The Interior
The case’s interior is all black, as we would expect in this price range. The motherboard tray has a large cutout for CPU cooler back plates, as well as some smaller cutouts, which are lined with rubber grommets and flaps for cable management.
And speaking of cables, we have the usual headers for the ports and LEDs, as well as some extras for the fans. The front fan controller can deal with up to three fans, and it gets its power from a SATA power connector. This is one update from the Define R4, which used a molex connector for the fan controller. The cables all come secured to the motherboard tray with Velcro ties.
There are two 2.5″ Bays on the back of the motherboard tray. To install a drive, remove the thumb screw and the bracket comes out. The drive is mounted to the side of the bracket which faces the right side panel (not in between the bracket and motherboard tray). To mount a 3.5″ drive, the rubber grommets have to be inserted into the desired position on the removable tray, and the drive screwed in through the grommets from the bottom. 2.5″ drives can also be mounted to the trays in the same manner, except that the rubber grommets are not used. The 5.25″ bays use the traditional installation method – remove the face plate, slide the drive in from the front until the screw holes line up, and screw it in from the sides.
There are two 3.5″ drive cages present, one with five bays, and the other with three. They, as well as the 5.25″ cage, can be removed and/or re-positioned to allow for very long graphics cards (up to 440mm) or to allow a water cooling radiator to be installed in the front.
The case does not have screw-less mounts for any of the drive bays. It’s important to bear in mind, however, that using screws with soft rubber grommets is the most effective way to suppress noise and vibration from the drives – which is important when trying to make a PC as quiet as possible.
The slot covers all have vents in them. They are re-installable (rather than snap-off) which, again, is something to be expected on a case in this price range.
The cover for the side panel fan vent can be removed by undoing the four screws which hold it in position. The vent can then be used to install either a 120m or 140mm fan. The covers for the top vents all have clips holding them in. To remove them, the clips have to be pushed outwards (as indicated by the arrows in the above right picture).
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