Fractal Design Core 1500 Case Review

Final Thoughts for the FRACTAL DESIGN CORE 1500
As I began this Review I was very comfortable with the way Fractal Design had this case manufactured. The side doors are very easy to take off and re-install and the case is strong for a low budget case but I did find a few faults with the Fractal Design Core 1500. One of the biggest on the list was the length of the HD-Audio front panel wire. It was just long enough for me to stretch and bend it into place, but it did fit with my build and so if your board has the pin-out for the audio in the very back bottom corner of the motherboard you may have to have an extension for using the front jacks. But I had little problems using what I had for the ASUS TUF Z87 board that I used for this Review.

Also the painted stand-off holes were really hard to install. While the stand-offs lined up and screwed in true it was really a wrist workout to get the stand-offs into the holes completely and the standoff tool is very necessary for this job and a really well made screwdriver for true tight fastening.

Lastly the tie-downs on the back of the motherboard was almost useless. I was able to use one of them to fasten the 24 pin down some that was really handy but the rest of them I never were close enough for me to use that that was another ding.

Now that my pessimist side is satiated I will tell you that this case is definitely in the big leagues with the low budget case crowd. The Accessories are very solid and well built. The Drive trays and assembly are both convertible, re-positionable and very well made as any other Fractal Design case. All the mounting screw holes and access holes were all in the right spot and the CPU access hole in the back is very easy to use and quite large enough for both Intel and AMD hardware installs. The holes for the wires are big enough for ease of assembly and the fan controller is a great plus if you have a board that doesn’t have enough fan pin-outs for 3 fans. The fans are nice, quiet and move air with high quality workmanship.

The Fractal Design Core 1500 by itself is typical Fractal Design quality with a very solid paint work and the added look of brushed anodized aluminum in the front panel though it is ABS Plastic and it all matches gracefully. The air flow is well engineered and the availabilities of different radiators and sizes give this case a big step up from its competitors. While I did have some things to complain about this case, overall I have to give this case an 8 out of 10 for design quality and building ease.

rating8 10 small

Pros:
– Quality Steel and ABS front
– Good looks
– Good airflow
– Radiator placement in many different areas
– Convertibility of drive bays and hardware
– Very Affordable and worth the money

Cons
– Stand-off holes were painted in and hard to mount
– Not enough wire ties. Sorry 4 is not enough
– Wire mounting for wire management on motherboard tray not in good positions
– HD-Audio wire is a bit short and should be carefully considered when choosing a motherboard

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