The Fractal Design Node 804 mATX Case

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Fractal Design: About

"Designed and Engineered in Sweden
All Fractal Design products have been carefully designed and tested in our Swedish headquarters. The well-known elements of Scandinavian design can be found throughout all of our product lines; a minimalistic, elegant and simple design, embracing the motto of 'less is more'."

The FD NODE Series
"The NODE series of cases offers a stylish way to integrate the computer into your home. With the flexibility to serve as an HTPC, fileserver or media and gaming station, the Node series delivers endless possibilities to combine design and entertainment."




FD Node 804 Case
Official Page

"The Node 804 is a micro ATX chassis which focuses on cooling performance and maximum configurability, all packed in an interesting new form factor with Scandinavian elegant design.

The dual chamber layout separates hot running components from the cooler ones and allows for unrestricted airflow over the motherboard, processor and graphics card."

Key Features
• Highly effective dual chamber case layout for best possible cooling.
• Minimalistic design with an elegant brushed aluminum front panel
• Unique hard drive mounting system, fitting up to 8 x 3.5″, 4 x 2.5” or up to 10 x 3.5”, 2 x 2.5″ drives HDD/SSD
• Three Fractal Design Silent Series R2 fans included with the case and space for an additional 7 fans.
• Excellent water cooling support with space for up to 4 radiators simultaneously.
• All intakes feature removable dust filters providing a dust-free interior.
• Featuring a window side panel to show off your set up in style.
• Additional space in the front to mount a slim slot-in ODD, optical bay drive, and 2 x 2.5″ drives.
• Fan controller included.
• Five expansion slots that allows for multiple GPU setups.




To be continued...

 

[MacClipper]

The Maximums
Maximum discrete card length 320mm
Maximum CPU cooler height 160mm
Maximum power supply length 260mm
Maximum 10 x 3.5” devices
Maximum number of fans 10 possible positions
Maximum radiator configuration: 1x240mm,1x280mm and 2x120mm radiators simultaneously

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Packaging
Sensible & effective packaging with proper finger holes for easy lugging around

Proudly sweet Swede originals!

OK, OK... here's the correct Swede proof on paper...

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[Chrisxie85]

Heya, I got this case for my rig 2 weeks back. Awesome case! Just wanna check if the front bottom left closing seems abit loose. Like the catch is not fully expanded to hook on to the case. Is that normal?

 

[MacClipper]

@Chrisxie85, great case indeed. Didn't encounter anything out of the blue during my time with the test unit though.




Unboxing
Yes, the FD designers label even the styrofoam blocks if you ever need to rebox the case

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The Case
Arrived pristinely unscratched with its protective packaging, a slim manual is also included as can be seen

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[rubbadubbaducky!]

yeah this looks really good.

can't decide to go for this mATX case or build a mITX with 250d.

 

[xkiller213]

hehe, hard to gauge the size leh, maybe take a photo with something common for reference?

 

[aptget]

looks big IMHO

probably put your android or iphone beside it for comparison ?

 

[MacClipper]

yeah this looks really good.

can't decide to go for this mATX case or build a mITX with 250d.

Depends on your choice of mobo, do remember that the 250D is strictly mITX only.

hehe, hard to gauge the size leh, maybe take a photo with something common for reference?

Latter photos may give a better idea of size esp. when the tape measure comes on stage.

Perhaps for some idea of proportion, consider that all the 3 fans seen in this promo pic are 120mm...

looks big IMHO

probably put your android or iphone beside it for comparison ?

Don't think the designers were aiming for the smallest case around when their stated aim is...

cooling performance and maximum configurability

HTH

 

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Front
Showing the exquisitely fine brushed Aluminium bezel with subtle branding & LED at one corner and the bottom ventilation grille

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Top
Showing the plastic panel and its thick dust/sound mesh up close and against the noon sunlight

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Right
Showing the sole windowed panel

Close up of the panel catches and window mounting, note the protective plastic film applied on both sides of the case window

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Left
Showing the USB3 ports, power button, audio jacks and subtle slim ODD opening with the solid side panel

Close up of the ODD slot as well as demonstrating panel fit and paint finish

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[FatalityV]

Dual chamber layout looks quite interesting

 

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Back
Showing 2 of the 3 bundled 120mm Silent Series R2 fans and reusable fenestrated expansion slot plates in its distinctive white finish. Each removable panel is secured by 2 thumbscrews as shown.

Close up of the 3 speed fan controller

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Bottom
Showing the easily removable slotted dust meshes x 2, note also the 2 Velcro bands meant for cable management purposes in the PSU chamber

Close up of the high quality plasticized non-skid case feet

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Interiors
The front panel holds nicely tight but pops off easily with a little effort demonstrating good fit. This reveals the 2 x removable dust meshes and storage options for 1 x slim ODD and 2 x SSDs.

Close up of the dust mesh and its mounting to its plastic frame

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Mobo Chamber

Close up of the fan markings

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Storage/PSU Chamber
Note the 2 x 3.5" HDD cages done in white and the little brown accessories box. The PSU mounting is dampened with rubber rests and with a sufficently short PSU, you can optionally shift a HDD cage over onto the case floor.

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