Fractal Design Core 1100 Chassis Review

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Price / Where to Buy:
US – Approx.: $42.99 – [easyazon_link identifier=”B00NPIL6GQ” locale=”US” tag=”back2gaming-20″]Amazon[/easyazon_link] PH – Approx.: Php1900

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We take a look at another budget chassis in this review, this time our first review for Fractal Design and as we always say a company that has keen attention to their budget offerings always has an excellent repertoire in their higher-end port folio. For this review, we go over the Fractal Design Core 1100 mATX chassis. A budget-oriented chassis built to offer the basic essentials but deliver the best at ’em.

Key features

An extremely compact micro ATX case, designed for exceptional airflow and cooling
Brushed aluminum-look front panel with a sleek, three-dimensional textured finish
One Fractal Design 120mm fan included
Easy access I/O on front panel, with audio and both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports
Front panel dust filters and closed top and bottom panels help maintaining a dust free interior
Innovative vertical HDD bracket, which can hold two 3.5″ drives or three 2.5″ drives, or one drive of each size
Vibration-dampened mounting for both 3.5″ drive slots
Fully painted interior, with Fractal Design signature white details

Specifications

Mini ITX, Micro ATX motherboard compatibility
2 drive bays of 5,25″ , two 3.5″ HDD positions or 3 bays 2.5″ or one 2.5″ and one 3.5″drive positions
4 expansion slots
Supports Graphics cards up to 350mm in length may be installed. One or more 3.5″ hard drives may interfere with side-mounted power connectors on graphics cards longer than 170 mm
Support cooling system: 3 Fan positions (1 fan included)
Filtered fan slots in front
CPU coolers up to 148 mm in height
ATX PSUs, up to 185mm if a typical-length optical drive is mounted
Available in Black
Case dimensions (WxHxD):175 x 358 x 410 mm
Net weight: 3.8 kg
Package dimensions (WxHxD): 235 x 485 x 420 mm
Package weight: 4.6 kg

Cooling system

Front:Â 1 – 120mm fans (included is 1 Fractal Design silent 120mm fan, 1200 RPM speed)
Rear:Â 1 – 92mm fan (not included)
Side: 1 -120mm fan (not included)

Front interface

1 USB 3.0 and 1 USB 2.0
Audio in/out
Power button with LED (white)
HDD activity LED (white)

Package contents

Core 1100 computer case
Accessory box
User manual

Additional information

EAN:7350041081913
UPC: 817301011914
Product code: FD-CA-CORE-1100-BL

Fractal Design Core 100 official product page

Closer Look – Exterior

Fractal Design packages the Core 1100 in a simple brown cardboard box. The front as with many similar products features a lineart print of the chassis. The model is printed in bold text in the upper right corner. Make sure to check because Fractal Design uses simple number sequences for its model type. On the back are the feature highlights and accessory breakdown of the Core 1100.

The case is protected with a large plastic bag and then sandwiched between styrofoam pads.

Checking out the case, we see our black Fractal Design Core 1100 here features a simple slate side panels, the one opposite of the motherboard has a 120mm fan exhaust area for additional ventilation. A small recess serves as a grip to pull the side panels.

The front of the Fractal Design Core 1100 is quite straightforward design with side vents running along the side for intake and a clean front lined with front panel buttons give the case a really elegant look. Two 5.25″ bays are present and are covered out of the box. A single front panel USB3.0 is present in this chassis also, one of its main features.

At the back we get to see hints of the form factor accommodation of the Fractal Design Core 1100. With 4 expansion slots, this case can house an ITX or mATX motherboard. A single 120mm exhaust vent is located just beneath the top-mount PSU area.

Underneath the chassis are 4 plastic feet. No exhaust vents here.

Due to being a top-mount PSU design, there’s also no vents on the top of the Core 1100.

Closer Look – Interior

The Fractal Design Core 1100 side panels are locked by thumb screws for tool-less removal. Once removed, the side panel reveals to us what we’ll be working with inside the Core 1100.

