Fractal Design has launched a lot of new and new series of cases this year, such as the Pop series a few weeks ago and the Torrent series a while ago. It can be seen that Fractal Design is working hard to expand the choice of cases, and the Define that is going to be unpacked today. 7 Nano and Meshify 2 Nano are both new models of ITX size cases extended from past popular series.
∆ Fractal Design Meshify 2 Nano 及 Define 7 Nano。
In addition to the ITX-sized Define 7 Nano and Meshify 2 Nano, this time there are also two cases, the Define 7 Mini and Meshify 2 Mini, designed for M-AXT-sized motherboards.
∆ Fractal Design Define 7 Mini Black TG and Meshify 2 Mini Black TG.
This time, the Define 7 Nano and Mini have two styles to choose from. The Define 7 series has a TG Light Tint version with a fully transparent glass side panel, and a Solid version with a silent cotton side panel. The model selection is similar to the previous Define series cases. The Meshify 2 Nano and Mini have a white main color appearance, White TG Clear Tint with full transparency side glass, and Black TG Dark Tint with dark glass on the all-black body. There are big differences in appearance. Players can Choose the case that best suits your computer hardware.
∆ Define 7 Nano and Meshify 2 Nano four color style comparison.
Define 7 Nano and Meshify 2 Nano Specifications:
Dimensions: Define 7 Nano 399 x 205 x 361 mm, Meshify 2 Nano 396 x 205 x 361 mm
Material: steel, tempered glass, muffler cotton
Motherboard: Mini ITX / Mini DTX
CPU air cooling: up to 167mm
Graphics card: 306mm (with front fan installed)
Power supply: 165~200mm
Pre-installed fans: one 14cm front fan and one rear 12cm fan
Fan installation position (front + top + rear + bottom): 120mm 2+2+1+1 pcs, 140mm 2+2+0+0 pcs
Water cooling row support: 240 or 280 in the front, 120 mm in the rear
Upper I/O Ports: USB 3.0 x2, AUDIO/MIC, USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, Define 7 and two more USB 2.0
Hard drives and storage bays: one 3.5″ (2.5″ compatible), two 2.5″ bays
Classic remake!Appearance comparison difference
This time, the two Nano models are positioned as ITX cases. The size of the two models is not small compared to the A4 case. The capacity is regarding 29 liters. The dimensions of the case are Define 7: 39.9 (Meshify 2 39.6) x 20.5 x 36.1 cm, the motherboard is compatible with ITX and DTX size, and the power supply part can be installed with an ATX size power supply. Players can have more choices in power supply and can reduce their budget.
The design language of the two chassis still maintains the characteristics of their respective series. The front panel part of Meshify 2 adopts a three-dimensional diamond-cut design, with a mesh mesh panel for ventilation to provide sufficient air intake, while Define 7 uses a flat brushed pattern. style, and the cold air enters from the mesh grids on the left and right sides. There is a Fractal Design Logo inscribed in the lower left of the front panel, which has a different flavor of belief in appearance.
∆ The front panel design of Meshify 2 Nano and Define 7 Nano are very different.
∆ Meshify 2 Nano inherits the classic diamond-cut panel design of the Meshify 2 series.
∆ The three-dimensional nameplate with brushed metal texture enhances the overall noble texture a lot.
∆ Define 7 Nano also maintains a solemn style design. The plastic front panel is slightly chamfered at the corners, and the air intake mesh grille on the side is connected to make the visual effect dignified.
The opening and closing design part of the front panel Meshify 2 Nano continues the traditional series of open-door design. You can use the nameplate in the lower left corner as a door handle to open to the right. The entire front panel is fixed by a tenon. Be careful when opening the front panel. Then, pull the inner filter up to remove the dust filter for cleaning.
The difference is that the front panel of Define 7 Nano has been changed to a full card tenon design this time, but the internal noise reduction and sound-absorbing cotton settings are still continued. There are detachable dust filters in the mesh grids on the left and right sides. It can be cleaned and dusted following being extracted and disassembled from the inside, and the design is quite convenient and simple.
∆ Meshify 2 Nano continues the design of the refrigerator door, with a round tenon to fix the front panel.
∆ The upper-drawing dust filter behind the diamond pattern uses an irregular bracket to strengthen the filter structure.
∆ Define 7 Nano is changed to a cylindrical tenon fixed design, but continues the configuration of the built-in sound-absorbing and noise-reducing sponge to reduce the noise generated by the fan operation.
∆ Define 7 Nano There are removable long strip filters on the left and right sides of the cold air intake, which are easy to disassemble and clean.
The I/O port is also designed on the top front, but the planning and design of the two are different. Meshify 2 Nano provides USB 3.0 x2, AUDIO/MIC, USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, and Type-C data transfer speed can reach 10 Gbps supports fast charging function, and Define 7 Nano provides two additional USB 2.0, there will be more options in the expansion and installation of the device.
∆ Meshify 2 Nano I/O Yes USB 3.0 x2, AUDIO/MIC, USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C.
