I have a Define R5 for my most modern build (my i7-7700 that doesn't meet Microsoft's expectations for Windows 11...). I think the R5 is older though, aren't they up to R6 or R7 and they got rid of at least one more 5.25" bay? (I still don't understand it - it's a home-built expandable desktop PC case, it should have drive bays... even if a modern system doesn't really need them...) But maybe you already have an R5 or they're still available or....

I'm not sure if there's really anything I can tell you - it is a very big case (much bigger/roomier than the cases I had in the early-mid 2000s, that's for sure) and the drive bays are at the very top, so... the question really is where the connectors on your motherboard/PCI cards are going to be. I actually wonder if the drive bays at the bottom could be easier, for example if one of your ribbon cables is going to an expansion card in the bottom-most slot.

I've built a retro system in a Fractal Pop case. The worst issue was the bottom placement of the 5.25" bays is very hard on IDE cable routing. I had an 18" IDE ribbon cable that barely reached a CD drive there but had to follow an ugly straight diagonal line when everything else was reasonably cable managed. A round 24" cable did better, but that's supposedly the limit of the spec. In either case you'll only get one drive on that IDE cable.

My older design PSU is stretched to the limits on the 20 pin ATX cable, only just reaching from the PSU at the bottom of the case - again, not how cases used to be laid out. I guess you can get extensions for these though.

WildW wrote on 2023-11-09, 21:59:

I've built a retro system in a Fractal Pop case. The worst issue was the bottom placement of the 5.25" bays is very hard on IDE cable routing. I had an 18" IDE ribbon cable that barely reached a CD drive there but had to follow an ugly straight diagonal line when everything else was reasonably cable managed. A round 24" cable did better, but that's supposedly the limit of the spec. In either case you'll only get one drive on that IDE cable.

My older design PSU is stretched to the limits on the 20 pin ATX cable, only just reaching from the PSU at the bottom of the case - again, not how cases used to be laid out. I guess you can get extensions for these though.

I just used a Fractal Design Core 1000 for a not-exactly-successful retro project; that has the PSU at the top, but only one 5.25" bay and it's mATX. I wonder if Fractal offers a full-ATX version of it though.

VivienM wrote on 2023-11-09, 21:41:

I have a Define R5 for my most modern build (my i7-7700 that doesn't meet Microsoft's expectations for Windows 11...). I think the R5 is older though, aren't they up to R6 or R7 and they got rid of at least one more 5.25" bay? (I still don't understand it - it's a home-built expandable desktop PC case, it should have drive bays... even if a modern system doesn't really need them...) But maybe you already have an R5 or they're still available or....

The R5 is definitely a few generations old but is still in stock at a couple retailers.

VivienM wrote on 2023-11-09, 21:41:

I'm not sure if there's really anything I can tell you - it is a very big case (much bigger/roomier than the cases I had in the early-mid 2000s, that's for sure) and the drive bays are at the very top, so... the question really is where the connectors on your motherboard/PCI cards are going to be. I actually wonder if the drive bays at the bottom could be easier, for example if one of your ribbon cables is going to an expansion card in the bottom-most slot.

It sounds like the R5 is truly a full size ATX case, maybe more case than I need for this rig.

WildW wrote on 2023-11-09, 21:59:

I've built a retro system in a Fractal Pop case. The worst issue was the bottom placement of the 5.25" bays is very hard on IDE cable routing. I had an 18" IDE ribbon cable that barely reached a CD drive there but had to follow an ugly straight diagonal line when everything else was reasonably cable managed. A round 24" cable did better, but that's supposedly the limit of the spec. In either case you'll only get one drive on that IDE cable.

My older design PSU is stretched to the limits on the 20 pin ATX cable, only just reaching from the PSU at the bottom of the case - again, not how cases used to be laid out. I guess you can get extensions for these though.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, that was my main worry - would an IDE cable even reach down there? Good to know that a 24" works.

I'm using a fairly modern Corsair CX450M PSU, so I think that'll work fine with this case. Maybe I'll give the Pop a go.

Check out the Zalman T6. They go for $50 on the Bezos site. I build a lot of retro machines in that case.

mrzmaster wrote on 2023-11-09, 22:59:

VivienM wrote on 2023-11-09, 21:41:

I'm not sure if there's really anything I can tell you - it is a very big case (much bigger/roomier than the cases I had in the early-mid 2000s, that's for sure) and the drive bays are at the very top, so... the question really is where the connectors on your motherboard/PCI cards are going to be. I actually wonder if the drive bays at the bottom could be easier, for example if one of your ribbon cables is going to an expansion card in the bottom-most slot.

