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Fractal Design Core 500 No Power Supply Mini-ITX Case, Black FD-CA-CORE-500-BK

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#1 ·
Fractal Design Core 500 No Power Supply Mini-ITX Case, Black FD-CA-CORE-500-BK

Description:
The Core 500 is the perfect PC case for those looking for a small, compact chassis that lets you build your computer without compromising on component selection. The case comes with one Silent Series R3 140mm fan which offers great cooling from the get go. For those who wish to expand their cooling ability there is room for an additional two 140 mm fans, water cooling radiators up to 280mm or air coolers up to 170 mm in height. Additionally, with minimal compromise, the Core 500 can fit one ODD bay, three 3.5"drives and three 2.5" drives, allowing you to use every last square millimeter of this compact, 19.5 liter case.

Details:
DetailValue
BindingPersonal Computers
BrandFractal Design
EAN0817301012645
FeatureBrushed aluminum-look front panel with a sleek, three-dimensional textured finish
Very compact case with a volume of only 19.5 liters
Extremely good water cooling support for its size, supporting radiators up to 280mm long
Smart drive bay placement allows you to fit up to three 3.5"drives, three 2.5" and one 5.25" drive simultaneously
Supports Mini-ITX motherboards, ATX power supplies and graphics cards up to 310mm in length
Supports tall CPU cooler towers, up to 170mm in height
Featuring a Fractal Design Silent Series R3 140mm rear exhaust fan for great cooling
Big magnetic filters for the side and top air intake together with a PSU filter ensures a dust free interior
LabelFractal Design
ManufacturerFractal Design
ModelFD-CA-CORE-500-BK
MPNFD-CA-CORE-500-BK
PublisherFractal Design
StudioFractal Design
TitleFractal Design Core 500 No Power Supply Mini-ITX Case, Black FD-CA-CORE-500-BK
UPC817301012645
ColorBlack
Item Height14.5 inches
Item Length9.9 inches
Item Width8 inches
Package Height1 inches
Package Length1 inches
Package Weight1 pounds
Package Width1 inches
PackageQuantity1
PartNumberFD-CA-CORE-500-BK
ProductGroupPersonal Computer
ProductTypeNameCOMPUTER_COMPONENT
UPCList - UPCListElement817301012645
Item Weight9.7 pounds
 

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#2 ·
Extremely versatile small case, finally then a good choice for itx systems

review by davelt

Since this chassis landed a couple of months ago, it has always intrigued me. Is it really a very versatile Mini ITX chassis or a oversized ITX chassis?
The current crop of ITX cases have a problem : They are either hardly SFF or they are really difficult to build into (Yes the UMX1 is actually hard to build into)
That said which category does the Core 500 fall into? Let's find out shall we.

Starting from the exterior, it is almost as drab it can be. Functionality is really way ahead of form here since unlike the UMX1 this is not as appealing as that is. Not even close.



That panel of holes you see there is the exhaust for the power supply and where it is beggars belief to allow the case to support very tall coolers.



You get 1 5.25 bay. For what? Fan controllers?



Power switch, reset switch, audio IO and 2 USB 3 ports.



Yes this case doesn't have a front power supply or a rear power supply above the CPU cooler. This actually has a rear fan! GPU temperatures will be way better than almost any other similar form factor ITX case and you can use a big cooler in this case. Lastly the rear fan is a 140mm affair not a half arsed 120mm fan



There's no "style for style" here like jonsbo often uses. Truth to be told, Jonsbo cases are incredibly stylish!



What you see here is the panel for the GPU. I wished they had made a bit of space to fit at least a thin fan for the GPU as GPUs don't exactly breathe a lot by themselves.
Oh, note the magnetic filter for the side. The top has a magnetic filter as well! It is pretty coarse unfortunately.



These are full cover filters. No fooling around over here.



The rear 140mm fan. There's ONLY one fan here so you may probably want to at least install a 120mm intake fan above the 5.25" bay.



Yes ... a Power supply extension runs through the side of the case to get to the front right for the power supply. Innovative design ! (Oh and the bottom has a filter for the PSU intake)
The holes above it allow you to install 2 2.5" (Honestly everytime I've built a PC I leave the SSDs elsewhere) AND another two 3.5" drives inside (I think you could do so perhaps with a 3.5 to 2.5 drive mount to install 2.5" if you want to)
Also you can install a 2.5" drive in the front.




HOW COOL IS THAT? Oh I used the wrong screws but I was in a rush.



The top 240mm/280mm rad/fan mount. It's a very good idea and to facilitate easy cooler installation you can remove the top panel momentarily.



You can mount a extra 3.5" drive here but I didn't bother so I removed this cage as well.

Now for installation,



ZOTAC GTX970 Dual Fan for demonstration. It is a wicked tiny thing Unfortunately even though Fractal says you can install a 170mm long power supply here it depends on how long your graphics card is as this superflower leadex silver is 165mm long and damn nearly bumps into the graphics card. It's VERY easy to build in this case on the other hand



There are plenty of tie points in this case (The same can be hardly said for most ITX chassis) but I used the unused holes to tie my cables.



For your info I mounted a Deepcool 120mm fan from the Captain/Maelstrom AIO series. The motherboard is a Gigabyte H87N-Wifi which is very flawed. The CPU is so far down that I have to install the CM Hyper T4 in a unusual orientation and the is right up against the GPU.
Thankfully this is for demonstration and it shows any similar board designs really only work with the stock cooler. Shame.
Still, the case leaves a lot of height from the cpu cooler to the fan mount.



Here's a look at the back.



From the side.



From the top. I like how the deepcool fan looks like evil lurking inside it.

Here I'll wrap up the photo shots.
What do I think of this chassis? It is easy to build in and it's very versatile. While it may be twice the size of the CM Elite 110 it is still small and more versatile than the Ncase M1! The upside are you don't have to sacrifice a full size power supply or proper ventilation for the graphics card with this case.

Is it good value? At 65$ it sure is. It really is considering the size of it and the sheer versatility. 10/10
Is it ... well made? Well, I think Fractal needs some improvements in this area. The entire top, side cover doesn't fit very well and the thumbscrews go in at a angle due to the poorly aligned screw holes or the not well fitting cover. Other than that the metal does flex a bit which is a shame but nothing too bad really. 7/10
Is it good looking? Drab it is but at least it's not ugly. 7/10
What about performance? Apart from GPU intake the rear exhaust does the job and having the ability of top fans or a radiator I say it does well here 9/10
Is it big? Well not really! It's only twice the size of a CM Elite 110 and it allows you to install 2 3.5" drives, 3 2.5" drives and a 5.25" drive. 9/10
How about noise. It's not built for silence but it doesn't have every single panel full of holes but it's still rather tightly packed so if you want a quiet case look elsewhere

Overall score : 8.4/10

It is the best, most versatile ITX case in the market. Amazing stuff really for a company that has never tried to make a SFF case that isn't expensive. Apart from the obvious cost saving methods this case doesn't show you where they cut the costs but instead it wows you with what you get for your 65$.

ProsCons
Extremely versatile, 240mm AIO, full size power supply and coolersDrab looking, a bit of shoddy quality.

Ratings
Overall4
 
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