To keep the introduction as short as possible: the Fractal Core 500 enclosure picks up where other small form factor cases have failed, combining modest dimensions with great cooling capability, plenty of storage possibilities and even an Optical Disk Drive is supported. To be honest not an easy task to integrate all of the above; yet the Fractal engineers seem to have taken it all to a next level by providing some clever solutions (again).

 

 

 

Typical Fractal Design packaging, nothing glamorous to be seen here. Being solid, thus the Core 500 is well protected inside; at first glance one can spot the numerous perforated ventilation areas on the top and sides. The front 3.5" bay bezel is also clearly visible in the plastic brushed looking front panel. To allow access to the interior, one has to remove the entire top lid, requiring the unscrewing of the four thumbscrews.

 

 

The Core 500 supports mITX motherboards only. Nevertheless power supplies up to 160mm in length for a modular version or up to 170mm in length for non modular ones. A single dual slot graphics card of a maximum length of 310mm can be installed; the Fractal Design Core 500 could easily serve as the foundation of a solid gaming setup. High end components tend to heat up the interior during long gaming sessions. The numerous ventilated areas, the option to install up to a 240mm All In One liquid cooling system and the utilization of a single Fractal patented R3 140 Silent series to expel the heat via the rear should keep temps in the green zone.

 

 

 

The front panel pops off with a gentle push, the I/O front panel is independent and is attached directly to the casing's front structure. A smart move as the space inside is cramped once all hardware is installed, thus allowing no flex of any I/O cable if one had to remove the front panel. Though it must be stated that Fractal Design still uses standard length cables for Mid-Tower chassis in their small form factors enclosures, making cable management a tad harder than it should be...

 

 

The front I/O panel equipment is pretty basic with the power on & reset button. A small HDD activity LED, the in and out-jacks for the headphones and two USB 3.0 ports.

 

 

The watercooling support bracket can be easily removed after unscrewing four tiny screws, being 120/240 and even 280mm radiator compatible, nevertheless there are some restrictions:

• Not compatible with AIOs where the pump is located on the radiator.
• Radiator + fan thickness limited to 100mm
• 240/280mm radiator need the removal of the ODD bay
• When installing a rear 120 radiator, one can no longer use the rear 3.5" HDD.

Though installing the radiator is only half the job, some of these AIO tubings can be quite rigid, thus adding a lot of extra pressure on the mounting positions on both the radiator and pump unit, when being heavily bent.

If one doesn't want to use a watercooling unit a single tower air cooler is supported up to 170mm in height; another bonus point for the Core 500 as it will be compatible with a wide range of high end air coolers.

 

 

 

There is no front fan option in the Core 500 case, a shame as this would increase airflow big time in the case. Only a Fractal patented Silent Series R3 140mm fan expels the heat via the aft.

• White 9 blade 140 mm fan.
• 1000 RPM
• Acoustical noise: 21.6dB(A)
• Maximum pressure: 0.87mm H2O
• 3-pin fan header

 

The storage capacity is impressive to say the least: how about up to three 3.5" HDDs, with two on the side of the chassis and one on the bottom of the ODD bay. Also two SSDs or 2.5" HDDs can be positioned on the outside of the chassis, thus more than plenty of storage options that even some mid-towers don't offer.

 

 

The vibrations of the 3.5" HDDs are each dampened by four rubber grommets, the 2.5" drives are secured via two tiny screws and since they don't have rotational parts no damping is needed. The engineers provided cut-outs in the support bracket to guide the Philips screwdriver through, simple but clever.

 

 

The ODD bay (Optical Disk Drive) is supported by the top watercooling support bracket and secured  to the front of the chassis via several screws. Besides the logical holes to mount an Optical Drive, there is still room beneath to install a third 3.5" Hard Disk Drive. While I would have been satisfied with just 2 x 3.5" HDDs, Fractal Design decided three was the way to go. This decision limits the space between the top of the PSU and the bottom of the ODD, thus cable management becomes limited with the ODD bay installed.

 

The removable top cover features two magnetic dust filters, while the bottom one located beneath the PSU is slide-able. The Core 500 rests on four thick rubber feet, to minimize vibrations.

 

 

 

Since the Core 500 leaves us some more headroom for storage we opted to add a second HyperX Solid State drive and a 2TB storage Western Digital HDD. The regular HD 7970 has been replaced by an ASUS nVIDIA GTX 970 Turbo card. Thanks to Nils from Seasonic for providing us the Snow Silent 750W PSU sample.

In the picture set we installed the Noctua NH-L9x65 low profile cooler, though for the temperature tests we reinstalled the Intel boxed cooler to keep the data of the previous cases aligned.

 

• Intel i7-4770K@4000Mhz cooled by Intel boxed cooler
• ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Impact motherboard
• 8GB of CORSAIR Dominator Platinum memory
• ASUS nVIDIA GTX 970 Turbo
• 2 x HyperX 120GB SSD
• 1 x Western Digital 2TB HDD
• Seasonic 750W Snow Silent PSU

 

One of the better features on this Core 500 is the possibility to install some serious storage, up to 3 x 3.25" HDD, and 2 x 2.5 SSD/HDD devices. The two HyperX SSD's are secured each by two tiny screws. Holes to route the screwdriver have been carefully pre-drilled, thus installing your favorite storage devices is an easy task. To hook them up to SATA and power cables is another thing. We were able to hook up the three to one SATA cable of the Seasonic Snow Silent 750PSU.

