New Fractal Design Define S: Now with Re-Defined Interior Layout!

Innovations in the PC chassis market are fairly rare, so when a manufacturer says it has one, I tend to sit up straighter and pay closer attention.

It looks as if Fractal Design is set to re-Define (yeah, I went there) the interior layout of PC chassis.  The company’s new Define S completely eschews optical drive bays, thereby facilitating a direct line of airflow from the front intakes to the CPU socket area. An additional benefit to this new design is that the Define S boasts the capability of accommodating radiators up to 360mm up front.

Speaking of which, the Define S can host radiators up to 420mm up top (though not the thick types, per Fractal Designs’ information), and 140mm/120mm at the rear exhaust position.

The Define S seems optimized for water cooling. Not only does it have multiple radiator mounting options, it also has pre-drilled water pump mounts for D5- and DDC-type pumps on the bottom panel. Not only that, but its motherboard tray, which is extended all the way to the front, supports a flexible reservoir mounting system. Tube-style reservoirs will look great and can be installed with great ease in the Define S.

Storage devices are stored vertically behind the plane of the extended motherboard tray. This will benefit cable management, as you might imagine.

There will be two versions of this chassis: the Define S, and the Define S Window. MSRP for the Define S is $79.99, while the Define S Window’s is $89.99. Both chassis will be available in June 2015.