A
high end case from a high end manufacturer at a very affordable price. Optimized to reduce sound and vibration.
·
Excellent
price/performance
·
Three fans included
·
Similar build quality
to the Fractal Design Arc
·
Most of the
engineering of the more expensive Fractal cases still within the CORE 3000
·
Rubber mounted hard
drives and power supply
·
Large rubber feet on
case to isolate case from support surface and to provide room for bottom-side filtration.
·
Large CPU coolers will
fit easily
·
Handy USB 3.0, USB
2.0, and audio ports on top of case at front.
·
Sleeving on fan and
all case cables
·
Side can hold a 120 or
140 mm fan
·
Fan controller
included
·
Removable hard drive
cage to make space for large graphics cards
·
Dust filters on front
and top mesh
·
Dust filter on the
bottom of the chassis
·
Excellent tray system
for hard drives
·
Thumb screws on all
external drives
·
Thumb screws on
motherboard expansion slots
Taking a quick look at
the front, the metal mesh is encased in the plastic frame. It is
indistinguishable from the drive bay covers, which results in a very uniform
look. Just as is the case with the Arc chassis, there is a large Fractal Design
logo embedded into the plastic part on the top edge of the front. Turning the
chassis around, the CORE 3000 looks very much like the Arc chassis, but it is
missing the eighth PCI expansion slot for example.
Both sides are made of
metal and Fractal has actually included a large opening in one side to allow
for a fan to be installed in this area. It can hold a 120 or 140 mm cooling
unit which is intended to deliver fresh air to the expansion cards.
While the Arc is
intended to be compatible to as many radiators as possible, the CORE 3000 takes
a simpler approach. You may install up to two 120 or 140 mm fans here, so the
focus lies on air cooling with this chassis. The I/O panel consists of the
usual audio connectors and USB 3.0 plugs.
As mentioned before, the
entire front of the chassis is covered in metal mesh. The bottom area lines up
with the hard drive bays, which you may cool with fans if you wish to do so.
Fractal Design includes a single 140 mm unit but you may fit another below it.
There are two external 5.25 inch drive bays, one of which may be used as 3.5 inch
one with the use of the included adapters.
As mentioned before, the
entire front of the chassis is covered in metal mesh. The bottom area lines up
with the hard drive bays, which you may cool with fans if you wish to do so.
Fractal Design includes a single 140 mm unit but you may fit another below it.
There are two external 5.25 inch drive bays, one of which may be used as 3.5
inch one with the use of the included adapters.
A dust filter has been
placed on the underside of the chassis, so that you don't have to worry about
any dirt entering case and power supply. It is easily removable so that you may
clean it without having to tip over the entire chassis.
To gain access to the
interior, simply remove the thumb screws holding each side panel in place. Even
though the interior looks very similar to that of the Arc, there is one major
difference. The CORE 3000 can hold up to six hard drives, while the Arc can
take eight. Besides that the engineering is very similar. There is around 15 mm
of space behind the mainboard tray, which is less than for the Arc which has 20
mm.
Taking a look at the
hard drive bays, even though these can fit fewer drives, you still have the
separate cage which may be turned by 90 degrees or removed completely to allow
for extremely long graphics cards to be installed within the system. Once
removed, the 140 mm, white bladed fan is clearly visible. It keeps the top
three drives cool. Above that are the two 5.25 inch drive bays. The bottom one
holds a metal frame so that you may use a 3.5 inch device within one of these
bays.
Turning to the back of
the chassis, the power supply will rest on four rubber "pyramids" to
keep any vibration from being passed on to the chassis frame. The expansion
slots - one of the core recognizing factors for the Fractal Design cases have
been left unchanged and come with the afore mentioned white covers and black
thumb screws. Above that you will find the 120 mm fan which pushes air out the
back of the chassis. As is custom with all Fractal cases, the cables of the
fans are sleeved.
A 140 mm unit pulls air
out the case and out the top. It also comes with a 3-pin mainboard header and
should still leave plenty of space for a large CPU cooler within the chassis.
