No Airflow - Bad Fans - Fractal Pop Air Review

We did contact Fractal and go over our testing methodology in depth and we are happy that our testing is replicated across all cases in a very fair way. The same way that showed the amazing airflow in the Fractal Torrent has sadly shown some shortfallings with their new Pop range.
Our case will be getting returns back to Fractal so that they can check the fans and do some more of their own internal testing and we will try and update you on the TTL Facebook page when we have any updates. - TTL Facebook: / tinytomlogan
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#fractal #pop #airflow

[@creed5248]

You didn't even check the thermals ! What kind of reviews do you do here ?

[@godnamedtay]

The kind without temp checks

[@Ryan-re1rs]

I'm confused. I've seen testing from others and this case does do pretty well with air flow and cooling...

[@Silwany]

I love this case and have watched a lot of reviews. I would say if you are using a 65 watt CPU you will be fine but if you are using a 95+ watt CPU you should consider upgrading the fans for Noctua or other better fans!

[@GryffonL]

Like Sil said definitely pick up some better fans doesn't even have to be noctuas arctics would do a good job for a bit cheaper

[@MrGamelover23]

​@@GryffonLAnd if you get 140 mm fans instead of 120, you can get even better performance. That's because you'll be getting air from a bigger part of the mesh, gamers Nexus pointed out that the fans are so close that they're not really taking full advantage of the mesh and are really just pulling in there from directly in front of the fans. Bigger fans could easily solve that problem or at least make a significant improvement.

[@Simoxs7]

Well the fans are basically silent on mine and the airflow is enough to cool a 5800X3D and a RX6950XT both are aircooled and max out at ~75°

[@stephenmorrish]

I had zero interest in this case until you mentioned optical drive support. I know I'm odd, but I like optical drives, Blue Ray disks are super cheap on the second-hand market (£2 each). Physical media is king, and downloading or streaming means you must deal with the compression and who doesn't like the extras that are on the disks? Finding a modern PC case that can also support optical drives is super rare these days. As for the fans I have three 140mm BeQuiet so that's not a bother for me. I wonder if you can buy the case without the fans?

[@OC3D]

I sadly dont think you can

[@alarak2159]

No interest in the case but totally support your ethos towards optical media. Streaming is convenient, but not financially or technically the best.

[@QuentinStephens]

You might also consider a USB optical drive.

[@stephenmorrish]

@@QuentinStephens I have USB optical drives, I would just like to have them in the PC.

[@MrEShive]

@Hardline.dk they sell this.

[@desireless4092]

My God, I cannot believe I am gonna say this, but thank you for not slapping AIO cooler and testing it the way this case was meant to be.

[@briancollins4569]

I’ve got the Pop XL Air and I have zero complaints. It came with 4 of the 120 fans instead of 3. Temps Have never gotten above 50 with an i7 10900k paired with rtx 3070ti. I did put in an AIO so perhaps it’s masking the poor performance of the case fans. I like the boring basic look of the case.

[@swizzler8053]

Same bro. Did a custom loop in the XL with two rads. Really like the case.

[@MWcrazyhorse]

right you have to have the outlet fan too. Otherwise the values will be skewed.

[@godnamedtay]

The case fans are trash, non pwm, but hey they work and it’s a $80-90 case. Idk why anyone would complain with what u get for the $. Go spend $200 on a fishbowl case and look like a clown or be a normal person and build a pc correctly and buy the stuff required to do so. Not that difficult when ur IQ is above 90.

[@shadowred1980]

Thank you for the honest review. I still have the fractal R3 following your review many years a go. Optical drive is interesting, I still use one.

[@AustnTok]

Your results are odd because Gamers Nexus reviewed this case and they said it had good airflow. I have a Fractal Pop Air XL with a 7950x and a 4080, and a Fractal Pop Air Mini (mATX) with a 12600k and 4070 FE. My temps have been really good in this case. I like them a lot. Yeah, It's not the best looking case ever, but I like it. My one complaint about the Pop Air XL is that it can only fit a 240mm or 280mm AIO on top. There is plenty of room for a 360mm mount, so its annoying that they did it that way. Other than that, I love mine.

[@jpouellet3259]

Do you adapt your 600 rpm test to the size of fan case? Because if so then all case you ever test will show 200mm fans are by far the best, while they may not be, at least not by that far of a margin. This is an all 120mm test. When normalized for noise and not blunt rpm, that case actually did pretty well in GN test for airflow

[@Ryan-re1rs]

I've seen a few others test this case and it came out well with Temps. so I'm lost on why it didn't do as well here.

