A Closer Look: Interior
Once we get the side panel off via two thumbscrews, we can get a better visual of the interior of the chassis. Notice how Fractal Design placed protective plastic on both sides of the window for protection? It is the small details like that which will make a lasting impression that Fractal will go the extra mile for its customers.
This paint finish is fairly thick and durable. Every edge is rounded and smooth and the black on black theme is just awesome. The included chassis fans, the expansion slot covers, and the hard drive mounting brackets all add a nice contrast with their white finish. There are several rubber grommetted holes throughout the interior to aid in cable management, which in this day and age has become a necessary trait to people who build their own computers.
At the bottom of the chassis we can see the mounting place for a power supply that has rubber mounting not only for the bottom of the unit, but for the rear of the unit as well. This will also reduce vibration and noise; a testament that Fractal makes careful considerations for their chassis acoustical characteristics. All of the ARC Mini R2’s expansion slots are removable and are secured to the chassis via thumbscrews. In the upper rear section of the chassis are additional pre-installed 120mm and 140mm chassis fans that will help to rid of additional heat rising to the top of the chassis. There is also room for additional chassis fans or even a radiator (up to a 360mm!) for those of you who liquid cool your system. As you can see there are two external drive bays with still enough room available to install that radiator if you wish. Located beneath the external drive bays are six hard drive bays that may hold either a 3.5″ or 2.5″ hard drive or SSD (solid state disk). Both of these hard drive cages are removable, which comes in handy when you want to install an extra-long graphics card. When removing the hard drive cages we find that there is also room for up to a 240mm radiator or perhaps an additional chassis fan for you hardcore air-coolers out there.
Removing the top panel from the exterior of the chassis is simple enough, just remove the two thumbscrews at the rear of the chassis. Once removed we can get a direct look at the filter used for the upper vent as well as the additional space that can accommodate up to a 360mm radiator.
On the backside of this chassis we are treated to a clear view of the different cable management options, the large cut-out for the CPU cooler mounting bracket, the SSD mounting brackets as well as the front panel cables.
To get a closer look at the front panel filter, we first have to remove the front grill. We simply have to press the top of the grill in at which point it will spring out for release. Behind the front grill we get a better view of the pre-installed 120mm chassis fan. The front panel itself is easy enough to remove also just by giving it a good tug from the bottom. We also discover the connections for the fan controller that have a 4-pin Molex for input power and 3-pin fan connectors for output power.
Now that we have examined the interior of the ARC Mini R2, let us take a closer look at the installation of some hardware and the finished looks!