One of the surprising features of the Fractal Design Core 1100 is its drive mounting system. From the previous image we may think we have a hard drive cage but from this angle we can see there’s no rack of sorts to slide our drives in. We’ll discuss more about this later on.

Fractal Design includes vented expansion slot covers with the Core 1100, all secured by thumbscrews.

The top mount PSU slot will house normal sized ATX form factor PSUs but note that there’s really not much of a support brace below the space so heavier PSUs might be a bit too much for the Core 1100.

A single Fractal Design 120mm Silent Series fan is included with the Core 1100 to serve as front intake.

Removing the front panel reveals that there’s only space for a single 120mm front fan and our bottom 5.25″ bay is blocked by a metal placeholder/cover.

On the back of the motherboard tray, there’s really not much going on. There’s very limited space here but given that you won’t be able to slip the PSU cables on the back, there’s really no need.

System Assembled

As we mentioned earlier, the Fractal Design Core 1100 features a unique drive mounting system with the mounting plate just resting on one side of the chassis. Removing the panel requires the removal of three screws. Once removed, the plate comes off and features mounting holes for two 3.5″ storage devices or three 2.5″ storage devices.

If using both, only of each can be used like a single 3.5″ HDD and a single 2.5″ SSD.

Screws are provided for the mounting system of the entire chassis from the motherboard standoffs to the storage screws.

All setup, we can see the chassis can accommodate a full mATX board like our sample here and even a rather hefty PSU. The cables can be neatly tucked behind the HDD/SSD mounting plate for aesthetics but be wary not to block the front intake fan.

Its worth noting the when putting graphics cards, you can place really long ones provided they are narrow like the reference AMD and NVIDIA cards. Also support for length will vary if you have an HDD in the storage mount because it will block that area. All in all, we highly recommend short GPUs for this setup with the Fractal Design Core 1100.

Conclusion

The Fractal Design Core Series of chassis represents the best of value series of products from the company and the Core 1100 is aimed at small system builders going for a classic, elegant look without breaking the bank. Let’s break down the score before our verdict:

Build Quality. While the chassis is primarily composed of lighter materials, the clean worksmanship on the metal working is really impressive we’ve seen from a value-oriented chassis. All edges are rolled to prevent sharp areas and the paint job is just pristine clean. The aluminium-inspired front panel is the base at which the Core 1100 gets its classic look and the smart mesh intake adds a nice touch of modern tech to it. There’s really nothing much to complain but we do feel there’s a bit of detail that have been missed like the mesh cover on the sides still having a lot of unkept mesh fibers sticking out. Also, the drive mount also needs a bit of rework as HDDs tend to bump up against the front intake fan when mounted regardless if its bottom or top which prevents the mounting plate from being screwed back in to place. Also, why is everyone putting a single USB3.0 port on budget cases? The internal header already supports two.

Functionality. Fractal Design keeps it straight in this chassis and intends the chassis for mostly light system builds which won’t require a ton of airflow. That means its perfect for mATX office system builds, HTPCs, family PCs or even a smaller-sized gaming PC. The cooling options are rather limited but a decent 140mm tower or low-profile heatsink or if you’re crafty, even a 120mm AIO watercooler could fit inside the Core 1100.

Value. At an average price of $39 or Php1900, the Fractal Design Core 1100 sits just a bit above most value-oriented chassis and this puts it in a unique spot. While we can ask for a bit of a price drop, we’re completely fine with the price given the quality of the Core 1100. This might not be the same for most consumers, but we’re impressed by the build quality and the smart internals of the chassis to support the asking price.

Overall the Fractal Design Core 1100 nails down all the essentials with excellent build quality rounding off a great product. If you’re looking for a budget mATX chassis for a new budget build and want a finely-made chassis that is just the right size then the Fractal Design Core 1100 is a top choice.