Swedish hardware maker Fractal Design has announced two new additions to its popular lineup of Define cases, the Define 7 and Define 7 XL. As expected, Fractal hasn’t made any significant changes to the series’s clean and minimal exteriors, but builders will find plenty of nice upgrades on the inside.
The full tower Define 7 XL, which Fractal calls “the most expandable Define case ever,” comprises a chassis design that can be opened up fully for water-cooling and other complex builds (radiators up to 480 mm in front or top and 280 mm in the base are supported). It also comes with plenty of fan mounts and a dual-layout interior for large motherboards up to E-ATX and SSI-EEB, but one of the Define 7 XL’s biggest perks is the amount of storage devices it can house.
Up to 18 HDD/SSDs – plus five additional SSDs – can be mounted in the Storage Layout, which makes it a great option for data hoarders who don’t want to deal with a heavy, loud server rack. Most cases on the market tend to be optimized for around eight HDDs (although users can always squeeze in a few more with bay converters).
The Define 7, its smaller, mid-tower brother, also features an upgraded chassis design that allows users to fully expose its interior. It offers the same number of fan mounts as the Define 7 XL but is limited to motherboards up to 285 mm E-ATX and radiators up to 360 mm in front, 420 mm up top, or 280 mm in the base. Up to 14 HDDs alongside four dedicated SSDs can be housed, which is a bit less than the XL but still impressive.
The Define 7 and the Define 7 XL are available worldwide now for around $169.99 and $209.99, respectively. (Add $10 for the tempered glass versions.)