[@jpouellet3259]

@@Ryan-re1rs very much so. I have the xl version and its great

[@jondasek]

Shame they included some poor fans. GN tested it also with fan normalized test, and it was really good. I wish they'd sell a cheaper version with no fans so I can just buy Arctic's P14 or P12 fans and make it good.

[@godnamedtay]

Just buy new fans…they’re not expensive. lol what a “shame” u said, bruh Foh 😂😂

[@hughluttrell6350]

Your comment about 5 1/4 optical bays being old school may be correct but i use them for hot swap bays,icydock 3.5 or SSD.

[@Cactuspractice12]

I's strange that there are such wildly different responses to this case. Gamers Nexus, arguably one of the most rigorous testers, placed this case pretty high up, easily beating the NXT cases. Perhaps it just comes down to taste

[@GruelingFive8]

In Gamers Nexus' video, this case did incredibly well in their standardised fan test. It seems like this video's main complaint is the stock fans, so all the info fits together pretty nicely

[@jeanvaljean732]

I got myself this case, After watching GN, and a CPU cooler recommended by them too. I gotta Say that this case is too hot. My CPU throttle, my GPU is fine. I'm here looking for advice on how to update m'y case😢

[@SuixdeCity]

@@jeanvaljean732what’s your specs and cooler

[@godnamedtay]

Comes down to idiots not knowing wtf they’re talking about honestly. Fractal makes good cases 90% of the time. This is obv a good case. Point, blank, period.

[@godnamedtay]

@@SuixdeCityhe doesn’t know wtf he’s talking about. It’s clear by his comment. Don’t waste ur time.

[@Benjamin1998]

that's why you go with the XL version. that third 120mm intake fan at the bottom front pushes the GPU's hot air straight out the back of the case. no vortices of hot swirling air pockets, the fan placement and open mesh rear are very efficient. not many cases do that. just go with Noctua fans though

[@LawrenceTimme]

Ding. I'm glad you told them how it was. Hopefully they will improve the fans. :) Constructive reviews like this are better for everyone

[@bothellkenmore]

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a consumer version of the basic box Puget Systems wanted for basic workstations. Seems well suited for that role.

[@notmyfaultthisishappening3795]

Didn’t know that Puget Systems was looking for a basic chassis as well. Can you link to where they said that?

[@bothellkenmore]

@@notmyfaultthisishappening3795 I'm not sure why I phrased it that way. I think I just assumed Fractal wouldn't have a new chassis w/ optical bays unless their biggest customer that has clients that want those wasn't involved. Maybe there will be a new Define variant with that series looks but with this chassis. Just theory crafting now LOL.

[@zidermakesispooky]

Those replacement fans are mounted further away from the front by putting them behind the front brackets, I wish you tried that with the stock fans.

[@tompayne4945]

Shame it's not such a positive outcome, but nice at least that they're in a constructive dialogue with you. Great stuff as always dude 😍

[@Giedrius_Savickas]

See GamersNexus review, judging by temperatures they got, it's actually a really good case. I don't want to say Tom's review is bad.

[@creed5248]

I really like this case ... can't be as bad as the gateway computer cases from the 1990s . Still need my Bluray and Hotswap 2.5 - 3.5 ... 5.25" bays . So nice when working on array maintenance and cloning replacement drives . Guess I'm a dinosaur to keep holding on to them ?

[@luanphan2706]

nah mate, I'm obsessed with optical drives and HDD just like you xD this case was a win win for me

[@luanphan2706]

nah mate, I'm obsessed with optical drives and HDD just like you xD this case was a win win for me

[@Whitehalo117]

The aspect 12 fans are 2000 rpm fans... Not sure what you got, but the airflow in my pop air is amazing

[@malesulo980]

they are 1200rpm fans ( i have that case). And are trash... switched to P14 arctic and my temps are like 5-8C lower

[@LutfiJC]

Keyword = Transparency. Fractal's seeing business from when case recommendations need dishing out by me, as opposed to NZXT's method of dealing with issues. Thanks for the review, Tom - do have a like brudda! :)

[@christopherjames9843]

Asian mentality is that any kind of criticism constructive or not is an attack and you lose "face".

[@Blobby192]

the case is great but you need to replace the fans

[@vMaxHeadroom]

Good review and honest! I have seen some other reviews today but yours is detailed and informative by going the extra mile..Nice looking case at a decent price but let down by fans...thankfully that can e remedied at an extra cost or if you have some spare fans which I am sure a fair few do...I went with the NZXT H7 Flow and more than impressed but I did need a case that could handle a 360mm AIO in the roof which the Flow did..