∆ Define 7 Nano I/O with USB 3.0 x2, AUDIO/MIC, USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, USB 2.0 x2, more options for device expansion.
The appearance of the metal top cover is slightly different. The top cover of Meshify 2 Nano is made of metal material with a perforated mesh plate. After removing the top cover, you can see that there is also a dust filter on the top, which is fixed by a directional buckle and can be removed by pushing it backwards.
The Define 7 Nano comes with a pre-installed mute cotton noise reduction cover, but comes with an additional X-shaped graphic screen cover. Replacing it with a ventilated cover can improve the heat dissipation performance in the case. There is also a dust filter design under the metal cover. .
∆ Meshify 2 Nano is made of metal perforated mesh top cover, which provides sufficient heat dissipation performance and a double-layer anti-dust design.
∆ There are detachable filters on the top and bottom, and the easy-to-remove design facilitates quick cleaning of accumulated dust.
∆ Define 7 Nano is equipped with a silent cotton cover at the factory to reduce the sound of hardware operation to the outside.
∆ The Define 7 Nano box has an additional mesh top cover that can be replaced, and the large-area ventilation hole design enhances the heat dissipation effect of the case.
∆ The Define 7 Nano has two top covers to choose from.
The tempered glass side panel is fixed with tenons, and there is an auxiliary dial at the back to help open the side panel. As mentioned above, the transparency of the two tempered glass is different. The Define 7 Nano is a fully transparent glass side panel. The internal hardware display is clearer , while Meshify 2 Nano Black TG Dark Tint is fog black dark glass, and the display of hardware is more low-key.
∆ The tempered glass side through is fixed by the tenon, and the auxiliary dial design provides a lot of convenience in disassembly.
∆ Define 7 Nano Black TG Light Tint is fully transparent glass, so it is still clearly visible even when the hardware is not powered.
∆ Meshify 2 Nano Black TG Dark Tint uses darker glass, and White TG is recommended for full transparency.
The rear of the case only supports 12cm or 120mm water cooling installation. FD has pre-installed a Dynamic X2 GP-12 for ventilation, and the PCIE slot provides two slots for PCIE device installation. The power supply at the bottom is designed to be installed with a rear drawer. After removing the two hand screws, the mounting bracket can be fixed on the power supply. There is a dust filter for the power supply under the casing. Pull it forward for cleaning.
∆ The rear only supports 12cm fan and 120mm water cooling installation, and provides two-slot PCIE slot installation positions.
∆ Secure the power supply mounting bracket with the hand screw.
∆ Pull out the dust filter located under the front panel forward.
280 water cooling plus the curved air duct does not leak at all!
Two 12cm and 14cm fans can be installed in the front, and the integrated AIO water cooling can be installed to 240mm and 280mm, but the water cooling radiator is recommended to be no more than 146mm in width and no more than 316mm in length. Fractal Design has installed a 14cm Dynamic in front The X2 GP-14 and the rear GP-12 form a one-to-one-row airflow design, and the two Dynamic X2 GP fans are both 3pin DC power supply and no serial design.
∆ Front fan installation position, two 12cm and 14cm fans or 280mm water cooling can be installed.
The upper fan installation space supports the installation of two 12cm and 14cm fans. Due to the design of the chassis itself, only 15mm thick fans can be installed on the top of the two Nano series chassis to avoid installation conflicts with the motherboard and the memory cooling armor. , When purchasing, pay attention to the height of the water block and the memory. It is recommended not to be higher than 38mm, otherwise it may conflict with the upper fan. These are the places that need to be paid attention to before purchasing and configuring.
The upper fan bracket is a modular and detachable design, it is much more convenient to install the upper fan, just remove the two screws on the side for quick disassembly.
∆ Two 12cm or 14cm fans can be installed above.
∆ Modular fan mounting bracket, which can be disassembled separately to facilitate the installation of the upper fan.
The internal installation design of the two models is similar. They support ITX and DTX motherboard installation. The CPU air-cooled tower part supports up to 167mm high. Some flagship towers with larger size may need to pay attention to the height, the right side of the motherboard and the power compartment. There is a cable hole on the top, and a decorative rubber sheet for landscaping is provided.
∆ Motherboard and hardware installation space.
The most special feature of Meshify 2 Nano and Define 7 Nano is the introduction of the design of the air guide. There are two-stage modular air guide ramps next to the front fan, so that the front cold air can be directly drained to the graphics card and processor following entering the case. , the advantage of this is that the airflow will not be dispersed into the hard disk rack and power supply compartment, but the graphics card and CPU radiator can directly absorb the most complete cold airflow.
This special air duct adopts a modular installation design, which is divided into two pieces that can be disassembled and assembled separately. After removing the screws under the 2.5-inch hard disk rack on the back, more space can be provided for the front water cooling installation.
∆ The unique guiding airflow ramps concentrate the cold air to the core hardware for cooling.
∆ Using the modular design, it can be divided into two pieces for individual disassembly and assembly, which can be removed by removing the screws on the back.
∆ The first piece is removed to provide a depth of 72mm (including the thickness occupied by the fan).
