Fractal Design Arc XL Review

Performance Analysis

While the Arc XL is designed more for performance than low-noise users, it can still be run in a quiet state thanks to the fan controller. On the 5V setting, the noise output of the three Silent Series R2 fans is effectively zero. The case doesn't make that much effort to contain noise from the rest of your hardware, but even so things are pleasingly quiet at this setting. The CPU and GPU delta temperatures here of 55°C and 52°C respectively aren't amazing, but they're not bad either for a minimum speed result. Moving to the 7V speed, these temperatures are better by 2°C and 1°C respectively – small improvements, but not bad considering that the noise output barely changes.


At full speed (12V), the fans are naturally at their most effective, and while you will certainly hear them now they're still not loud. Here, the CPU delta T is 50°C. This is still only a mid-league result, though the GPU result of 48°C leaves the Arc XL positioned slightly higher. Both the CPU and GPU are 1°C cooler when the hard drive cage is removed too, leaving the chassis with the exact same results as the Corsair Obsidian 750D. All in all the cooling is decent, though not amazing, and pretty much as expected – it's a little worse than the Arc Midi R2 where air has less distance to travel, and a touch better than the Define XL R2, which has a similar size and layout but is more insulated.

Conclusion

By combining the external design of the latest Arc cases with the internal design of the Define XL R2, Fractal Design has produced a chassis that is decent, albeit a little predictable. As ever, the build quality is top notch, and the Arc XL proves very easy to work with at all stages of a build. There's also plenty of room to install big components – oversized motherboards, graphics cards and coolers should have little issue fitting in, and there's good flexibility when it comes to storage and water-cooling too. That said, we do feel like Fractal has missed a trick by not offsetting the mounting holes for 360mm radiators and making the optical drive cage removable or partially removable – this was done in the considerably smaller Arc Mini R2, and means that oddly the smallest case of the Arc range can house full thickness 360mm radiators by default while the larger ones cannot.


Nevertheless, though the Arc XL is hardly innovative, it's pretty hard to fault elsewhere. Its default cooling is perfectly fine, and the fan controller gives you additional flexibility in this regard as well. At just over £100, it's good value for a case of its size and quality too. Much like the Arc Mini R2 did to the Corsair Obsidian 350D, the Arc XL undercuts the Obsidian 750D by a good £20. This is pretty good considering that the two cases are very similar in almost every other way; the Fractal case adds in basic fan control, but the Corsair one has more cooling options. In terms of both price and function, the Arc XL is also practically identical to the Define XL R2, so choosing between them basically comes down to whether you want to prioritise airflow or noise reduction.