Page 4 - Installation and Conclusion
The installation process was extremely straightforward with the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB. For the most part, it was very easy to work with as far as a mid-tower is concerned. Out of preference, I installed my FSP MEGA TI 1650W power supply first, followed by the rest of my components. Despite having the PSU behind the motherboard tray like the be quiet! Light Base 600 LX, Fractal Design's implementation is superior, as it does not block access to the motherboard backplate. It does not matter what you install first, since they will all work out just as well in the end.
The Pop 2 Vision is designed for PSUs up to 19cm, and the MEGA TI at 18cm just about touches the Velcro straps adjacent to the power supply bay. I also tried installing the 21cm Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 ATX 3.0 1300W. It will physically fit, but the cable lead out will be a bit tighter.
Executing a good cabling job was also very easy on the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision. As mentioned earlier, there is a gap of 93mm between the motherboard tray and right side panel. The five pre-installed Velcro straps improve the experience, but there are no zip tie anchor points to work with, since there is no room for them. There are many large openings all around the motherboard. They are all appropriately placed for routing cables through. For those with motherboard backside connectors like Asus BTF, MSI Project Zero, or Gigabyte Project Stealth, this chassis supports them all. They are all appropriately placed for routing cables through, whether they are from your power supply or your ARGB LED fans. However, as discussed previously, there is only one rubber grommet on the largest opening for looks and vibration dampening as a cost-savings measure.
The rest of the installation process came and went smoothly. I installed my sample motherboard with a 160mm tall Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black. You will need to remove the 2.5"/3.5" drive tray to access your heatsink backplate, but that is straightforward with the removal of only two screws. I did not install any 2.5" or 3.5" drives, even though the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB supports up to three and one, respectively. This is because most modern builds only have NVMe SSDs. The three front fans can be daisy chained together, so you will only need to connect one 3-pin voltage to your motherboard and one ARGB connector to the built-in ARGB controller or your motherboard rather than two connectors each.
Installation of most components will require you to keep your screwdriver handy unless you count thumbscrews as tool-free. This includes all add-on cards as well as your disk drives, if you have any you want to install. I do not have much beef against this though, since it is usually much more secure, and it is not like I will take my computer apart occasionally anyway. The Pop 2 Vision will give you no surprises.
After plugging in everything, our system configured inside the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB was ready to roll. I hit the oval power button in front, and my computer came to life. You can see how the internal ARGB LED fans look when fired up in my above photo.
On a scale from 0.0 to 10.0 where 0.0 is silent and 10.0 is the loudest, the four stock Fractal Design Aspect 12X Reverse RGB 120mm fans would come in at 4.5 subjective sound rating at full blast. I measured them at 39.8 db(A) at 50cm, and each produced an airflow speed of 7.5 km/h, or 4.7 mph, directly at the outlet. I am quite sensitive to perceived sound volume, and as a quiet PC enthusiast, the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB is reasonably good thanks to the fans. The rifle bearing fans have a smooth-running motor with no annoying noise during operation. That said, there is nothing intrinsically quiet about the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision, as the chassis is fully ventilated with no sound dampening elements.
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The Pop 2 Vision Black RGB has premium features like 270° tempered glass and four Aspect 12X Reverse RGB fans, all for very reasonable price of MSRP $100. How did they do it, and was it a good experience? To be totally honest, I do not know how they were able to get it down to this price point, but I certainly had a great experience. Impressively, the Pop 2 Vision Black RGB has the same MSRP as the Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB, but with one more fan and one more glass panel for a full unobstructed view inside. The four Fractal Design Aspect 12X Reverse RGB fans and the ARGB-synchronized power button LED can be controlled either by your motherboard or the included integrated RGB LED controller. The tool-free ball-and-socket panel attachment mechanism is one of the best in the market. I also like the high quality magnetically attached metal frame dust filter at the top. Despite having the PSU behind the motherboard tray like the be quiet! Light Base 600 LX, Fractal Design's implementation does not require PSU removal to access the motherboard backplate, which is a better design. There were some minor cost-cutting measures to note. For one, there is only one rubber grommet. Second, the four Fractal Design Aspect 12X Reverse RGB are rifle bearing 3-pin voltage fans rather than fluid dynamic bearing 4-pin PWM fans. While there is no rear fan, this is more than what one could reasonably expect for a case of this price point. This is it -- the Pop 2 Vision Black RGB is a quality chassis with few compromises. Unless you do not like the PSU behind the motherboard tray layout, if you are looking for a clean aquarium-style chassis at a surprisingly affordable price, the Pop 2 Vision Black RGB is packed with goodness.
Fractal Design provided this product to APH Networks for the purposes of evaluation.
APH equal.balance Award | APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.5/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB is a well-built mid-tower computer case with premium features like the 270° tempered glass at an affordable price -- with little compromises anywhere else.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
