Today Fractal Design officially announced their new Arc Series case range – and I saw them up close and personal at CES 2011.
The new Fractal Design Arc Series of cases create a niche of their own; a combination of stellar performance and cooling options with stylish, minimalistic looks and an overall understated elegance.
This new Arc Mini case in micro ATX format offers plenty of cooling options, up to 7 fans of various sizes can be installed. Unique for its small size, it also offers room to mount a thick, dual 120mm radiator in the top panel.
Elegant top and front panels are both easily removable and pre-fitted with fan filters to ensure a dust free interior. The sleek black interior is matched and contrasted with white expansion slots and HDD trays. Similar to the Define Series, all the HDD trays are fitted with anti-vibration silicon grommets.
The upper HDD cage is removable and rotatable, which enables support for even the longest graphic cards.
Tangled cables are a thing of the past as the Arc Series offers an innovative, convenient and great looking way to hide them. The motherboard mounting plate has rubber covered holes in which you can easily route the cables to a compartment behind the motherboard, which has more than ample storage space.
Key Features
Stylish, minimalistic front panel with alu-look
Optimized for performance – massive cooling and water cooling support
A total of 7(!) fan slots (2x 120mm in front, 2x 120/140mm in top, 1x 120mm in bottom, 1x 120mm in rear, 1x 120/140mm in side panel)
Three fans included (1x 120mm in front, 1x 120mm in rear and 1x 140mm in top)
Support for dual 120mm radiator in top*
6x white painted HDD trays, with silicone mounting grommets
Upper HDD cage is removable and rotatable
USB3 support in front panel
Support graphic with lengths up to circa 400mm
Excellent cable routing and cable routing covers
Upper HDD cage is removable and rotatable
USB3 support in front panel
Extra, vertically mounted expansion slot, suitable for fan controllers or non-input expansion cards
*The component support in the case when using radiator in top is depending on the thickness of the radiator. See info below. When having a 2x120mm radiator mounted in top, you cannot use the rear 120mm fan slot at the same time.
– Up to 40mm radiator thickness: Support for most water CPU coolers and larger memory modules.
– Up to 50mm radiator thickness: Support for most water CPU coolers and standard memory modules with a height of max 35mm.
– Up to 70mm radiator thickness: Support for only certain water CPU coolers, depending on the water inlet and outlet. Supports standard memory modules with a height of max 35mm.
Specifications
6x 3,5 inch HDD trays, compatible with SSD!
2x 5,25 inch bays, with 1x 5,25>3,5 inch converter included
On top of front panel: 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0 and Audio I/OThree fans included
Removable filter below PSU (PSU not included)USB3 support in front panel
M/B compatibility: Mini ITX and Micro ATX
4+1 expansion slots with sleek white painted brackets
Support graphic cards with lengths up to ca 260mm when removable HDD-Bay is in place
Support graphic with lengths up to circa 400mm without removable HDD-Bay
Supports CPU coolers with height of ca 165mm
Supports PSU’s with a depth of maximum circa 170mm, when using bottom 120mm fan location. When not using the bottom 120mm fan location, the case supports also longer PSU’s, typically 200-220mm.
Case size (WxHxD): 210x395x486mm with front and top bezel in place
Net weight: 9kg
You can learn more about the Arc Mini from the Fractal Design website.
The Arc Mini will be available from April, no specifics on price yet though.
Watch our for our UWHS review soon – in the mean time we are currently playing with the Define XL – so watch out for that review as well.
