Fractal latest PC case aims to deliver high airflow and high great affordability. Does it?
Fractal Pop Air Review
Fractal Pop Air Review
- Thread starter tinytomlogan
- Start date
Fractal latest PC case aims to deliver high airflow and high great affordability. Does it?
Fractal Pop Air Review
ImprovizoR
Active member
With so many versions of the case, you'd think they'd let people pick an airflow variant with a solid side panel. For those of us who don't like panels made of glass that can easily shatter. What a dumb gimmick.
If its tempered glass, it should not easily shatter.
AlienALX
Well-known member
It's the other way around dude. Tempered glass will shatter. It's designed that way so that it breaks into tiny little pieces rather than going into shards that could be very dangerous.
However, you would have to be pretty damn clumsy.
The strongest form of glass is laminated. Where they take two thin sheets of glass and sandwich them over a substrate that is completely clear. If it breaks? nothing falls off. However, that is very expensive stuff. Windshields are laminated, and the rear screen (because of the heater) and the side windows are usually all tempered.
We are both right to a sense. Tempered glass is made to be stronger than annealed glass, but instead of shattering into shards, its made to shatter into small fragments. Thats the whole purpose of it. My coffee table is tempered glass (not laminated), and can hold far more weight than normal, but if it gets a quick impact it is meant to break into tiny pieces.
In other words, its not meant to break easily but it if does, it will shatter. I guess my comment above was worded a little badly.
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AlienALX
Well-known member
Yeah. Tempered basically means heating and cooling in the correct measures in order to harden the glass. So it is harder and stronger in certain ways, but it won't flex at all like regular glass does.
The weaknesses are amazing with tempered glass tbh. Like if you gripped 2mm of the edge with a set of pliers and twisted? it would shatter. Same goes for shards of ceramic spark plug. If you smash a spark plug with a brick and throw one of the tiny shards at tempered glass it just explodes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8-mJuQLRbM&ab_channel=CodyB
This always comes to mind when thinking of Tempered glass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpAWP9ZMjPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpAWP9ZMjPM
ImprovizoR
Active member
I don't really care what type of glass it is. The fact that they're selling something that can break so easily and charging more for it is the problem that I have with it. I had no problem with acrylic. It may not be as pretty, but it's far more practical.
Dawelio
Active member
Technically tempered glass is rather strong glass and can actually withold some abuse. It's if you accidentally drop it on the corner that it may break.
You may not have had any issues with acrylic, although most prefer TG. Due to it being stronger, clearer and a lot less prone to scratches etc.
AlienALX
Well-known member
Acrylic scratches very easily. It's also plastic. Do we really need more plastic in landfills? at least glass is 100% recyclable.
I get where you are coming from dude. But companies make what sells. It really is as simple as that.
I have no doubt that will change at some point as it always does, but for right now glass is the hot commodity in PC cases. And tbh? that's fair enough. People spend thousands of pounds on their PCs and thus want to see what they spent their hard earned beans on.
There are still plenty of cases out there with no window.
ImprovizoR
Active member
They did. Its the enthusiasts who remove the panel and leave it off
There is always that option!
ImprovizoR
Active member
I have two cats, though.They did. Its the enthusiasts who remove the panel and leave it off
There is always that option!
Avet
Active member
It is a great case for most mid-range air cooled builds.
I would like for companies to stop including crap fans in cases. No fans and 10€ cheaper makes it you can buy Arctic P12 5-pack for 16-ish € and have a proper air flow for roughly the same money.
There are more mesh cases now. That is good. Just a couple of years every case was sealed hot-box.
I would like for companies to stop including crap fans in cases. No fans and 10€ cheaper makes it you can buy Arctic P12 5-pack for 16-ish € and have a proper air flow for roughly the same money.
There are more mesh cases now. That is good. Just a couple of years every case was sealed hot-box.
I agree, but most sales are always for the mainstream user who doesnt purchase premium fans etc, they want to be setup and ready to go asap usually.
The difference in airflow would provide a very minimal difference at best, If they offered a case with no fans Temps would actually be bad which would generate bad reviews which would make it look like a bad case. If we're talking about a case with no fans to a case with 2 fans, be it the crappiest of fans the temperature difference for every component will probably be way over 10ºc adding over 3 fans gets you into diminishing returns buying any fan more expensive than the bare cheapest also gets you into diminishing returns for Temps with minimal differences, plus once your In a good range of temperature say both you GPU and CPU never exceeds 75ºc, adding more cooling to get it lower than that is mostly just because you want to, you definitely don't need to and you components would be perfectly fine with the 75c mark.
The biggest reason to buy high-end fans is silence and longevity, Temps are deep into diminishing returns. The more expensive you go, the less you benefit from it.
Anyways that's why they always put at least one fan in every case this way they don't get an influx of negative reviews plus they're far from crappy, at least from the good brands, they quite decent fans that last a long while, I've seen far crappier fans than the ones cases come with nowadays and they're way cheaper this way than if you had gone and bought them separately.
