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Fractal Design Core 500

Mini Tower Case

Fractal Design Core 500 Mini Tower Case
PC cases
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9 customer reviews

The Fractal Design Core 500 offers excellent performance in a very compact design. Its optimised 19.5 litre interior space allows for the installation of a variety of computer components. The case also offers good cooling potential, with 3 fan slots.

Mini Tower Case

Overview
A very compact but powerful enclosure

The Fractal Design Core 500 offers excellent performance despite its compact design. Its optimised 19.5-litre interior space allows for the installation of many computer components. The case also offers good cooling potential, with 3 fan slots.

With a pre-installed 140mm Silent Series R3 fan and anti-vibration design, the Fractal Design Core 500 has everything you need to build a quiet, high-performance system. Its 3.5" bays are convertible, so you can choose between 2.5" SSDs, 3.5" hard drives or a combination of both.


Main features :
  • Mini Tower case for Mini ITX motherboard
  • Front panel with brushed aluminium look
  • 19.5 litre volume
  • 1 x 5.25" bay + 3 x 3.5" bay + 3 x 2.5" bay
  • Good cooling potential with up to 3 fan slots (1 included)
  • 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front
  • Compatible with graphics cards up to 310 mm in length
  • Compatible with CPU fans up to 170 mm high
  • Easy to clean dust filters
  • Watercooling compatible: Top: 280, 240, 140 and 120 mm radiator / Rear: 120 mm radiator (not compatible with 3.5" HDD)
Specifications
Select your criteria

General information

Product name

 Fractal Design Core 500

Brand

 Fractal Design

Model

 FD-CA-CORE-500-BK

Main characteristics

Graphic card max. length

 310 mm

Max height CPU fan

 170 mm

Power format

 ATX/EPS

Case format

 Mini tower

Use

 Office

Material

 Aluminum

Motherboard format

 Mini ITX

Power supply supplied

 No

Design

Case color

 Black

Front color

 Black

Glass

 No

LED RGB

 No

Water cooling compatible

 Yes

Expansion slots

Number of PCI slots

 2

Low profile

 No

Number of visible 3.5" slots

 0

Number of invisible 3.5" slots

 3

Number of 2.5" slots

 3

Number of 2.5"/3.5" slots

 0

Number of visible 5.25" slots

 1

Number of invisible 5.25" slots

 0

Number of Slot-in slim 5.25'' slots

 0

Number of Slim 5.25'' slots

 0

Front connectivity

Location of expansion ports

 Front

Connector(s) available

 1 X Headphone (3.5mm Jack Female)
1 X Microphone (3.5mm Jack Female)
2 X USB 3.0

Cooling

Number of rear fan(s) slots

 1 X 120 or 140mm

Quantity of rear fan(s) supplied

 1

Number of above fan(s) slots

 2 X 120 or 140mm

Quantity of above fan(s) supplied

 0

Water cooling

AIO radiator compatibility

 120mm radiator
140mm radiator
240mm radiator
280mm radiator

Above AIO slot(s)

 120mm radiator
140mm radiator
240mm radiator
280mm radiator

Rear AIO slot(s)

 120mm radiator

Physical characteristics

Width

 250 mm

Height

 219 mm

Depth

 367 mm

Weight

 4.4 kg

Volume

 20.1 l

Warranties

Commercial warranty

 Seller 3 years

Legal warranty

 See terms & conditions

See all Fractal Design products

See Fractal Design PC cases section

Product referenced on 4 Aug 2015

Customer reviews
Global rating
8/10
based on 9 reviews Editorial and moderation guide
  • 56%
    5 reviews
  • 33%
    3 reviews
  • 0%
  • 11%
    1 review
  • 0%
  • by NilsP
    Posted on 31 Jul 2024
    Bought on 17 Aug 2020 from LDLC
    Number of reviews: 2 Average rating: 9

    Compact case for impressive component density

    I've used this camera for 4 years, and I was looking for a compact camera that would be easy to carry around, without making too many concessions. I think it will be easier to share my experience by listing the strengths and weaknesses.

    Strengths :
    - room for an ATX power supply (you have to be careful with the length though), the Seasonic FOCUS GX 850 Gold fits perfectly
    - enough space to accommodate long 2-slot graphics cards
    - the option of watercooling or a very large ventirad (NH-D15)
    - an impressive number of disk slots
    - filters included

    Weak points :
    - cannot accommodate a 2.5 slot graphics card
    - I found the LED indicating disk activity too bright; a piece of tape on it made it less aggressive
    - the PCI Express slots (for the graphics card) didn't allow certain thick cables to be connected (oculus link usb-c cable on an EVGA RTX 2070 Super), I had to bend the metal a bit to let it through.
    - It's difficult to connect cables to the motherboard without removing certain components such as the power supply
    - the 'cover' (top and sides) of the case is a bit complicated to put back in place

    Review automatically translated
  • by JoeBAR85
    Posted on 17 Oct 2019
    Bought on 9 Oct 2019 from LDLC
    Number of reviews: 4 Average rating: 8

    Almost flawless, formidable ...

