New, unopened case.   Pictures are stock pictures taken from manufacturer website and from review website.

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

Specifications

Cooling system

Front interface

Package contents

Additional information