Fractal Design Meshify 2: Super case, perfect name chaos
12.11.2020
Translation: machine translated
With the Meshify 2, Fractal Design has given the popular Meshify S2 a refresh. The improvements are in the details and make the already very good case even better.
The Meshify S2 is my daily driver: I have installed my components in the Stormtrooper-look housing; I work, game and create CAD designs with it.
The case has almost completely convinced me. That's why I'm curious to see what the successor - apart from the confusing name - has to offer. Why the confusing name? The predecessor is called Meshify S2. Fractal simply omits the "S" from the successor. Doesn't make sense to me and reminds me of the confusing naming of the Xbox consoles.
Plenty of choice and space
Fractal provided me with the Meshify 2 in black with a tinted side window for this review. The case is available in various versions - including an XL version with more space.
Fractal hasn't changed much about the design. The case looks the same at first glance. The biggest change has been to the top: it now looks like a single piece and is slightly bevelled on the entire side. I also notice the new feet, which no longer have a chrome steel look but are in the same colour as the housing. Speaking of housing colour: due to the mix of materials, the Meshify S2 didn't have exactly the same colour everywhere - at least in the white version. I can't see any colour deviations on the Meshify 2.
The side panels can now be removed without screws. The top panel and the front can also be quickly clicked in and out. Dust filters are included at the top, front and bottom. One USB-C 3.1 Gen 2, two USB-A 3.0 and audio I/O are available for the connections.
Mainboards from Mini-ITX to E-ATX with 285 millimetres can be installed inside. Like its predecessor, the new case is modular. The standard or open layout is designed for airflow, i.e. how well fresh air enters the interior of the case and hot air is dissipated. It has space for radiators up to 420 millimetres in length. In the storage layout, the case accommodates up to 14 HDDs and 4 SSDs. Three 140 millimetre fans are pre-installed and a total of nine can be installed.
At 54.2×24×47.4 centimetres (L×W×H), the Meshify 2 is minimally shorter and narrower than the Meshify S2, but slightly higher. The weight of the Meshify 2 has been reduced slightly: at 10.1 kilograms, it is 300 grams lighter than its predecessor.
Decisive improvements, but the biggest weakness remains
For the test, I installed an Intel test system with the following components:
The test system differs from the one I have used for case reviews in the past. There are three reasons for this: Firstly, I am testing in my home office and don't have all the components available. This leads me to the second point: the temperature in my office fluctuates. So I can never reproduce the external conditions and the reviews would not be comparable anyway. Thirdly, I would also like to give Intel a little more space in my reviews. My test bench for SSDs and graphics cards runs on an AMD system, the test system for cases now runs on an Intel system.
I notice some improvements during assembly. The front connections are attached to the frame of the case and not to the front panel as on the predecessor. This makes it easier to remove. The fact that all panels can simply be clicked in and out provides additional convenience. The rear panel on the right, with which the housing can be removed from the standard to the storage layout, no longer has any cut-outs. This gives the enclosure a clean look.
Another new feature is that there are no longer any intermediate struts at the rear of the PCIe slots. This will be Fractal's intention, as it allows the Flex B-20, a new bracket for mounting GPUs vertically, to be attached easily. On my Meshify S2, I still had to mill away the struts so that I had easy access to the GPU connections.
A lot has also changed at the rear: Fractal now offers proper cable guides and better cable management options. This also includes the panel behind which the cables disappear at the height of the power supply unit. The positioning of the integrated fan hub is also new: instead of being in the centre, it is now located at the top under the housing roof. There it is no longer in the way.
Overall, the assembly of the Meshify 2 is very pleasant and better than the Meshify S2 in the key areas. The only downside is that there is not enough space between the mainboard and the lid of the case. If you attach a radiator for water cooling at the top, you can no longer properly access the connections at the top of the mainboard. The fact that the case is slightly higher than its predecessor is due to the fact that the feet are slightly higher. However, this is an improvement as potential fans can draw in air better at the bottom. I looked into this in an article and received a lot of criticism from some of you. However, the fact that the engineers at Fractal have now opted for higher feet for the Meshify 2 reinforces my conclusion in the article that air circulation is better when the fans have more space to draw fresh air into the case.
This is how good the airflow is
More important than the design and the building experience is the airflow in a case. Due to the open mesh design, the predecessor already had excellent airflow. The new nylon front filter could be separated from the mesh panel for even better airflow. However, I decided not to do this for the test and tested the case in the standard layout with the three fans. I left all the fans, including those for the CPU and GPU, in their default settings.
To test the airflow, I run the two stress tests - HeavyLoad, for the CPU and FurMark, for the GPU - for twenty minutes and monitor the temperatures with HWiNFO64.
Before I start the test, I measure the ambient temperature and the temperatures of the components as well as the idle volume. When idling, I measure just under 35 dB of noise, the ambient temperature is 22° Celsius. You can see the temperatures of the components in the following line diagram. I list the data for which the mainboard has sensors.
After I started the test, the noise level rises by 7 dB to around 42 dB and remains at this level for the entire twenty minutes. The noise level therefore remains low. The room temperature, on the other hand, rises from 22° Celsius to 23.9° Celsius. The thermometer is placed on the table next to the housing during the measurement. However, the test also makes my office noticeably warmer.
The temperature development within the casing is kept within limits. At a maximum of 57° Celsius, the Intel i9-10900K remains surprisingly cool. I have to mention that HeavyLoad only stresses the processor's ten cores with a clock frequency of 4 GHz. Nevertheless, this is surprisingly cool. The GPU does get warmer at 71° Celsius, but the temperature does not increase during the test. In the review of the graphics card, it got as warm as 67° Celsius on the open testbench. In the case, 4° Celsius more is relatively little.
Further indicators of the good airflow are the temperatures of the mainboard, RAM and SSD. The RAM is only 4° Celsius warmer during the test than at idle. The mainboard only gets 1° Celsius warmer and the temperature of the SSD does not change at all. However, it is also attached to the rear panel.
Conclusion: Apart from the name, almost everything done right
With the Meshify 2, Fractal Design delivers a worthy successor to the Meshify S2. The improvements lie in details such as the cable guides, the click system for all panels, the positioning of the fan hub and the nice addition of the cable cover. The only real point of criticism for me is the lack of space between the mainboard and the housing cover.
The airflow is very good thanks to the mesh design and yet the noise development is kept within limits. The design is simple, as usual with Fractal. If you like it like I do, there's really no reason not to consider the Meshify 2. Unless you want a larger or smaller case.
At around 150 francs, the case is in the upper league for the form factor. However, you also get a superbly finished case that leaves almost nothing to be desired. <p
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
