Nice case for building a medium/high end PC

PROs:

Very very good case.

Very good case. Solid design. All details are well thought out. Cables on the lower back side (near the PSU) are a bit hard to organise but totally doable. I'm more than satisfied. My i7 14700 PC is cool and quiet now. Verry happy about the purchase.

Fractal Design Define 7

Like a modern masterpiece, this case effortlessly blends beauty with functionality. Its clean lines and tempered glass panels transform my setup into an artistic display. With its user-friendly layout, I felt like Picasso arranging my computer components. A true embodiment of elegance and efficiency!

Great case but cozy

Possibly not the best case for my first build, but I wanted something quiet, quality and not massive so this fitted the bill. Very robust and well made, fits together well but with easy access. The latter point has a downside though - the space behind the motherboard is so tight that I had difficulty fitting the cables in a way that wouldn't mean the side of the case popped off (no screws, just a clip).

Fractal Design Define 7 Compact Tempered Glass black

A quality and comfortable case from Fractal Design Define 7 Compact. Has a minimalistic design and quality materials. A case of Midi-tower format, support Atx motherboard, a cpu cooler up to 170 mm, a max length of gpu is 360 mm. A good construction and cooling system, has a good materials. Support a 360 mm AIO. A price is normal, on a left side has a tempered glass

Great layout, but snap-in side panels

I was disappointed that the side panels and top panel just snap into place and are not held with fasteners. When you pick up the case to move it, particularly if one side panel is open when doing so, you have to be careful it doesn't come apart.

Good, but with potential for improvement!

Coming from a "normal" size Define R4 and very happy with the change to this chassis. Is very easy to build in, and has room for longer graphics cards (I have a GTX 1080Ti) as well as slightly larger CPU coolers. USB-C port in the front is also a positive.

Good case

Good case. Looks good. Works well. Fits ATX, micro ATX, and ITX. The inner top comes off (2 screws) to allow easy working around the top of the mainboard. Makes cabling easy. Screwless side panels and top. USB C socket up front is a plus. Another 5mm space at the back for cables would have been great but it's still OK. No disk access light and the power on light is a bit anemic.

So quiet!

Got this case because I had a similar one many years ago by Fractal and after trying a gaming laptop for a few years, the first thing I noticed was how loud laptops were! I can sleep in the same room with this case and PC running, super quiet (even with 2 additional fans installed) and it has lots of cable management options that made installing PSU and Mobo pretty easy. I personally like the simple clean look, not a fan of glass panels. Only downside is that it's heavy (10kg) so if you like going to LANs, wouldn't recommend for you :)

Same Chassis Different Bodies. Define 7 and Mesify 2 Review.

The Define and Meshify 2 have the same chassis but different bodies, and yes I own both. The Define 7 only comes with ONE fan but two different top panels, one solid and one with a cutout design for air-flow in case an AIO is used, if not just use the solid panel for direct air-flow. Front is a solid panel but mesh vents for air-flow intake, but inexplicably the side panel has a massive anti-vibrating sound dampening mat that the Meshify 2 does not come with, or at least in my case. The Meshify 2, has the same exact chassis, although, with two 140mm fans in the front (total of 3 fans included), there is no choice for a solid top panel or side panel with a sound dampening mat glued to it. Both cases are amazing, with slightly different preferences for your needs. The Compact 7 also comes with two ports for USB 2.0 on the top panel next to the USB 3.0 ports, and the Meshify 2 doesn't., so no use for the USB 2.0 port but in many cases, an AIO requires (and other internal peripherals) the use of a USB 2.0 port and that's where you'd connect it, directly to the motherboard. I removed the 3.5" drive bay, as I don't have the need for mechanical drives, I've now moved to NVMe for all my drives, my asus Z690 has two more slots for a total of 3 but the case also has room for two SATA SSD and I use them in both cases. Both cases are fantastic, can't go wrong with either one, although I'd favor the Meshify 2 over the Define 7 Compact just a little more. You can always buy sound dampening material and glue it to it, and likely the USB 2.0 on top of the case really won't have any use for me, not because I have an AIO, but because I have a Dark Rock Pro 4, but I find USB 2.0 useless as my STRIX-E has so many USB 3.0 and up ports. So, I'd stick with the air-flow, because of the Define 7 solid front panel. My first choice was the Define 7 Compact but now that I have the Meshify 2, I see why. I also removed those plastic cable management clips and the velcro straps, I prefer cable ties.