 

 

You can clearly see below  that the power supply cable is easily 2-3cms too long, secondly it also is a tight fit to hook it up to the power supply. A tip is to better plug it in first and secure the power supply afterwards to the appropriate support. Our Snow Silent PSU, measuring 170mm in length versus the 160mm advised by Fractal Design, still blends in nicely. Okay it is a tight fit with the sampled hardware. nevertheless it is advisable to pick your power supply carefully.  As shown in the pictures 170mm is stretching it as there was close to no clearance with the back of the graphics card.

 

 

Cooling wise this case has potential too, though fitting an 240 AIO radiator will become again a matter of properly routing it's tubing as space is limited. To be honest easiest option is to install a low profile cooler as the Noctua NH-L9x65 or even better a high performance single tower cooler for maximum cooling potential. (supported up to 170mm in height).

 

 

 

Let us take a look at the processor temperatures: In comparison with the other Fractal/Corsair cases in the lineup the idle temperatures are pretty decent. However once the CPU got stressed it easily generated up to 5°C more than the other mITX compatible enclosures. It has to be mentioned that the Corsair/ARC Mini case here have at least dual fans installed out of the box. The Fractal Core 500 has to rely completely on the vents and cut-outs foreseen. The Silent R3 series 140 rear fan is tasked to expel the heat; that it beats the Node 202 is pretty obvious, though the other cases in the lineup benefit heavily from the airflow generated by the front fan(s).

 

 

Noise wise the single Silent R3 series fan is as it names implies enjoyable, even when running full blast. The air it shifts is nothing spectacular but a decent balance between noise and performance.

 

Time to wrap it up...

The Fractal Core 500 is a solid new offering in the small form factor world. the build quality in general is good. We wouldn't expect nothing more nor nothing less from a trusted brand as Fractal Design, especially thinking about the 60 euro retail street pricing close to no compromises in quality were made. The case feels rigid and build to last. The looks are also a typical trademark from this Swedish company, thus expect no frills, just a clean look accentuated on the rear by the white fan blades and white rear brackets. In our case the white Seasonic Snow Silent power supply and idem ditto color matching ASUS GTX 970 Turbo seemed to be tailor made for the Core 500.

Now the Core 500 promises a lot on paper: the storage capacity is great  with up to 5 storage devices. Another bonus  is the Optical Disk Drive support for enhanced multimedia capabilities. Cooling options are also mind blowing with even room for a 280 AIO. Though keep in mind one can't have it all! If one opts to install a DVD Writer, the cooling will limited. The other way around if one wants to go nuts on the cooling, one will be limited on the storage. Balance is everything here.

 

 

Nevertheless Fractal did a solid job in their specification list. If one takes the time to select their hardware accordingly it could become a pretty straightforward build. We went a bit out of the specs with the Power supply of our choice, as expected it was a tight fit. Fitting an 240 AIO is possible, however it is all about being able to route the tubing accordingly. For a high performance setup I would suggest to opt for a single tower cooler alike the Noctua NH-U12S or sort likes. Cooling wise the Core 500 wasn't bad, but no stellar performer either as it is equipped with one R3 140mm fan to expel the heat.

The same criticism as with the Node 202 article returns: the cable length of both the I/O and Power supply extension is again over-sized for the Core 500. Okay maybe more cost effective for Fractal Design to use the ones from a Mini or Midi-tower, though this makes achieving a clean build harder than it should be. Talking about cable management a modular power supply is not a must, but recommended. Especially if one opts to install an Optical Drive it becomes quite cramped to tuck away all of them PSU cables.

 

 

Looking at the Fractal Design Core 500 specifications this is a mITX case that has a lot to offer. A small form factor chassis combining lots of storage, supporting a long graphics card and even ready to take on normal sized PSUs. The option to install a high end dual fan AIO watercooling unit can also be considered as a bonus. All this at a street price of around 60 Euros seems not a bad deal at all, though one needs to pick his components carefully. Thus pre-planning is a must to avoid any nasty surprises during your build. The Fractal Guide is clear what you can and can't install, nothing new for mITX builders to do their homework first. One of its biggest rivals might be the Bitfenix Prodigy offering, though that one retails at 70 Euros or more. Hence why a value award is justified for the possibilities this Core 500 has to offer.

 

 

PROS:

• Build quality
• Storage capacity
• Numerous magnetic Dust filters
• Optical Drive support
• Retail price

 

CONS:

• Long I/O cables and PSU cable
• No front fan

 

We wish to thank Heili from Fractal Design for the Core 500 sample. Sven from ASUS for the Z97 VII Impact motherboard and Nils from Seasonic for the Snow Silent 750 PSU. The Tones crew for the provision of the GTX 970 Turbo videocard. Thanks all for the support!