[@PrincessZoey]

optical bay feature is neat

[@Aint1S]

They had to know that those fans were the weak link... Bean counters probably messed it up for them.

[@FromTheHood]

I'm interested in Mini version, since every reviewer so far was praising that case. Have you did a review of Mini Pop case?

[@danebeee1]

Hey tim does the optical drive face plate fit on if you have the optical drive installed?? I mean it would be a pain to have to take it off every time u want to put a disk in but at least it wouldn’t look crazy like it does without the face plate.

[@pzaikis]

I have seen in another video that it does, and it's simply held in by magnets so it shouldn't be that big of a pain to remove whenever swapping disks.

[@TekNeil]

Shame about the air flow/fans, but I suppose if you really liked the case enough then you could go for the none RGB version and stick your own fans in. I appreciate a bay option as well, I always tend to have a hot swap bay for a big capacity backup HDD drive that can be quickly used elsewhere/hidden etc. The 'Stash tray' would be handy for my thumb drives and more too.

[@nadtz]

First review to say what I've been thinking. Not that impressed by this one, though having optical drives (or 6 drives) does make this a winner for certain niche cases. Good on Fractal to look into it though.

[@andonandonov7793]

Thank you for the honest review! I own Pop air mini from a while and I agree 100% with you for the temperatures. My PC is Ryzen 7600 (not OC)(max 90w) with Asrock Phantom D rx7600 (max 182w).

[@GroundGame.]

Can we see your thoughts on the MSI Velox 100P Airflow! And as always good review boss!

[@OC3D]

No plans on that one tbh - its already been out a while so not really worth the time

[@andy-james-]

I just bought a pre-built pop air tg pc, I'm in the UK. It's an i7 13700F, RTX 4080. The CPU is cooled with a 280 mm AIO fitted to the top. The 3 fans are 120 mm, 3 pin RGB max rpm 1200 rpm. Running my fav game "Scum" on Epic settings the CPU was around 70 and the GPU 70-80 Deg C. Not great so I swapped the fans for Noctua 3 x 120 pmw and 2 x 140 mm pmw at the front. Both temps are down with the GPU now running around 45-65. Why do they cheap out on sub standard, 3 pin fans? I think it would be better if they didn't include any fans and make it slightly cheaper. The company who built the pc told me the cooling was good! When you buy an RTX 4080, i7 system you don't think, oh go on, fit crappy fans and save me a few quid!! I might get another case altogether.

[@jamesarchibald7773]

Hi Tom, from watching your video it seems your second test with the Corsair fans were placed behind the front frame instead of the stock placement in front of the frame. That extra space before the mesh panel would account for the extra drop in temps.

[@OC3D]

I actually tried both ways dude - thats just the way they were for the final clip - there was about 0.3c difference between the two

[@jamesarchibald7773]

@@OC3D Oh interesting, i only have a small sample size of about 3 cases from different companies (personal builds). I see about a 3-5 C drop when backing the fans away from the front most setup. I'll remember from now this is not as common for all cases. Thanks for your reply and teaching me something!

[@OC3D]

Each case can be different dude - thats just how this one reacted. There is way more to consider than just space.

[@gonewiththewind88]

I’ve had 0 issues with my case my cpu i9 doesn’t overheat or my gpu during 4K gaming and I just kept stock fans. I have an aio only 240 lol odd

[@creed5248]

The tray is good for usb recovery drives and windows installs . Heck ! Throw a fat one in there !!

[@jimflagg4009]

Love the shirt.

[@happyfeet4506]

Great review 👍 bad fans, bad airflow and no dust filter either oh dear a serious misfire from Fractul

[@MrWassup45]

the mesh already acts as a dust filter from what ive heard

[@happyfeet4506]

@@MrWassup45 I've had 2 of these mesh cases the p500a and the lian li evo and trust me they are like hoovers! A few days and the cases are full of dust. A nightmare to keep clean. Each to there own but for me these mesh cases are a no no

[@virexium6422]

@@happyfeet4506 Maybe your surroundings just arent clean thats why.

[@terryforsythe8083]

Would moving the bottom fan lower help direct more airflow to the graphics card?

[@OC3D]

not massively really no -

[@Nerathim]

Basically the only review on the whole web criticizing this case

[@MultiDecimation]

just needs a full set of bequiet 140mms fitted but just too expensive and well into corsair territory then

[@virexium6422]

Exactly. I'd rather get the 4000D

[@kenrq63]

Good work Tom, well done - we like the honesty 👍🙂

[@MarkyFormula1]

Interesting results. Any follow up to this after Fractal retested that particular case?