There is another opening for a fan on the floor of the chassis. This one tends
to remain unused in most scenarios, especially since many longer PSUs will
cover it partially. The cables of the chassis are all sleeved with black tubing
to go with the rest of the chassis.
Installing the mainboard
is done by traditional means. The board fits well and as you can see there is
enough space for the large Prolimatech Super Mega, so you should be able to
employ most high performance coolers without worry. The small but lengthy
openings to the right of the board should suffice to keep things fairly tidy
within the CORE 3000.
To install the hard
drive, Fractal Design has employed the same method as with the Define series of
cases. Simply pull the white tray out and secure the 2.5 or 3.5 inch drive with
the supplied screws. Thanks to the rubber lining, you won't have to worry about
any vibrations from this area either. Then, slide the drive into the slot of
your choice until it snaps into place. While you won't need to worry about it
sliding out during transport, Fractal also gives you the option to screw the
tray down with a single thumb screw.
Installing the power
supply is nothing out of the ordinary. The foam lining makes sure that no
vibrations are passed on from the PSU to the rest of the chassis. You are free
to install a long unit as well since there is plenty of space. Such a power
supply will cover the bottom air intake for that optional floor fan though.
The Core 3000 USB 3.0 has plenty of cooling options with space to install up to 7 fans of various sizes. The front panel is easily removable and pre-fitted with fan filters to ensure a dust free interior. The sleek black interior is matched and contrasted with white expansion slots and HDD trays. Similar to the Define Series, all the HDD trays are fitted with anti-vibration silicon grommets. The upper HDD cage is removable and rotatable, which allows for installation of even the longest graphic cards.
Key features
- Simple yet elegant front panel with mesh and filter
- NEW: USB 3.0 support on front I/O
- Three Silent Series R2 fans included
- Optimized for performance with multiple cooling options
- A total of 7 fan slots (1 - 120mm + 1 - 140mm in front, 2 - 120/140mm in top, 1 - 120mm in bottom, 1 - 120mm in rear,
1 - 120/140mm in side panel) - Six white painted HDD trays complete with silicon vibration dampening grommets - each tray supports 3.5" or 2.5" HDD/SSDs
- Upper HDD cage is rotatable and removable
- Easily removable front panel with clip on fan slots
- Dust filters for PSU and front fan positions
Specifications
- Mini ITX, Micro ATX, ATX and DTX motherboard compatibility
- 6 -3.5" HDD trays, all compatible with 2.5" SSDs
- 2 -5.25" bays
- 2 - ODD slots
- 1 - FDD slot, using convertor in ODD slot (convertor included)
- 7 expansion slots with sleek white painted brackets
- Supports graphic card up to 270mm in length when all HDD cages are installed
- Supports graphic card up to 420mm in length with upper HDD cage removed
- Supports CPU coolers with height of 160mm
- Supports PSUs with a depth of maximum circa 160mm, when bottom 120mm fan is installed. When not using the bottom 120mm fan location, the case supports longer PSUs, typically 250mm in length
- Removable filter below PSU (PSU not included)
- Case dimensions (WxHxD): 200 x 444 x 480mm (including front panel and feet)
- Net weight: 7.9 kg
- Package dimensions (WxHxD): 268 x 550 x 488mm
- Package weight: 8.9kg
Cooling system
- Front: 1 - 140mm fan (included is a hydraulic bearing 140mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed); 1 - 120mm fan (not included)
- Rear: 1 - 120mm fan (included is a hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1200 RPM speed)
- Top: 2 - 120/140mm fans (included is one hydraulic bearing 140mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
- Bottom: 1 - 120mm fan (not included)
- Side: 1 - 120/140mm fan (not included)
- Three-channel PCI bracket fan controller
Front interface
- 2 - USB 3.0 with internal connector
- 2 - USB 2.0
- 1 - 3.5mm audio in (mic)
- 1 - 3.5mm audio out (headphone)
- Power button with LED
- HDD LED
- Reset button
Package contents
- Core 3000 USB 3.0 computer case
- Accessory box
- User manual
Additional information
- EAN/GTIN-13: 7350041081074
- UPC: 817301011075
- Product code: FD-CA-CORE-3000-USB3-BL
- Available for System Integrators