Fractal Design Pop XL Silent vs Fractal Design Pop XL Silent Black Solidcomputed

Datasheet figures next to each other, and the airflow balance, pressure verdict and case air heating that the fans in each box compute to behind that case's own front. Calculated with the CaseFlow model, not measured.

Side by side

Fractal Design Pop XL SilentFractal Design Pop XL Silent Black Solid
Form–ATX mid tower
Volume62.4 L62.4 L
Dimensions522 × 230 × 520 mm522 × 230 × 520 mm
Frontsolid solid or glass frontsolid solid or glass front
Fan mountsfront 3 × 120, top 2 × 120/140, rear 1 × 120/140front 3 × 120/140, top 2 × 120/140, rear 1 × 120/140
Radiator supportfront 360 mm, top 280 mm, rear 140 mmfront 360 mm, top 280 mm, rear 140 mm
Dust filterspsupsu
GPU length430 mm430 mm
Cooler height185 mm185 mm
Stock fans3 × Aspect 12 (front), 1 × Aspect 12 (rear)3 × Aspect 12 (front), 1 × Aspect 12 (rear)
Stock airflow, max rpm97 in / 49 out CFM97 in / 49 out CFM
Stock pressure verdictpositive, worst case includedpositive, worst case included
Case air at 290 W+5.4 K+5.4 K
Stock fan noise39.2 dB(A)39.2 dB(A)
All mounts, reference fans104 in / 198 out CFM 3 / 3 mounts130 in / 198 out CFM 3 / 3 mounts

With a reference pressure-optimized fan on every mount the Pop XL Silent Black Solid moves more air. The pressure verdict describes the stock fan set, not the case: stronger or extra intake fans in the free mounts, or slower exhaust fans, turn a negative balance positive.

Pop XL Silent — mounts and stock fans

TOPBOTTOMREARFRONT · solid

Pop XL Silent Black Solid — mounts and stock fans

TOPBOTTOMREARFRONT · solid

Case air heating with the stock fans — computed

0 5 10 0 100 200 300 400 450 W GPU (open cooler) + 40 W board Pop XL Silent Pop XL Silent Black Solid K case air above room

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How these numbers are computed

Each stock fan contributes CFMmax · derate · rpm/rpmmax behind its wall's mounting class: filtered mesh front and side mounts as dust filter, bottom as floor + filter, top and rear as open grille, solid and glass fronts as side-slit intake at roughly half of a mesh front. Front, bottom and side blow in; top and rear blow out.

MountingAirflow bladesPressure-optimized
Open grille0.88 (0.80–0.95)0.88 (0.80–0.95)
Dust filter0.70 (0.60–0.80)0.78 (0.70–0.86)
Floor + filter0.64 (0.52–0.74)0.72 (0.62–0.80)
Solid or glass front0.50 (0.40–0.62)0.58 (0.48–0.68)

Worst case sums intake at the low end of each band and exhaust at the high end; positive there means positive regardless of how the estimates fall. Case air: ΔT = 3.1 · W / throughput (m³/h), with an open-cooler GPU putting its full board power into the case air plus board, RAM and drives. Capacity puts a reference pressure-optimized fan on every mount at max rpm — 120 mm 60 CFM, 140 mm 75 CFM — a generic good fan, not a product.

Mount counts, radiator support and clearances are datasheet figures. Nothing here is measured; the same model runs in CaseFlow.