Excellent Design: Fractal North Case Review & Benchmarks
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Date: 2023-02-06
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Comments and reviews: 15
AngelsCross
Thank you so much for the review. I was eyeing this case since I think it would fit my IKEA home office set up. With the negatives you brought up, I think I'll settle for either a white Fractal Torrent Compact or NZXT H9 instead.
The thing that I thought would make this case work would be the side fan mounts. But, since it could not accomodate CPU tower coolers or large GPUs, it is an instant pass for me. I hope they iterate on this design and make a wider version of this case. That way the side fans would be compatible with more components.
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Thank you so much for the review. I was eyeing this case since I think it would fit my IKEA home office set up. With the negatives you brought up, I think I'll settle for either a white Fractal Torrent Compact or NZXT H9 instead.
The thing that I thought would make this case work would be the side fan mounts. But, since it could not accomodate CPU tower coolers or large GPUs, it is an instant pass for me. I hope they iterate on this design and make a wider version of this case. That way the side fans would be compatible with more components.
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Pliash
It would be funny to see what would come out of it, if Fractal went to a Danish designer and asked for a PC case.
It would be something along these lines as Design here are discreet.
I would not put water cooling in here, for that i think the case are a tad too small.
Side fans over AIO cooler on CPU, well sure, but they would probably help a lot with power circuitry - RAM and NVMe drive temperatures.
For sure i would rather have side fans than a glass window and RGB / any light BS
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It would be funny to see what would come out of it, if Fractal went to a Danish designer and asked for a PC case.
It would be something along these lines as Design here are discreet.
I would not put water cooling in here, for that i think the case are a tad too small.
Side fans over AIO cooler on CPU, well sure, but they would probably help a lot with power circuitry - RAM and NVMe drive temperatures.
For sure i would rather have side fans than a glass window and RGB / any light BS
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Mon
You know someone at Fractal has the B&O Beosound theatre, this case would look perfect in a room with it. I don't like the light colored wood, it looks cheap to me. On the B&O stand up speakers the wood actually splits open to let the sound out, it would be sick if the slats moved to let air in the case, but that would cost alot. They borrowed the design off of high end B&O speakers if your not following. I am glad they brought a new design to PC cases, nice to have variety.
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You know someone at Fractal has the B&O Beosound theatre, this case would look perfect in a room with it. I don't like the light colored wood, it looks cheap to me. On the B&O stand up speakers the wood actually splits open to let the sound out, it would be sick if the slats moved to let air in the case, but that would cost alot. They borrowed the design off of high end B&O speakers if your not following. I am glad they brought a new design to PC cases, nice to have variety.
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Hans
I could see fractal making an XL version of this, not so much necessarily taller but longer. I think having the option for a 360m radiator on the top makes sense as an upgrade down the line. I think doing this makes vertical gpu mounting make even more sense here, having the side mount bracket making a unifying bottom to top airflow. Of course, the back 120 exhaust will help a bit with the gpu as well. At this point, there will be a pcie riser fractal puts out with it too.
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I could see fractal making an XL version of this, not so much necessarily taller but longer. I think having the option for a 360m radiator on the top makes sense as an upgrade down the line. I think doing this makes vertical gpu mounting make even more sense here, having the side mount bracket making a unifying bottom to top airflow. Of course, the back 120 exhaust will help a bit with the gpu as well. At this point, there will be a pcie riser fractal puts out with it too.
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kiakk
Have you realized that front FANs inlet never closed from the interior? I suspect It causes some hot air circualtion and worsen the case fan effectivnes.
I usuall try to build a fan duct on the inlet side for the case fans to avoid it. (I do not know how much of worth, because I have low TDP undervolted PC 120W on gaming.)
But, maybe worth an in-depth analizing video about the issue, especially for much higher TDP rated gaming PC-s.
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Have you realized that front FANs inlet never closed from the interior? I suspect It causes some hot air circualtion and worsen the case fan effectivnes.
I usuall try to build a fan duct on the inlet side for the case fans to avoid it. (I do not know how much of worth, because I have low TDP undervolted PC 120W on gaming.)
But, maybe worth an in-depth analizing video about the issue, especially for much higher TDP rated gaming PC-s.
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Ken
I like the idea of the side fan bracket. Fractal, and the rest of the industry, is going to have to bite the bullet and pay for new tooling for larger cases. They've all been getting by for a long time using a few base widths for ATX cases, with a few notable exceptions, and GPU's have gotten taller and longer to the point where those cases simpler don't work any more.
When Fractal does a new wider case they should revisit the side fans.
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I like the idea of the side fan bracket. Fractal, and the rest of the industry, is going to have to bite the bullet and pay for new tooling for larger cases. They've all been getting by for a long time using a few base widths for ATX cases, with a few notable exceptions, and GPU's have gotten taller and longer to the point where those cases simpler don't work any more.
When Fractal does a new wider case they should revisit the side fans.
