Conclusion
Fractal Design has apparently decided to roll out all of their cases in smaller designs as well. The latest in compact designs is the Define 7 Mini, which fits a Micro ATX motherboard. Even though the dimensions have shrunk, they haven’t cut corners in other ways and this new case maintains a high quality standard. The kind of quality we are used to with Define series cases.
Conclusion
Even though there are only two fans in the case, it can effectively cool even powerful components. For the processor and graphics card, the case was not embarrassed “temperature-wise” even compared to larger cases with more fans and perforated front panel. Only the cooling around the socket is a bit weaker, the temperature of MOSFETs is higher and only Deepcool Macube 110 achieves worse results from the cases tested so far..
The design of the case is both robust and attractive to look at, thanks to the brushed aluminium front panel. There are also plenty of connectors, with up to five USB ports on top, including one Type-C port. There’s also the benefit of a fully removable ceiling to make it easier to mount your hardware into the case. The only drawback I see is the lack of fine mesh dust filters. Even if they weren’t on the intake, at least they could have been used on the bottom of the case.
Hardware installation went smoothly except for the long cables from the USB ports. Since there are three of them and their length is longer than necessary, you have to fiddle with them when organizing the cabling. There is a tray space on the left side that you can probably get by with, but working with cable management will require more time.
The recommended retail price from the manufacturer should be 130 euros, which is an adequate amount for the quality and design of the case. However, as we know, the price can go up a bit more in stores. But we will only find out at the end of August, because the container intended for the Slovak and Czech markets will be delayed.
Even though the Define 7 Mini has smaller dimensions, it owes nothing to its name and the quality of the design does not disappoint, rather it exceeded my expectations. Although it is not the best in cooling, it can cool even more powerful hardware to an excellent temperature, which earns it the “Approved” award.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
| Fractal Design Define 7 Mini |
| + Up to five USB ports |
| + Thick sheet metal |
| + Front and side panels with noise dampening foam |
| + Tool-less opening of side panels |
| + Fully removable ceiling |
| - Fine dust filter missing |
| - More laborious cable management |
- Contents
- Elegant exterior
- Smaller interior here and there
- Test methodology
- CPU and GPU cooling tests
- Motherboard cooling tests
- SSD cooling test and temperature underneath the ceiling
- Conclusion
Thank you for this helpful review. Would you recommend that I add two more fans to this case, an additional 140mm at the front and another 140mm at the top?
What is the purpose of increasing the number of fans? Do you consider the current cooling performance to be poor (is it not enough to increase the speed?) or do you want to achieve quieter operation by adding more fans? With four fans you will achieve the same air flow naturally at a lower noise level than with only two fans, if you now have two fans running at higher speeds. Although the Dynamic X2 GP-14 has only DC control, its curve as well is actually usually adjustable in motherboard BIOSes.