in games, mine is totally silent. Maybe you're pushing your hardware harder?serrin - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
That's probably because the noise of your games is masking the noise of your case. The TJ-08E is great* quiet case, with the caveat being that you need to undervolt that sucker of a 180mm fan. Although that's not too hard given that you can buy them from fleaBay for a couple of bucks if you don't want to weld some resistors to a bit of wire.The Define Mini also is easier to assemble than the TJ-08E, but it's also 10cm longer and thus, heavier.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Sleepingforest - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
The TJ08e is definitely a pain to muck around in because of the cramped space. My hands are pretty big, so squeezing them into case to mess with fan headers is pretty close to impossible. I wish it was just an inch bigger in each dimension.I have the fan undervolted pretty considerably, so even with the game sounds off, I don't really hear what's happening. Or being under a fume hood for too long has desensitized me to fan noise...
JPForums - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
I agree. The loudest component in the most recent TJ08e based build I've put together is the Zalman 9900CNPS and that's not particularly loud. However, the case is seriously a pain to work in for someone with big hands. I'm actually putting together two builds based on the Define R4 and Define Mini this weekend. I don't know how the noise will compare, but I've opened up the chassis and I'm fairly certain the Mini will be easier to build in than the TJ08e. I can't imagine its thermal performance will be quite as good though.Metaluna - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
The hard drive cage in the TJ08e also has major interference issues with many full-sized tower coolers. It's virtually impossible to mount a 3.5" HD in this cage with anything but a smallish (90mm) tower cooler, or maybe a 120 with the fan flipped to the other side (which in my situation had other interference issues on the other side of the board).On the plus side, it does have more height clearance for taller coolers. But overall I agree it's a PITA case to work in.
Death666Angel - Tuesday, April 23, 2013 - link
I have big hands (1.95m here) and no problem with the TJ08-E. But then again, I don't use 3.5" drives. All my drives are in the 5.25" trays (2.5" ones, 7 total). That's all I need. And the space freed up is great for water cooling (pump and controls). :) The front intake fan is loud even in lowered setting though. It runs at ~700rpm on the low setting, but I have my fan control throttle the fan to ~500rpm to be inaudible. :)Dustin Sklavos - Monday, April 22, 2013 - link
I don't want to be a jerk, but have you tried changing the fan's setting? There's a switch on the side of the case, I believe, that's easy to miss, but on the low setting the TJ08-E is borderline inaudible.