Fractal Design's Define S Chassis Trades Optical Drives for Airflow and Silence

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Out with the old and in with the new

Fractal Design rightfully assumes that there's a userbase no longer interested in optical drive bays. That's not to say everyone falls into that category, but with Valve's Steam platform dominating game sales and companies like Microsoft and Adobe moving services to the cloud, the need for an optical drive lessens by the day. So, some will find Fractal Design's decision to omit optical drive bays in its new Define S to be a good one, especially since it purportedly means a better focus on airflow and silence.
On the topic of airflow, the Define S with its "Scandinavian inspired construction" introduces a new internal layout providing a straight airflow path to the CPU heatsink for air cooling setups, along with various radiator mounting possibilities for those who prefer to water cool their rigs. That includes being able to house radiators up to 420mm in the top and 360mm in the front.
You'll also find reservoir brackets featuring drill-free reservoir mounting on the front of the motherboard tray and pre-drilled pump mounting holes on the bottom panel.
To keep librarians and anyone with a hangover happy, the case is equipped with sound dampening material to keep noise at a minimum. There's also two low-noise Fractal Design Dynamic GP14 140mm fans included, plus ModuVent fan slot covers for the option of additional cooling or maximum sound absorption.

There are three newly designed hard drive trays sitting vertically behind the front partition of the mobo tray. Two additional SSDs can be mounted behind the mobo tray.
The Fractal Design Define S will be available starting in June for around $115.
Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook


More...