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Martin
This case seems to do great with a vertical GPU mount. Several people who tested it on this case show a 5-9 degree decrease when mounting the gpu vertically. Also, this solves the side bracket for extra fans problem! Having fans blowing right on the GPU only showed a 1-2 degree decrease however, I expected it to be higher. Building in this case with this setup in beginning of march once the case arrives, I'll update you :)
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This case seems to do great with a vertical GPU mount. Several people who tested it on this case show a 5-9 degree decrease when mounting the gpu vertically. Also, this solves the side bracket for extra fans problem! Having fans blowing right on the GPU only showed a 1-2 degree decrease however, I expected it to be higher. Building in this case with this setup in beginning of march once the case arrives, I'll update you :)
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Johnny_McNeil
I just today noticed it in my country's most famous online hw shop. Almost 200 euros. What sometimes felt like mainstream pc case under 100 euros is now almost 200e and then I checked psu prices. They skyrocketed too, no decent 650/750 gold/platinum for under 150 euros no more. Seems previous 1k budget for a pc which was considered decent or 2k more then enough became 5k overnight and its not inflation definitely.
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I just today noticed it in my country's most famous online hw shop. Almost 200 euros. What sometimes felt like mainstream pc case under 100 euros is now almost 200e and then I checked psu prices. They skyrocketed too, no decent 650/750 gold/platinum for under 150 euros no more. Seems previous 1k budget for a pc which was considered decent or 2k more then enough became 5k overnight and its not inflation definitely.
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pirtatejoe
Seems like they were really close to something good here. If you could mount the video card vertically and use the side intake to feed fresh air to it along with an AIO with front mounted radiator for the CPU, you could have ended up with a super clean look and a ton of great performance. At that price range, to not be able to really use high end components because of fitment issues kind of sucks.
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Seems like they were really close to something good here. If you could mount the video card vertically and use the side intake to feed fresh air to it along with an AIO with front mounted radiator for the CPU, you could have ended up with a super clean look and a ton of great performance. At that price range, to not be able to really use high end components because of fitment issues kind of sucks.
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Jonathan
This is the perfect case for a 30 something professionnal who want a gaming machine that can perfectly fit in its home office without screaming I'M A GAMER LOOK AT MY RGB!!!
Take the black and walnut version, had a NH-D15 Chromax.black cpu cooler and chromax.black noctua fans, a mainly devoid of RGB motherboard and graphic card and you get a sleek business looking gaming PC for your adult self.
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This is the perfect case for a 30 something professionnal who want a gaming machine that can perfectly fit in its home office without screaming I'M A GAMER LOOK AT MY RGB!!!
Take the black and walnut version, had a NH-D15 Chromax.black cpu cooler and chromax.black noctua fans, a mainly devoid of RGB motherboard and graphic card and you get a sleek business looking gaming PC for your adult self.
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itech
Whenever Fractal Design introduces a new case, I imagine the people in Fractal Design's PR department sitting there biting their fingernails and hoping Steve doesn't give the new case a negative review.
In contrast, Gamers Nexus is where the hardware executioners sit and look forward to a nice new toy to mercilessly judge and possibly condemn.
The Swedes were quite lucky in the last few years.
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Whenever Fractal Design introduces a new case, I imagine the people in Fractal Design's PR department sitting there biting their fingernails and hoping Steve doesn't give the new case a negative review.
In contrast, Gamers Nexus is where the hardware executioners sit and look forward to a nice new toy to mercilessly judge and possibly condemn.
The Swedes were quite lucky in the last few years.
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zakura
you call the colors gimmicky, I call it nice to have something other than 96% black with some whites and grays to pretend there is a choice ... which I suppose doesn't matter because motherboards are 99% black.
I suppose I can just repaint a new case in whatever color I want ... but my skills might make my PC look too fast, the paint would be running all over the place! (I'll see myself out)
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you call the colors gimmicky, I call it nice to have something other than 96% black with some whites and grays to pretend there is a choice ... which I suppose doesn't matter because motherboards are 99% black.
I suppose I can just repaint a new case in whatever color I want ... but my skills might make my PC look too fast, the paint would be running all over the place! (I'll see myself out)
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Mightylink
Fractal has very quickly become one of my favorite brands, I tried the Focus G Mini and s24 aio and the build quality was top notch for the price and included lots of additional screws and zip ties that could of been used on a whole second build. I also really loved that every bay was removable giving you much more airflow. Very customizable cases for a cheap price.
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Fractal has very quickly become one of my favorite brands, I tried the Focus G Mini and s24 aio and the build quality was top notch for the price and included lots of additional screws and zip ties that could of been used on a whole second build. I also really loved that every bay was removable giving you much more airflow. Very customizable cases for a cheap price.
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Mortui
As with every fractal case right now it only supports 240 in the top, whats the deal with not pushing for atleast 280 up there?
All FD cases look great for air cooling but when sitting with a 280mm rad there isnt a single case (except the large towers) in the lineup that will fit it anywhere but in the front. Lian Li manages it with their 215/216
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As with every fractal case right now it only supports 240 in the top, whats the deal with not pushing for atleast 280 up there?
All FD cases look great for air cooling but when sitting with a 280mm rad there isnt a single case (except the large towers) in the lineup that will fit it anywhere but in the front. Lian Li manages it with their 215/216
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Jenn
if i hadn't already built my computer last year with the torrent, i would be sorely tempted to get this one. then mention of the older cases with the side fan reminded me of the case the torrent replaced: my cooler master scout (my husband had the sniper). i adored that case, it was nice to see a nod to older case features in the review.
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if i hadn't already built my computer last year with the torrent, i would be sorely tempted to get this one. then mention of the older cases with the side fan reminded me of the case the torrent replaced: my cooler master scout (my husband had the sniper). i adored that case, it was nice to see a nod to older case features in the review.
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