    ... but you have to like to spend a bit more time than an ATX on installation.
    Especially for HDDs. I mounted 4 of them on the side slots, the war to connect all this little world. Almost impossible with the connectors facing each other.
    I oriented the connections of the 2 SSDs to the outside and it went like that, it's still a handkerchief.

    But what a nice result!

    I'm taking off one star because there could be a fan on the front panel. At least to inject some coolness. According to your configuration, it would be the only one lol
    I personally put everything in extraction
    I'm not worried about the temperature but I can't judge in summer O:)

    I remember : Super compact, super sturdy, hyper optimized to the mm
    I'm not sure what to do with it, but I'm sure it's a good idea to use it.

    It's really compatible with a 240mm watercooling rad at the top.

    Beware of your standard power supply (like 150*160) which can strongly hinder the installation of even medium-sized graphics cards.
    Ideally, the whole bundle should start on the right side with the fan at the bottom.
    I had to mount an old PSU upside down because of this. So it takes the air in the case, not cool at all but not anticipated costs so it will wait ^^
    I'm going to mount a 2060 mini to save some space and to be able to put the power supply in the right way. I'll keep you posted.

    PS: forget the optical drive unless you don't need to take advantage of the 2nd fan slot on top.

    Review automatically translated
  • by Fabrice V
    Posted on 11 Mar 2018
    Bought on 21 Dec 2017 from LDLC
    Number of reviews: 4 Average rating: 9

    Good box, spacious with some limitations

    The negative
    It is an open case that does not provide any soundproofing.
    It is a spacious case (everything is relative), which in the case of a DD + BR configuration does not leave enough space to slide the sata cables between the elements (by forcing it to go through).
    The structure on the opposite side of the card (not visible on the LDLC photos) could have allowed the sata layers to pass through in a way that would have been more adaptable to the orientation of the connectors.
    I highly recommend a modular power supply, a graphics card that is not of maximum length... And method to get everything in... then put it under the desk to limit the noise of operation.

    Review automatically translated
  • by Christian B
    Posted on 14 Sep 2017
    Bought on 15 Aug 2017 from LDLC
    Number of reviews: 3 Average rating: 6

    Quality of finish to be improved

    For a brand that claims to be Premium, the quality of the finish leaves something to be desired.
    2 of the 4 screws that tighten the cover to the body were so tight that I had to use pliers to loosen them. These screws were forced in because the holes on the cover are not opposite those on the body (or vice versa).
    I contacted LDLC customer service who were not really helpful. It was confirmed that I could keep only 2 screws to hold the cover, checking that there is no vibration that appears.

    As for the rest, the case is pretty much well designed. There is an intermediate power cable to connect the power output to a remote socket on the case. The shape of the plug forces a loop which puts this cable under strain; reversing the angle of the cable socket would have avoided bending it forcibly.

    Don't expect cable management to clear the area between the motherboard and the fan (especially the top one if you add one) perfectly. On the other hand, given the small size of the case, you have to accept the compromise.

    2 stars only because the price/performance ratio is not there.

    Review automatically translated
  • by gambol
    Posted on 29 Aug 2017
    Bought on 8 Jul 2017 from LDLC
    Number of reviews: 4 Average rating: 7

    Very good case for a compact gamer setup

    Let's start with the negative points before moving on to the positive ones :-)
    - Soundproofing: I searched for a long time which hard drive I could put inside, and I chose a WD Red 1Tb (WD10EFRX) which is quite discreet for this enclosure. I also tested the WD Green 1Tb (WD10EZRX) and it was unbearable (warning: I am a big noise freak).
    - The fan is quite noisy but I think it was defective (thanks LDLC for exchanging it for a voucher!)
    - The case does not have an ATX/SFX adapter: I had to cut an aluminium plate to do it myself

    The case does not have an ATX/SFX adapter: I had to cut an aluminium plate to make it myself. I have to know that this case requires a compromise between the length of the graphics card and the length of the power supply: I put a Corsair SF450 modular power supply (SFX format) which is 10 cm deep, and I have 3 cm of margin between the power supply cables and the back of my graphics card.

    That being said, let's move on to the (crazy) advantages of this Core 500 :-)
    - a crazy space to put the CPU fan you want: personally I put the Zalman FX70 which is a kind of passive monster... and it fits!
    - A 140mm fan that is located 1cm behind the FX70 and acts as a case fan and CPU fan
    - A crazy length and height to fit any dual slot graphics card!
    - a really neat finish, with silentblocks to fix the hard drives, a very complete set of screws and dust filters

    As you can see, this case is a very good choice for a semi-passive configuration where only the big 140mm fan would be running permanently (get a PWM so that it runs even slower!). For the rest the Zalman FX70 keeps my Core i3-6320 at 25°C idle and 38°C under load. With a semi-passive graphics card and a semi-passive power supply, it is the hard drive that makes the most noise in my configuration!

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