Fractal Design Focus G Mini Review
Category : Cases
Published by Luca Rocchi on 01.06.17
With the Design Focus G Mini, Fractal Design has another mini tower in its portfolio, that offers space for mATX or mini-ITX motherboards. Apart from that this case features a competitive price, while there is still a resonable feature set. There is for example the possibility to equip this case with up to six fans, which adds quite some flexibility in terms of airflow.
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Preview
Specifications
| Model: |
Focus G Mini |
| Case Type: |
Mini tower |
| Dimensions: |
195 mm (W) x 370 mm (H) x 450 mm (D) |
| Material: |
Steel, ABS |
| Color: |
Black |
| Drive Bay: |
5.25": |
2 |
| 3.5": |
2 |
| 2.5": |
1 |
| Expansion
slots: |
4 |
| Form factors: |
mATX, mini-ITX |
| Cooling: |
Front: |
2x 120mm / 1x 140mm (2x 120mm included) |
| Rear: |
1x 120mm |
| Top: |
2x 120mm |
| Bottom: |
1x 120mm |
| Side: |
/ |
| Watercooling |
Front: |
120mm / 140mm |
| Rear: |
120mm |
| Top: |
240mm |
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Features
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Compact dimensions
Despite its small size, the Fractal Design Focus G Mini is designed to be used by more experienced
users. Thanks to the internal layout, the case can be equipped with well performing components although it features a compact footprint. |
| |
Well-thought cable managment
Despite its rather cheap appearance, the Focus G Mini comes with a few neat features, that can usually be found in more expensive cases,
including cable pass-throughs and eyelets for zip-ties. Despite the lack of rubber grommets,
all metal edges are well finished and free of any sharp edges. |
| |
Dust filters
There is a total of six spots for 120 millimeter fans in this case. All the air inlets are covered using dust filters. These can be removed easily in order to clean them under tap water. |
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Product overview
Overview |
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| The Fractal Design Focus G Mini is a mini-tower
PC case featuring a huge front mesh and rather edgy lines. The front
panel includes two 5.25" slots for optical drives and/or fan controllers. Both side panels share the same style
and design. The panels have been manufactured using press cutting technique and the edges are rather sharp. Design wise the Focus G Mini is overall very edgy. The upper part of the case is very simple with
room for two 120mm fans. The connectors are located at the top panel and you get one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port as well as your usual audio-in and out. Despite the fact that the Focus G Mini
looks like an entry-level PC case it's suppposed to house gaming-grade components such as mid-range graphics cards. Thanks to some features and the time Fractal Design
spent in optimizing the internal space, the Focus G Mini could even be equipped with high-end gaming components. |
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Installation
Overview |
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The Focus G Mini can be equipped with mATX and mini-ITX form-factor motherboards. The motherboard tray does not feature pre-soldered standoffs but there is your usual big opening behind the socket, which allows you can install aftermarket coolers without having to remove the motherboard. The tray motherboard tray itself features four pass-through holes for routing cablesf rom the front to the backside. Like with all new PC cases, there is plenty of space for your power supply, which is placed in the bottom. This model offers space for up to two 3.5" HDDs and three 2.5" drives.
Building a test system we chose a long gaming-grade graphics card and a big CPU tower cooler. As you can see from the pictures below we did not encounter any problems regarding any lack of space. We've been able to place all the components nicely without running into issues. Despite the fact that there isn't much space between the right side panel and the chassis itself there is planty of space to hide cables thanks to the convex design of the panels. |
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Ventilation options
Overview |
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| From a cooling point of view, the Focus G Mini allows you to install a maximum of six 120 millimeter fans. Inside the bundle, you will find two fans that have been pre-installed in the front. Other fans can be placed at the top, at the back and at the bottom. Given the small size of the case we suggest to use an all-in-one liquid cooler or a standard, medium-sized air cooler.
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Temperatures
Overview |
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For testing purposes we're using an MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC motherboard, an Intel Core i5-6600K CPU, which receives cooling through a SilentiumPC Fortis 3 HE1425 MCE cooler as well as a MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G graphics card. To put the CPU under full load, we're running prime95 for 10 min and in the case of the GPU we use Furmark also for 10 minutes. After these ten minutes, we're going to write down the temperatures. The ambient temperature is close to 27°C. |
| All noise dampening panels installed |
Idle (°C) |
Full (°C) |
| Intel Core i5-6600K |
32 / 30 / 29 / 28 |
57 / 55 / 56 / 53 |
| MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G |
51 |
72 |
|
Less is better |
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Conclusion
Rating |
| |
Cooling |
Features |
Layout |
Build Quality |
Value for Money |
| Pros |
+ Compatible with 120 and 240mm radiators
+ Compatible with high-end tower coolers |
+ Tool-free
+ Dust filters |
+ Interior
space |
+ Build quality on
a good level |
+ Good bundle |
| Cons |
|
- USB 2.0 |
|
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After looking at all the facts and our experience with this PC case, we can say that the Focus G Mini from Fractal Design is a mini tower solution designed for those who wish to have a small case but
also be able to use high-end components. The space available inside the case ensures good compatibility with high-end products and AIO coolers or tower heatsinks. Despite its very small dimensions, the available interior space is above average for a PC case of this type. Also the area dedicated to the cable management is very good thanks to extra space on the side panels. The size is not the only small thing with the Focus G Mini as the weight is well below an average and usually this factor also indicates the quality of the steel used. Despite its small weight, the Focus G Mini has impressive build quality while the paint job is very good and we did not detect any defects or imperfections. To test the case we used, as usual, a high-end graphics card with big tower cooler without any issues. The temperatures detected during the stress test are close to the average of the products tested so far
and with a couple of additional fans, it is possible to further improve the temperatures. The amount of features available is interesting and we especially appreciate the choice made by Fractal Design regarding cable management, as in order to obtain a tidy and clean configuration, the manufacturer has chosen to use curved side panels which also helps during the installation of the CPU cooler heatsink.
On this case there is only one little flaws and concerns the I/O panel. When we started the photosession, we were surprised to find a USB 2.0 port paired with one USB 3.0 port. Since the USB 2.0 ports are quite old, we wonder why there is such an obsolete USB port on this case. Since there are several fan slots, we would like to see a small fan controller or simply another USB 3.0 connector. In conclusion, we can easily recommend the Focus G Mini PC case to anyone looking for a cheap mini-tower PC case which is well made and able to also accommodate high-end products. The Fractal Design Focus G Mini is available on Geizhals with a price of 55 Euro excluding shipping costs. The Focus G Mini receives
4 stars out of 5