[@OC3D]

I never heard anything back sadly. They didnt send the the other model that was based on this chassis though, so Id assume they knew it wouldnt have reviewed well.

[@1upthegreat]

bro you mounted the different fans on the inside making them much closer to your GPU, also....I bet you left the front mesh panel off too...which hey guess what drops temps down by 5 degrees, LOL...how is your channel still alive.

[@OC3D]

Having the fans closer to the GPU would actually help temps.... Having the front panel off would help temps but NO I did not run without the front panel - whats the point in buying a case to not use half of it. The airflow on the case isnt good enough and the fans are garbage.

[@melvinhans1844]

Have you tried mounting 140s in the top? On the top shot it looks like the vrm is too close for them to fit

[@vonk0126]

I'm here because I own this case and my temps are atrocious...

[@martinnmnuoz]

Hello, i have this case and i was wondering what is the best setup of fan cases to improve the airflow, looking at 2 140mm fans in the front, 2 120mm fans in the top(don’t know if both of them for intake, or the top front for intake and the top rear for exhaust) and the other 120mm rear fan for exhaust. What do you think?

[@radosuaf]

I'd just leave the top, but if you insist then obviously front has to be intake and back has to be exhaust.

[@finger00]

Block all the open areas around the front fans and create more directional flow rather than turbulence. ~the end~

[@plantsNstuff]

The stock 140mm fans cove all the open space, the rest is blocked solid, aside from a few tiny holes to pass wires through. There's no way to make the air flow more direct than it is right from the factory.

[@steveaustin4118]

Be interesting to see what they make of testing, but I really just don't like the look of the case tbh

[@ChrisSkitch]

Any further news back from Fractal about your results?

[@sing1r]

Replace the 120m in front with 140's

[@TVCHLORD]

what do you mean no airflow the front is open

[@rankcolour8780]

When mesh is that fine it looks open but around 30-40% of it is occupied by solid material. On top of all the material blocking the venting the mesh creates turbulence so not only is a large part of the venting "blocked" but pulling air through it requires good fans. If you have a really fine sieve try blowing through it and see what happens. It's why so many people remove fine mesh dust filters because it utterly chokes airflow.

[@OC3D]

The fans are just not good enough dude.

[@plantsNstuff]

Nice review, thank you :) I have to agree with your assessment, I had a workstation built back in May, this was the only case choice they had at the time, it's a ryzen 9 7950x cpu, rtx 4080 gpu, with a MAG CORELIQUID 280R V2 AIO cpu cooler, it runs very hot. With the default motherboard settings it runs between 95c and 97c at idle, 100c and 110c under load. If the ambient temperature of the room got over 28c(83f) it overheated and shut down in under 15 minutes under load. I adjusted the max cpu temp to 75c on the motherboard, if the room temp gets over 26c(80f) it climbs to 85c, over 28c it runs 95c at idle and as high as 105c if do as little as stream some video from the web. There's nothing within a foot of the case, the airflow is not restricted in any way. I agree, the problem, is the fans. The cpu cooler fans move 84cfm of air, the case fans move 30cfm of air, they just can't keep up with the heat the cpu cooler is dumping into the case. I'm going to replace the front case fans with some noctua nf-a14's that run at 82cfm and put a couple of the old fans in the top of the case. The cpu cooler radiator is in the front with a push pull fan setup, I think having push fans that are moving the same amount of air as the cooler fans should help a lot ;) I'll post the results back here once I've had a chance to experiment with fans and placement. UPDATE I added a Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM today, put it in the back of the case and moved the aspect 12 stock fan to the back of the top grate, The noctua is 60cfm, so at least it's matching the amount of air that's coming in. The room temp is 82f, I'm streaming some video and the cpu temp is holding around 92c, so, I have some hope at least. A day after installing the new fan I realize I was sucking air into the case from everywhere, (too much exhaust air creating negative pressure), so I removed the case fan that I had moved to the top and my problem disappeared. The machine runs at just over 75c unless I really put a load on it, like rendering 3d models, and it gets near 80c . The fans are running between 92% and 97% all the time so I'll still be replacing the stock front fans with 140mm noctuas in the near future to move more air through the cpu cooler. I hope that helps someone.

[@thelmaviaduct]

Did you get the 140mm noctua fans?