Nice quality and great looking case with little quirks

Disclaimer: this is my first custom PC build in 10 years, so I have zero experience with modern cases. In the past I used low-mid range cases, and this one is more on higher end. I spent quite a lot of time researching cases. And while my build is not that demanding I wanted to get a good quality case and Fractal Design cases were often in top recommendations. Overall, I must say that I definitely like the case. It looks great - I have a couple of LED components inside, and tinted glass sidewall allows to show them off in style. Material quality and build quality is very good. I'm yet to run my new PC under full load to assess how quiet it is, but there is so many options to build the case with different walls, fans, etc that I feel it can be adjusted to what you want from noise/airflow balance perspective. There is a plenty of flexibility in how to pull the cables, and how to mount all storage devices. Enough space overall - all is very nice. While my build is small, I don't have bulk cooler, my storage is all M.2 and I could've used smaller case, I feel this case is future proof for me if I'd need to upgrade CPU/GPU/cooling or add a couple of SSDs. Assembling PC in case was mostly easy, but there are two thing I want to highlight: 1. The assembly instructions have pictures of screws to use on each step, but there are like 5 different types of screws, and unless you build PCs often you may not know which one to use. Some of them are distinctively different from others and you can tell it from picture on manual page, but I still was confused on which screws to use to attach motherboard with. That particular screw is not accurately represented by picture (it looks like flat head on picture, but in reality it's not) 2. The case is manufactured to support ATX motherboard out of the box. If you want to install M-ATX, then you need to move a couple of motherboard standoff pieces to respective mounting holes. And there is a couple of problems with that: - first, the instruction is not clear again. I mean you need to know what you are doing, this is not beginner friendly for sure. All instruction pages are IKEA-style, with almost no text, which doesn't really make it easy to understand. - second, they put a small "standoff tool" in a package to unscrew standoffs and screw them back to M-ATX position. The picture of the tool in instruction is not accurate, so you have to guess that you need to get that small thingy that is not a screw from it's own plastic bag for this... And the "tool" itself is made from squishy plastic. Instruction suggests to use a screwdriver, but it simply breaks the plastic Phillips head. The tool also has some ribs to use it with your fingers, but unless you've got titanium fingers don't bother - standoffs are very tight. Welp, I just used pliers to unscrew standoffs after I ruined the "tool" with a screwdriver.

This case is beautiful!

-I highly recommend this case, it's the best looking, best sized case I've ever owned, having owned around 8 cases over the years. Fractal cases are great to build in, very functional and designed well with good looks. I probably wouldn't buy this though if you're cooling with air and don't intend to mod the front panel. I run air and it stays very cool with Noctua fans. Just get it already!

None flashy mature case.

Case is really really nice. Looks very professional and is a breath of fresh air from the "gaming" type cases. It is very easy to build in, and has really nice sound dampening properties. This was noticed by my wife who has been exposed to the meshify versions from Fractal Design. "wow, it's so quiet" It is a well designed and constructed case. It has very good cable management and the size seems appropriate, not too big and not too small. If you want to use an AIO you can swap out the top with a vented version that is also included. The only downsides I can see, are it can't use a 140mm exhaust fan, and the air intake is somewhat limited. However, it seems to be sufficient for it's intended use. I don't want to give the impression that it is choking the airflow but again, if you are looking for a performance based option, I suggest you look at the meshify versions. Otherwise, it's awesome. will use again.

One of the few decent ATX cases that aren't enormous

Most of my issues with this case are of the Old Man Shakes Fist At Cloud variety. With that disclaimer:

Overall a very nice case.

This case is just large enough to fit my Noctua NH-D15, G.skill Ripjaws memory, and my RTX 3080. The finish looks great, and it has adequate feet to allow air to come in from underneath. Cable management is easy with this case. My only complaint is that, unlike the regular version of this case, the compact one has no door for the front panel. Considering the design, it does have decent thermals, but a door would come in handy to open and let in some air if it does start getting too hot on the inside. Instead of a door, you have to take off the whole front panel, which is easy, but you will no longer be filtering dust. With the panel on, it doesn't get hot enough for my GPU or CPU throttle under heavy load (3080 and 5950x), but it almost does.

Beautiful, sturdy, extremely well thought-out

I originally chose this case because it looked good, the price was right, and it was one of the few cases that included a front/top USB C port. When it arrived, it completely surpassed my expectations. Unboxing this case was pure joy. The packaging and documentation are fantastic. The included manual includes detailed, easy to understand graphical depictions of different installation options. Everything about the case is design with purpose, and the execution succeeds in achieving a very functional, flexible case with very polished fit and finish. I highly recommend this case.

Almost perfect

If you can get all your cables to lie flat, this is a fantastic case. I might recommend getting a power supply with flat ribbon cables as opposed to bundled round cables. Even with bulky cables, though, it will do the trick - it will just take some fiddling to get everything in its place. Highly recommended if your priority is reducing noise without compromising ventilation.

Standard Fractal Design (high) Quality

I already have a Define R5 and a Define R6. Since the new system was going to be limited to M.2 and possibly an SSD, I gave the R7 Compact a try.

Matt's review of Fractal Design Define 7 Compact Black Solid

Pros: Really neat and compact case. If you've not got too many 3.5" or 5.25" drives it makes perfect sense. Probably better suited to mATX board but will fit ATX

Great Case With Imperfections

Overall, I definitely do not regret my purchase. This is a very nice case. However, I was especially disappointed with how the power button feels when I turn the computer on. There's no satisfying click. It's as though the button becomes partially stuck, like there's something stopping the button from going in and out effortlessly. It's too bad because nearly everything else about this case is really nice. It's worth noting that the power button still works, but it feels like it's ready to give up one day. Perhaps I'll update my review if that happens.