Fractal Pop Air RGB Case Review | Thermals, Build Quality, & Cable Management

Fractal's new Pop Air & Pop Silent cases just launched, adding a unique splash of color to ATX, E-ATX (XL), and mini PC builds. We're reviewing the Fractal Pop Air RGB in this one, but we also have the Silent on-hand for benchmarks. When Fractal sent these for review, we opted for one of the cyan + black colorways. This is the main selling point; of course, other than the 5.25" optical drive support in a 2022 gaming PC case.

Benchmarks include thermal comparisons vs. competitors like the Montech X3, Corsair 4000D Airflow, Lian Li Lancool 215, Phanteks P400A, and more.



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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Fractal Went Insane
02:06 - Silent vs. Air Comparisons
05:05 - OPTICAL DRIVES RETURN
07:36 - Radiator Limitations
10:25 - Shortcomings & After Thoughts
14:52 - Lab LED Commentary
18:25 - A Few More Small Complaints
19:20 - CPU Thermal Benchmarks
20:42 - GPU Thermal Benchmarks in Fractal Pop Air
22:00 - 3DMark Gaming Thermals
22:16 - Blender CPU-Only & GPU-Only Thermals
22:49 - Standardized Fan Benchmarks in Fractal Pop
23:36 - Noise Levels in Pop Air
24:14 - Noise-Normalized Thermals
24:43 - Conclusion

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Host, Test Lead, Video Editing: Steve Burke
Writing, Testing, Host: Patrick Lathan
Camera, Video Editing: Andrew Coleman

[GamersNexus]

Working on this video format was really fun! What did you think of this review style?
One note: For RGB colors, if you set it into color cycle mode and long hold on the button while it's rotating, you can freeze it on a color. This is kind of annoying and unintuitive (hence why it got by us), but Fractal notes that, if you cycle this way, it is possible to freeze on the desired solid color.

[stanky]

I used to trust gamers nexus for accurate and unbiased reviews, but after I heard Steve say having a blue case doesn’t make your PC cooler, I knew they were wrong.

[hellsau]

I like that hidden drawer. If you like the aesthetics of the case, you'll probably want it on top of your desk, and that drawer is kind of neat for hiding USB drives, bluetooth adapters, HDMI/DisplayPort fillers, small cables, or whatever other random PC bits you'd keep in a drawer somewhere else.

[castform]

Even though the blue color doesn't make it any cooler, red definitely makes it faster.

[KaosPCtech]

5:42 I really like the fact that the 5.25" bays are there. You don't always need to mount optical drives there, perhaps you want to mount a fan controller and not have to always use one of those tiny remotes that can get easy lost. Maybe you want to mount a little raspberry pie monitors there for for temperature read outs or fps counters or whatever else you'd like. Plus its still nice to have a way to dump and back up my old disc games (PS1/PS2, Xbox, ect.) and even CDs, DVDs/BluRays to my Plex for personal use.

[madcrowmaxwell]

Aesthetically, it's interesting. Color is always nice. Patrick is absolutely right that the RGB controller should have pre-baked profiles to match the case color. Not everybody want to run resource-hungry RGB software just to make the colors match!

[scwr]

Those 5.25 bays could hold hot swap 2.5" bays like the ones from icy dock for example. This could add value in a NAS build.

[skeledog]

I personally really like the inclusion of 5.25 bays. Not only is it useful to have a drive for ripping blurays or burning the occasional disc, the bays can be used to add IO down the line (need more front usb or even some new port standard comes out down the line), or other cool things. 5.25 bays are also nice for designing custom front panel parts.



Plus, one could always stick a 5.25 floppy drive in them just to confuse people.

[exar]

I like the walking/talking/“setting up for the video” introduction, and it’s a good use of the new space!

[TheGameBench]

I really appreciate this implementation of 5.25 bays. They did a good job of giving you the option, without having to see it and be mocked by everyone you show your PC too, all without an ugly door or interfering too much with the power supply cables... same for the hard drive mounting. I just mount my optical drive externally, to the bottom of my desk.

[Jsteeeez]

Love having all those customization options with the case. Also props on fractal on keeping the price reasonable. Cooler master could take notes on pricing.

[shizam]

My gf is gonna love this. She was really, really wanting optical drives in her case but also a modern case. I thought this was impossible, but its here! She'll love the colors too. I'm kind of jealous

[ElevatedSystems]

You can set solid colors on the LEDs. There is a whole secondary set of functions by long pressing the button. Once you get to the slow cycle patern pres the button again when it gets to the color you want and it will freeze on that color.

[prrocker]

Ngl I really like how they handled the 5.25 bays as someone running a DVD drive in his master case mc500 i love when manufacturers still include them especially with them including different colors as well tbh if they were to make a revision where you could convert the 5.25 bays into another fan mount Fractle will have a must have case because you're catering to both people who want and don't want them

[Lindeman]

This very much feels like a replacement for their Focus G case. A less dated styling that still lets users install optical drives.

[bigwizardenergy]

I've been itching for a good airflow option that still can hold my Blu-ray drive. The ashtray joke is 10 out of 10, but I'm here for it. It's exactly what I'm looking for.

[BRNSOP]

Last year's NR200 colourways are also really varied, not a direct competitor but really nice to see companies going out there with colour

[rojovision]

I remember having a conversation in the comments recently about how the biggest issue with these airflow cases is the lack of 5.25" bays. I made the argument that it's possible to make a perfectly suitable case while including them, despite protestations about their obsolescence. Well, here we are, and you can even get the cases in color variations beyond black and white. I really don't need one right now, but I feel like I should pick one up since it feels like Fractal practically custom built this for me.

[wildfire]

As someone who still uses his 5.25 bays, this case almost fits the bill for me. Unfortunately, as you lose most of the hard drive mounting support when you install two optical drives, I'll be sticking with my old case. It's incredible to me how hard it is to find a modern mid-tower with 5.25 support and decent hard drive mounting options....

[devin]

I'm always happy to see smaller cases that still give the user the option of a 5 1/4" optical drive. I know they're much more rarely used these days but some people still need or just prefer to have the option. Props to Fractcal as always.