Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 Mid Tower Case Review

The Fractal Arc Midi R2 Chassis

Fractal Design is a Swedish company that designs its computer hardware from a minimalistic viewpoint. This is common in Scandinavian design, where it has become very popular thanks to a well-known furniture store. Their Arc Midi R2 continues the tradition of keeping things simple, yet providing all the necessary features to make a great case.

The Arc Midi R2 is a mid-tower case that sells for $99.99 shipped under part number FD-CA-ARC-R2-BL-W. This places it at the high end of mid-tower cases. The Arc Midi R2 has many features that enthusiasts demand, such as USB 3.0, support for long video cards, tall CPU coolers, lots of cooling options and a sleek design. If those features and the design appeal to you, then the Arc Midi R2 might be a case for you.

While having a filter on the front intake fans is great, often the entire front bezel needs to be removed to properly clean the filter and the fans. Fractal Design has implemented an easy way to gain access to the filter and fans by making the front filter come off by pressing in the top corners. The fan filter then swings downward and can be removed.

The Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 comes with two removable 3.5” hard drive cages. This allows the use of video cards that are up to 430mm, and also allows a water cooling radiator to fit in the front of the case. These removable hard drive cages can either be totally removed, leaving only the 2 – 2.5” SSD drives behind the motherboard, and the 2 – 5.25” drive bays for storage; or one of the cages can be moved to the bottom of the case for 3 – 3.5” hard drives. In addition, to being removed and moved about, they can also be rotated to allow better airflow.

Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 Key Features:

• Designed with high airflow in mind while consistently holding a minimalistic, sleek look and feel
• Featuring a window side panel to show off your set up in style
• Extensive water cooling support, designed to support thick radiators in the front and top positions
• Three Silent Series R2 fans with integrated fan controller included
• HDD cages are now split 5 + 3 and are both rotatable and removable for maximum configuration and airflow
• Support for up to 8 hard drive bays with accommodation for an additional 2 x 2.5” inch drives behind the motherboard
• Easy installation and configuration with ample cable routing space making it simple for everyone to make a very tidy looking computer build
• Removable fan filters for easy dust maintenance and washing
• ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX motherboard compatibility
• 2 – 5.25″ bays
• 2 – USB 3.0 ports
• 7 + 1 expansion slots
• 7 – Fan positions (3 Silent Series R2 fans included with integrated fan controller)
• Graphics card compatibility: Graphics cards up to 290mm in length with the top HDD cage installed – With the top cage removed, graphics cards up to 430mm in length may be installed

Let’s move along and take a look at the retail packaging and accessory bundle that came with our review sample.