Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
Consistent with its exterior, the interior of the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB is also nicely finished with all surfaces painted matte black. The only things that are not black are the four ARGB LED fans with their translucent blades. As with all modern chassis, there are no front 5.25" drive bays for clear, unobstructed view through the tempered glass and airflow from the intake fans. The unconventional layout has the power supply mounted behind the motherboard in a separate chamber, which we will take a look at in more detail in just a moment. There are lots of room allocated for the motherboard otherwise.
The Pop 2 Vision is able to accommodate mITX, mATX, and ATX motherboards. The riser mounting holes are labeled for extra convenience regardless of PC building experience. No pre-installed rear exhaust fan is situated around the CPU socket area of a standard ATX motherboard, but the opening can accommodate one 120mm unit. The upper ventilation area is open with an externally removable magnetic dust filter. Three 120mm or two 140mm fans or a radiator of equivalent size can be installed at the top of the case.
As shown in our photo above, we can also spot a large rectangular opening on the motherboard tray for easy aftermarket heatsink backplate installation without removing the motherboard itself from the chassis. However, since the 2.5"/3.5" drive tray is located directly on the other side, you will need to take it out to remove your heatsink backplate. The opening is actually large enough to accommodate pretty much anything. I mean, with something this big, unless you have some strange motherboard, it is hard not to get it right. The tallest heatsink you can install is 172mm. There are also many openings to support motherboards with backside connector design like Asus BTF, MSI Project Zero, and Gigabyte Project Stealth. The perimeter of the opening is not lined with rubber, but the edges are well rounded off, so you do not need to worry about your cables being stripped accidentally.
Here is a shot at the seven expansion card slots. They are bridgeless, which means they can be converted with a vertical GPU riser kit, not included, to show off your graphics hardware.
There is only one thermal zone inside the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB, since the shroud separating the main chamber and the power supply chamber is fully ventilated. Cables can be routed through the many large openings on all sides of the motherboard tray. It is not entirely clear in the photo above, but if you look at the perpendicular section adjacent to the front intake fans, there is a large cable routing opening that is completely covered by a rubber grommet. Nothing else is lined with rubber, but the edges are well rounded off. For unused cables, it can stay in the PSU chamber behind the motherboard tray.
Two 3-pin PWM Fractal Design Aspect 12X Reverse RGB 120mm fans draw cool air into the system from the bottom. These fans have special reverse blades, so there is no frame in the way to show off your ARGB LED goodness. They are rifle bearing fans rated at 1650 RPM. Unfortunately, the Aspect 12X Reverse RGB are voltage and not PWM-controlled. The fans can be daisy chained together, so you only need to connect one RGB and one PWM connector to your motherboard or controller. Keep in mind the built-in controller only controls the RGB lighting and not the fan itself. A radiator is not designed to be accommodated in this location.
Another two 3-pin PWM Fractal Design Aspect 12X Reverse RGB 120mm fans draw cool air into the system from the front side. A radiator is not designed to be accommodated in this location.
The longest video card you can fit in the Pop 2 Vision is 412mm with front fans installed. No graphics card is that long at the time of writing this review, but with the way things are going, I would not be surprised if we get close to this figure in the future.
Here is a look at the other side of the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB. The back of the motherboard tray is quite fundamental to good cabling. This is especially held true with the Pop 2 Vision, since it supports motherboards with backside connector design as mentioned earlier. With the latest iteration, the company kept the gap super wide. In fact, the amount of room between the side panel and motherboard tray is as much as 93mm. This is because the Pop 2 Vision features a side-mounted vertical power supply bay behind the motherboard tray. Users will basically never experience problems if you own a power supply with thick cables. Inside the Pop 2 Vision, two foam-padded strips at the bottom are present to dampen vibrations from your PSU. The case can accommodate models up to 190mm long. You can go a little over that, but that will run into the cable management Velcro straps -- more on this on the next page.
Above the power supply bay is a drive tray that can accommodate up to one 3.5" and three 2.5" drives. There are three Velcro straps in the middle and two at the top for securing down cables. Other than that, lots of openings can be found so you can fish your cables through, and they are reasonably sized to carry everything you need. Unfortunately, there are no rubber grommets, other than the big one perpendicular to the motherboard tray adjacent to the front fans, are found at any openings as aforementioned, which is a cost-saving measure.
The Pop 2 Air's I/O connector cables are as simple as it gets. In fact, there is only one for the power switch. The power LED is supplied by the RGB LED controller hub, which in turn gets its power from the PSU.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
