| Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX Case |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | |
| Written by Tom Jaskulka | |
| Wednesday, 26 December 2012 | |
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Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX Case
Manufacturer: Fractal Design Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Fractal Design. Everything is getting smaller. With today's emphasis on efficiency and mobility, and processors that do even more with much less power consumption, it is a trend that will probably continue. With the success of enclosures such as the BitFenix Prodigy and Coolermaster's Elite 120 Advanced, it is great to see other manufacturers embrace this trend and put their own innovations and ideas into the small form factor market. Choices are always a good thing for a customer, and Fractal Design brings their own blend of ITX with the Node 304. In the following pages, Benchmark Reviews will take a closer look at the ideas featured in the Fractal Design Node 304 FD-CA-NODE-304-BL Mini-ITX tower computer case. ITX and small form factor cases have always intrigued me. It is fascinating to watch different manufacturers take on different thermal and layout challenges that are always a result of cramming lots of performance into a very small space. The question for me (and for most enthusiasts) becomes "how much power can I cram in this thing?" While Fractal Design imagines the Node 304's purpose to be a file server, HTPC or powerful gaming system, my first question when looking at SFF enclosures is "what's the biggest graphics card I can fit in that thing?" followed quickly by "will it keep everything cool enough?" Given my experience with a Silverstone FT03 Mini, I can say I'm already excited by the big open filtered intake on the side and its benefits for cooling a powerful GPU. Let's take a closer look at what else can fit in the Node 304.
Although many reviews for small form factor systems cover thermals and features quite well, I'll only touch on those - my main focus on this particular review will be what can actually fit in the Node 304 and the lessons I learned building a system into this chassis. Node 304 Features
Node 304 SpecificationsTechnical specifications
Cooling / ventilation
Front interface
Source: Fractal Design
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Comments
So you would recommend the Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B as the best CPU cooler for this case? Not going to be doing any O/Cing
My planned setup:
Asrock Z77E-ITX MB
i7 3770
16gb RAM
ATI7850 XFX dual fan black edition
Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B cooler
Want to use for XBMC/Hyperspin so needs power but needs to be cool and quiet too....
Thanks!
I could certainly recommend the CNPS9900MAX as a CPU cooler, but "best for this case" depends on the orientation of the socket on the motherboard you choose - ideally, you'd want to keep the front-to-back airflow. The Zalman cooler has been tested to perform at or better than many of the top air coolers, so it's a great product in and of itself (there's a review on this site if you're willing to search for it). If you aren't going to overclock, and you're on the LGA1155 socket/platform, honestly I don't see much of a reason to use anything other than the stock cooler, unless the noise penalty is worth the price to you to go aftermarket.
With the motherboard you listed, you'll probably be forced to install the cooler "sideways," and I'm not certain you'd have the clearance for a 135mm fan in that direction. Again, each motherboard is diff! erent, so see if you can measure or borrow one from a friend if possible to make sure it'll fit.
The motherboard i'm not too concerned about as long as it has a CIR header so i can setup an IR remote to turn the system on/off as a HTPC. Is there anyway i can check which way the socket faces by looking at the MB before I buy one?