It sounds like the R5 is truly a full size ATX case, maybe more case than I need for this rig.

It's not full-sized in the 1990s sense (which was narrow and taaaaaaaaaall), it's just... big. And I would put it to you this way: a case in the 1990s or most cases in the first half of the 2000s, at least, was designed around component placement. So, for example, you have a 5.25" bay, you need a little metal frame thingy around it, then you need a bezel and that's the width of your case.

The Define R5, and probably most other similar cases, is designed around cooling. If making the case 1 or 2cm wider lets them give you fan mounts for 140mm fans instead of 120mm fans, for example, then they will do it. If making the case 2cm deeper lets you fit bigger AiOs, then the case is 2cm deeper. If by making the case 1cm taller, they get to fit two huge fans in front and 2 5.25" bays, that's what they'll do. Etc. So the net result is that it's more or less a mid-tower case, but in every dimension it's a couple cm more.

Basically, this all dates back to the backlash in the mid-2000s when people were trying to cool Hotbursts in old-fashioned cases where you just got some 80/92mm fan mounts where there just happened to be space. And those machines ran stupidly loud (I had a Deleron with an Intel stock cooler in some stupid Antec case... if the room temperature got a little high, the CPU fan would run at 5000+ RPM, and I would literally have to open the windows in the winter to lower the room temperature enough to get that stock cooler down to 3000RPM or less. (Before anyone asks, yes, after a year or two of that, I ended up buying a Zalman HSF that was a lot better... and also ran at a fixed speed.). And GPUs, in particular, were starting to rapidly increase in heat output at that time. So... eventually, the case industry got shamed into making cases with huuuuuuuuuge numbers of fan openings for giant fans.

And I will say this for the Define R5 - with a Noctua cooler instead of the Intel stock one, and... I forget how many big fans... at least two in the front, one in the back, none on the top... that case is absurdly, absurdly quiet.

If you're going for authentic late 1990s computer sounds, THAT is certainly not the case for you 😀

I have a Define R5, but don't really like it. It's too bulky for my taste and I'm not a fan of cases with doors.

I prefer the Fractal Design Focus G cases (I have 4 of them) for any retro-builds in a more modern case. More slim compared to the R5, have dual 5.25" bays, plenty of airflow, and are available in a handful of different colors.

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-11-09, 23:53:

I have a Define R5, but don't really like it. It's too bulky for my taste and I'm not a fan of cases with doors.

I prefer the Fractal Design Focus G cases (I have 4 of them) for any retro-builds in a more modern case. More slim compared to the R5, have dual 5.25" bays, plenty of airflow, and are available in a handful of different colors.

This is an odd request, I know. But do you still have the box for this case, and if so, can you give me the dimensions of the box?

kingcake wrote on 2023-11-10, 00:43:

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-11-09, 23:53:

I have a Define R5, but don't really like it. It's too bulky for my taste and I'm not a fan of cases with doors.

I prefer the Fractal Design Focus G cases (I have 4 of them) for any retro-builds in a more modern case. More slim compared to the R5, have dual 5.25" bays, plenty of airflow, and are available in a handful of different colors.

This is an odd request, I know. But do you still have the box for this case, and if so, can you give me the dimensions of the box?

20.75 inches (Z) x 19.375 inches (X) x 10.375 inches (Y)

or

52.705 cm (Z) x 49.213 cm (X) x 26.353 cm (Y)

Edit: At the bottom of the page here it lists the Box Dimensions a tiny bit different then I measured on my box.

Grem Five wrote on 2023-11-10, 01:08:

20.75 inches (Z) x 19.375 inches (X) x 10.375 inches (Y) […]
Show full quote

kingcake wrote on 2023-11-10, 00:43:

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-11-09, 23:53:

I have a Define R5, but don't really like it. It's too bulky for my taste and I'm not a fan of cases with doors.

I prefer the Fractal Design Focus G cases (I have 4 of them) for any retro-builds in a more modern case. More slim compared to the R5, have dual 5.25" bays, plenty of airflow, and are available in a handful of different colors.

This is an odd request, I know. But do you still have the box for this case, and if so, can you give me the dimensions of the box?

20.75 inches (Z) x 19.375 inches (X) x 10.375 inches (Y)

or

52.705 cm (Z) x 49.213 cm (X) x 26.353 cm (Y)

Edit: At the bottom of the page here it lists the Box Dimensions a tiny bit different then I measured on my box.

Thank you!