External Overview
I’ve been in the industry for a few years and this is the first time that I have ever heard of the company Fractal Design. Fractal actually means “a rough fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is a reduced-size copy of the whole”. A snowflakes design is made up of this, so it isn’t any wonder Fractal Design has a snowflake for their logo. Lesson aside, Fractal Design is a Swedish company who “provide products with an extraordinary design level, without compromising the important factors of quality, functionality and pricing.” They mainly manufacturer power supplies and cases, but also manufacture their own fans and some additional accessories.
The Fractal Arc is a “Midi” tower case, which is what we in the USA refer to as a “Mid” tower. However a “Midi” tower has sometimes been known for a computer case between a “Mini” and a “Mid” tower chassis, however the Arc is more between a “Mid” and a “Full” tower case. The case has a complete black exterior with an aluminum look, but the bezel is actually composed of plastic. On the front bezel you only have two external 5.25” drive bays and a large mesh covering up the rest of panel.
Moving up to the top of the front bezel/top of the case you’ll find your front access ports, which include two USB 2.0, one USB 3.0, audio/mic jacks and your power/reset buttons.
The top of the case is composed of the same mesh material that you can find on the front bezel. One cool thing about this mesh filter is that it can be easily removed to be cleaned or to install one of the many fans. In total the Arc supports up to 8 fans, but only three 140mm, top front and rear, are included. Three fans can be installed on the top of the case, so you’ve got quite a lot of room for cooling.
The features of this case say that the top can house up to three 120/140mm fans, however I’m pretty sure you could install larger fans because there are a lot of additional screw holes found on the top. The side panel is pretty plain and only has a fan mesh, big enough for either a 140/180mm fan.
The rear of the case is a lot larger than your typical “Mid” tower case and also has an extra feature too. The case is a lot wider, which makes it great for airflow and cable management, at 230mm or about 9”, than your typical case.
Aside from your standard water cooling holes, fan grill, motherboard I/O slot, PSU slot and seven expansion slots there is also an additional expansion slot for you to use. You can either use the included fan controller to install here or install something else.
The bottom of the case is equipped with four rubber feet as well as one large filter which can be removed for cleaner. It covers not only the PSU slot, but also an additional bottom mounted fan slot as well.