[@RizeAllard]

This is the first fractal case I heard bad things about, but at least they respond well for criticism. :) Good review as usual. ;)

[@MrEShive]

for the money its a great case. Somehow it looks less premium tho…

[@ares23dc]

Not sure where do you live, but in UK you can find more than 100 cases under £70. This is a £120.

[@blackspartan765]

Im having issues with gpu temps loud fans i wish i watched this video first

[@FGV_Gravity]

Hi can you do a review of the Corsair 460x white?

[@OC3D]

I already have dude when it originally launched in 2016 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZK0YnWAgN5jpMk - but the case is so old it really wouldnt be worth making content on it fresh now

[@FGV_Gravity]

@@OC3D it's okay tho, I was going to buy it but so I realized that that case have cable manage problems and it doesn't look good in white, and I took the NZXT H710 black and white

[@stefanpanayotov3857]

is the window made of glass or plastic ?

[@plantsNstuff]

It's glass

[@m1nt24]

Weird...have the Pop XL Air with a 4090 and 13900ks and quite good temps

[@plantsNstuff]

Well, that's a different case with different fans, it's not quite 30% larger, 62L internal volume vs the pop air's 46L. I would hope it runs cooler ;)

[@onkarkitekt]

Got to admire the honest review, so some better fans will make this case okay though right?

[@ares23dc]

No. The case looks and feels like a cheap no name £40 case. You can't change that with fans.

[@onkarkitekt]

@@ares23dc 🖖went for Lian Li

[@ares23dc]

@@onkarkitekt Good choice. I have owned 4 Fractal cases so far, this is the first one to dissapoint.

[@CaptDnaDonut]

Tom it seems like someone made a copycat facebook profile of yours. Might need to look into that if you don't already know

[@OC3D]

If you mean the OC3D one Ive been reporting that for weeks and gotten no where :(

[@CaptDnaDonut]

@@OC3D 😟

[@michaelluster2694]

I think it has its place, it seems like a good beginner case for a person in the mid 30's.

[@DavidSiebert]

What they need to do is produce some 3d models for that font pannel. That way you could print a front with access to the front drive bays. You could also print a pannel with some fans in the front to help cool the drives or even one with a small touchscreen for an info display for the system or even added USB ports or maybe a USB DAC on the front. Just a suggestion.

[@callofmetals24]

Sounds like it can be done DIY

[@wt4509]

Haha bro u limited the reference cooler to 600rpm... that fan is tiny af. Obviously that will make the temps high lol with any other case it would be the same. U should redo this review with a non blower type gpu. And the same fractal fans.

[@Lugermorph1497]

So basically stick with meshify or torrent?

[@Lugermorph1497]

Also good review. Other reviews weren't praising this case but they said that airflow was pretty good. Was going to use this case for future builds for friends/people because the case is basic and simple but now I'm rethinking that choice

[@virexium6422]

I dont like the meshify. Its built like a Dachshund. Long and not very high.

[@finger00]

I've built 2 gaming systems in this case using the stock fans, the cpu 12700k 240mm aio in the top only comes close to 70c and the gpu rtx 3080 stays in the low 70's at full load. Fans can be upgraded, but it's not bad for a budget case stock.

[@ares23dc]

Finally someone being honest about the case. It's a fail. Considering the high price, is a fail (£120 at the moment in UK). It looks, feels and performs like a no name £40 case.

[@operator2618]

you can hide bitcoins in that tray

[@Excalabur50]

When Fractal do a lower end case they inevitably are shit, and the fact you can't put a 360 in it either sucks.

[@RCD4444]

This case is an example of a company selling something it shouldn't just to be represented in a particular segment of the market. I have seen fractal almost as a bit of a premium brand and this case and its looks just makes me think less of fractal.

[@DeathScy7he]

Save up and get a torrent if you want airflow.

[@virexium6422]

I dont like the way the front panel looks on the torrent. Looks very odd.

[@christopherjames9843]

Cheap fans, 120 mm fans. Not an ideal set up.

[@locolama]

What the hell were they thinking?!

[@iancurrie8844]

There’s something wrong with your methodology. Your testing is an extreme outlier even from gamer’s nexus and all others.

[@NapFloridian]

That case looks flimsy and cheap

[@Ryan-re1rs]

It is not.

[@kristiyanvasilios5789]

It's not cheap, and it's definitely not flimsy .

[@StratosphereTechnology]

the case is actually really high quality. it feels genuinely premium for a relatively cheap-mid range case

[@MaterialAmbience]

Its called the POP, cause thats the sound your components will be making when they're cooked in this thing.

[@RuhjedVentula]

Shame on FD