Fractal Design Define S2 review: Well thought-out and easy to use

A really well-designed case, with plenty of features and loads of water-cooling potential

Pros

Sturdy chassis
Lots of SSD support
Clear instructions make for easy use

Cons

Not particularly well ventilated
Faster fans would improve cooling

Following a big redesign going into Fractal’s excellent Define R6, the Define S has also received a makeover with some significant internal tweaks. At first glance, the new Define S2 and Define R6 appear to nearly identical from most angles, including their dimensions, where they don’t differ at all. They also both retail for around £130 inc VAT.

Fractal Design Define S2 review: Features

The Define R6 distinguishes itself with its support for up to six hard disks or 2.5in SSDs, with space for an additional two SSDs in dedicated mounts. The Define S2 can only cater for up to three hard disks or SSDs, although it too has an additional two dedicated mounts for a maximum of three hard disks and two 2.5in SSDs. Even if you have several hard disks to transplant from previous PCs, the Define S2 should still meet most people’s requirements.

Both cases are also equipped with four 1,000rpm 140mm fans, with a pair in the front while the third acts as an exhaust, so there’s a fair degree of positive air pressure to drive out the dust. However, like the Define R6, the Define S2 isn’t particularly well ventilated. Out of the box, the roof, sides and front are mostly sealed, with small vents in the sides at the front offering the primary route for air to enter the case.

It isn’t a high airflow design, but similar case designs manage to provide enough airflow. The Define R6 does well here, although its front vents appear to be slightly larger than those on the S2, plus its bottom front fan is mounted slightly lower and there’s a large hole in the front of the PSU. It’s logical to assume that the S2’s air-cooling abilities won’t quite match those of the R6.

However, the Define S2 has a huge number of fan mounts, with space for a trio of 120mm or 140mm fans in the front and roof alike, and the roof can house up to 360mm or 420mm radiators, if your motherboard components don’t rise by more than 35mm.

Meanwhile, the front is limited to either 360mm or 280mm radiators. Either way, there’s plenty of water-cooling room for any dual graphics card system.

The case also betters the Define R6 with the rest of its water-cooling credentials, with an array of flexible reservoir mounts in place of R6’s drive bays at the front of the case, giving you several options when mounting large reservoirs. It retains the removable radiator plate in the roof, though, which makes it easy to get the top area to route cables, while also sporting a handy fill port mount.

The S2’s PSU cover has a removable front section too, which can be detached to provide extra clearance for thicker radiators. We have to compliment Fractal Design on some particularly clear instructions here too, which clearly show what size of radiators and fans you can fit in which locations.

The Define S2 has a different method of mounting hard disks compared with the Define R6 too, with three large cages located behind the motherboard tray at the front of the case. Having them here means you can kit out all of them with hard disks, yet still keep the main chamber completely free for your hardware and cooling components.

Similarly, two 2.5in SSD trays sit directly behind the motherboard and are fairly easy to use, but none of these methods allows for tool-free fitting, which is one area we’d definitely like to see improvements from Fractal – rivals such as Corsair and Cougar are ahead in this department. Unlike the R6, the S2 doesn’t have a 5.25in bay at the top either – that’s not an issue for many people, but worth considering if you still occasionally use an optical drive, or want to fit a 5.25in reservoir.

We can’t fault the S2’s cable routing though. There are large, elongated holes covered with rubber grommets around the motherboard tray, plus Velcro cable ties to secure the cable spaghetti too. Above these holes is a nine-port fan hub that can control six 3-pin fans and three 4-pin PWM fans using a single SATA power connector, with the speed controlled using your motherboard’s CPU fan header. It’s conveniently placed to allow you to connect roof-mounted radiator fans to it as well.

To improve ventilation, especially if you have a radiator or fans at the top, the Define S2 includes Fractal Design’s ModuVent, a removable, sound-dampened plate that covers a ventilated panel beneath, allowing you to either trap noise or allow for better airflow.

The chassis is sturdy too, being made mostly from steel, with a tempered glass side panel and soundproofing material on the other side. The front panel offers a pair of both USB 2 and USB 3 ports with a USB 3.1 Type-C port too. Plus, if you want a better view of your graphics card through the side panel, there’s a vertical mount for it at the rear of the case, although you’ll need to invest in the company’s Flex VRC-25 PCI-E riser cable kit to do so.

Fractal Design Define S2 review: Performance and competition

The Fractal Design Define S2’s 1,000rpm fans and soundproofing made it exceptionally quiet out of the box, so if you want your PC to be seen and not heard, the Define S2 is ideal. The cooling wasn’t spectacular, though, with the middling CPU delta T of 54°C being in line with other sealed-style cases we’ve tested recently.

The GPU delta T was a few degrees higher with our kit than the Define R6, most likely due to the differing fan placement, smaller front vents and closed PSU cover front end; however, its 55°C result was no worse than the NZXT H500 or Corsair Spec Omega RGB.

Fractal Design Define S2 review: Verdict

You get the feeling the Fractal Design Define S2 was designed from top to bottom by someone who actually understands PC building. Apart from the lack of tool-free mounts, it’s an exceptionally well thought-out and easy case to use for PC building.

Fitting faster fans would certainly improve cooling, but the Define S2 is more about keeping your system quiet and understated, yet it has gallons of water-cooling potential should you wish to boost your cooling headroom.