∆ The second block is removed to provide 138mm of space.
In addition to the above-mentioned more obvious fan installation position, Fractal Design also secretly hides a 12cm fan installation position under the case, but this installation position is the same as the key hole position of the composite hard disk rack, so you need to choose between the two to install , The design of the two-shaped track allows the fan and the hard disk rack to adjust the position. According to the cable hiding space required by the power supply module cable, adjust the front and rear positions of the fan and the hard disk rack to make more space for installation. freedom is high.
∆ There is a 12cm fan installation position hidden under the casing, which can be adjusted back and forth for the module wire.
Buy one get one free, install up to four 2.5″ hard drives
The entire cable space on the back of the motherboard adopts a Z-shaped deep and shallow design, with 8 Fractal Design devil felt cable ties to assist in fixing the cables, and the I/O cables on the top cover have been pre-bundled and fixed. There is already a 2.5-inch hard drive bay on the left side, which is wall-mounted with hand-turn screws, and an additional 2.5-inch hard drive bay is provided in the accessory box of the two cases.
∆ In the back inner space, there are many devil felt cable ties to assist in the whole line.
∆ Pre-installed 2.5-inch hard drive bays with thumbscrews
In addition, there is a composite hard drive bay under the air duct, which means that it can be installed with three 2.5-inch hard drives, or three 2.5-inch hard drives and a 3.5-inch hard drive, if you buy an additional one Up to four 2.5″ bays can be installed in the 2.5″ drive bay.
∆ Additional Faith lens cleaning cloth and 2.5″ HDD mounting bracket are included.
∆ The composite hard drive cage can hold 2.5″ and 3.5″ hard drives up and down, but it may take some effort to install the whole line.
The additional 2.5-inch hard disk quick release bracket in the accessory box can be installed in the reserved installation position on the upper left side of the back of the motherboard. There is also a key hole above the power compartment to fix it, but the SATA power supply and transmission cable of the hard disk There are no special openings in the material, and the wiring direction may be awkward.
∆ Dual Wall Mounted 2.5″ Hard Disk Quick Release Racks.
∆ There is a 2.5″ mounting space above the power compartment, but the wiring may require some extra care.
Due to the use of wind guide ramps in the front of the power compartment, the space for the power supply and the motherboard are divided into two blocks, up and down. The installation position of the power supply is provided 20cm. If a fan or a composite hard disk rack is installed in the front, there will be left With a space of 16.5cm, you may need to think regarding the configuration of the entire line before installing the machine.
∆ The power compartment can have a storage space of 200mm when it is naked.
∆ Simulate the state of the entire line following the power supply is installed following the hard disk is installed in the front.
Define 7 Nano Black TG has a three-sided sound-absorbing cotton design. In addition to the front panel and mute top cover just introduced, a large area of sound-absorbing cotton is also attached to the steel plate side cover on the back of the main board. The sound-absorbing design in three directions reduces the hardness. The sound produced by the body operation is exported. If you want a more comprehensive mute effect, you can purchase the Define 7 Nano Black Solid. Both sides are sound-absorbing cotton steel side panels.
∆ The steel side panel on the right is equipped with a large area of sound-absorbing cotton to absorb sound and noise and improve the quality of use.
Define 7 Nano Black TG Light Tint Thermal Quiet Performance Test
This time, the Define 7 Nano Black TG Light Tint was actually installed for cooling and mute testing. The processor used Intel’s 12th generation i7-12700K and NVIDIA’s founding public version of the RTX 2080 Super, with Fractal Design Lumen S24 RGB all-in-one water cooling. The software uses AIDA64 and Furmark to simulate the temperature data under extreme conditions, and also uses the Fire strike in 3D Mark to simulate the operation of the game, while the data collection uses HWiFO64 to collect and record the highest temperature.
The unique diversion ramp in the front can concentrate and disperse the air flow, so that the cold air can be concentrated and provided to the graphics card to dissipate heat. In the test, the temperature difference of the graphics card before and following installation is also small. The Define 7 Nano is equipped with i7-12700k and In the S24 integrated water-cooling limit test, the temperature can be controlled within a hundred. If the front water-cooling is replaced by the S28, it may have a more dazzling temperature performance.
∆ Thermal performance test, temperature chart.
∆ Fire strike The front panel volume is only 45 decibels even if it is directly attached to the air inlet.
Define 7 Nano, Meshify 2 Nano
Fractal Design compressed the classic and popular Define 7 and Meshify 2 into an ITX case this time. The design ingenuity and appearance design language in many places can be seen that Define 7 Nano and Meshify 2 Nano have continued the legacy of many predecessors. Shadow, and this time I used Define 7 Nano to do the heat dissipation and mute test alone. After the case is installed, the temperature of the bare test platform is slightly improved, but during the process, it can be clearly felt that the noise during the test has been reduced a lot.
The Define 7 Nano has completely inherited the quiet performance of the same series. If gamers want more beautiful temperature control, Meshify 2 Nano will be your better choice. The performance is believed to have dazzling results!
Further reading:
