Fractal Define 7 Compact Review
Conclusion
When we reviewed Fractal’s Define 7 and Define 7 XL cases, we loved them. The first entries in the Define 7 series had a lot going for them, especially if you wanted to fit an insane number of HDDs into your system, or wished to create a large water cooling loop.
The problem with the Define 7 series is its pricing. Most consumers can’t spend £144.99 on a PC enclosure. That said, Fractal made it clear where your money goes with the Define 7, making these prices far from unwarranted.
So what about the Fractal Define 7 Compact? First, we will specify that this is a full ATX case. For the Define 7 Compact, compact does not mean MATX. When compared to the standard Define 7, the Define 7 Compact is just as tall as its bigger brother, but when it comes to width and length, the Compact is 30mm, and 120mm shorter respectively.
Pricing-wise, the Fractal Define Compact is almost £50 cheaper than the Define 7, with the case being £96.99 with a steel side panel and £106.99 with a tempered glass side panel (which is available with a dark or light tint). Externally, this case looks just like a Define 7, giving PC builders the same Define 7 look at a much more affordable price. If you don’t need Fractal’s Define 7 specific features, the Define 7 Compact is a godsend.
The Define 7 Compact supports everything that most system builders could want, including top/front radiator support, twin HDDs, dual 2.5-inch drives and full-sized ATM motherboards out of the box. That said, the shorter dimensions of the Fractal Define 7 Compact do come at a cost. For starters, support for a 5.25-inch optical drive is lost, and support for vast numbers of HDDs has also gone by the wayside. Yes, this case can support up to four 3.5-inch HDDs, but that requires the purchase of two additional 3.5-inch drive mounts, and the sacrifice of two 120mm fan mounting locations. The Define 7 Compact isn’t going to be your next home storage server chassis. Another notable exclusion is native support for vertically mounted graphics cards.
While some cutbacks have been made, it must be remembered that the Define 7 Compact is a successor to Fractal’s Define C. This case isn’t supposed to offer the same feature set as the Define 7, that’s not possible within this form factor. When compared to the Define C, the Define 7 Compact offers users a huge leap in build quality by adding a removable roof with both flat and ventilated options, premium front-panel I/O options and upgraded nylon dust filters throughout. With the Define 7 Compact, it is clear where Fractal has spent their money.
Tempered Glass windows and other side panels can be a pain to add or remove on many cases, especially for screw-mounted tempered glass windows. With the Define 7 Compact, Fractal uses push pins, pull tabs and location tabs. You can add or remove the Define 7’s side panels in seconds, without the need to mess around with thumbscrews or anything else. The side panels of this case sit flush, leaving no air gap for noise to escape or for dust to enter. In this regard, the Define 7 Compact’s design remains just as solid as its bigger brothers and oozes the same premium quality levels.
Fractal’s Define 7 Compact ships with both a 120mm exhaust fan and a 140mm intake fan at stock. This configuration provides the enclosure with ample airflow at out of the box. Fractal has not cheaped out on its fans, using their Dynamic X2 GP-12 and GP-14 models. Again this adds to the Define 7 Compact’s premium feel. There’s no RGB or anything like that, just solid fans at great locations. Simple, but very effective.
The main concerns that you will have with the Fractal Define 7 Compact (when compared to the Define 7) is that its smaller form factor will limit what you can do with your cooling setup and limit the maximum length of your graphics card. Even so, this case is more than large enough for most users and remains as well-built as Fractal’s Define 7, making this a premium case with a price tag that’s relatively affordable.
If you are interested in Fractal’s Define 7 Compact, we can assure you that the case is very similar to the Define 7 in terms of quality. The only thing that we don’t like about the Define 7 Compact is that it isn’t available in as many colour options as the Define 7. We would love to see this in white.
Award-wise, we have decided to give the Define 7 Compact the OC3D Approved award. It’s a great case with solid construction a premium feel and everything that the average system builder needs. Cable management is top-notch, and the case’s removable roof makes the enclosure a lot easier to build in than most PC cases of this size.
We love the Define 7 Compact, but the case requires a lot more consideration than its bigger brothers, as you will need to think about the size of your graphics card and your system’s cooling a lot more. That said, we could fit an RTX 2080 Ti Strix in here with a 30mm thick front-mounted water cooling radiator, making this case suitable for almost any gaming system.
Videos
Our advice is to watch both out Define 7 and Define 7 Compact reviews to understand the differences between these units fully. Sadly, we received this case one day before Fractal’s review embargo, which limited our ability to create a more comprehensive video.
You can join the discussion on our Fractal Define 7 Compact Review on the OC3D Forums.
