Fractal Design Node 304 - Black - Mini Cube Compact Computer Case - Small form factor - Mini ITX – mITX - High Airflow - Modular interior - 3x Fractal Design Silent R2 120mm Fans Included - USB 3.0

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charlie89 - I hadn't realised the case itself has a fan controller. Can the fans be controlled by way of mobo headers (i.e. variable speed), or only by the fan speed switch in the case (fixed speed)? The Design Node 304 is an evolution of Fractal’s earlier Mini ITX NAS Case geared primarily for server duty. How well does it manage the noise and vibration of six 3.5″ drives? Can this modest 20 litre case keep the system cool enough? The problem is—I’ve gotten married since the last time I built a PC, and I really like hanging out on the couch with my wife. So, gone are the sloppy bachelor days when I could just plonk down something like an NZXT Phantom 820 in the living room. No worries, though, because this is where the Fractal Design Node 304 comes in.

Fractal Design Node 304 review | TechRadar

Of course there are better coolers than the 212. The 212 EVO is like the cheapest amazing performance you can get. I put one of those in a Node 304 I built for my friend and it worked great and very quiet. It should be enough, and you really don't have to go for "the best" of everything when the 212 EVO is already amazing at what it does. Putting your media in your HTPC is folly. The HTPC should by as tiny as other requirements permit and your files should live on another computer in the house. Gigabit or Wireless N are perfectly capable of handling 1080p streaming requirements. Rear: 1 x 140mm Silent Series R2 hydraulic bearing fan, 1000 RPM speed (compatible with 120mm fans) – included If I fully load all 8 cores and fully load the drives, temperatures stabilise at about 55 C for Mobo and 75 C for CPU. Drive temps don't changeFeb 2013 ~ 6:01pm fatcat Guys, the real value for this case is that it's mITX with support for a shitload of 3.5" HDDs. This is the only case like it, and is amazing. http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=608&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64&g=spec Having been away from the PC market for a long while, I’m used to cruddy things stamped out of sheet metal with sharp edges and twisty angles that assured you’d shed some blood at some point during assembly. The last machine of comparable size I dealt with was a Shuttle mini-barebones system, and I think I still have at least one scar from tinkering around inside there. Nothing of the sort happened with this case, and I was continually surprised with how much room I had to play with, even despite initial worries about PSU depth vs graphics card length.

Node 304: What size CPU coolers will fit in my Node 304? Node 304: What size CPU coolers will fit in my Node 304?

Front: 2 x 92mm Silent Series R2 hydraulic bearing fans, 1300 RPM speed (compatible with 80mm fans) – included You could replace the case fans with 4-pin fans so the motherboard could control them. This is what I did on my Define R4. Along the floor of the left side of the case are some spots for employing zip/twist-ties. Unfortunately, given the cramped layout, there really isn’t much room for excess cabling. With an Intel i3 (around 54W max. TDP) and an COOLER MASTER Hyper TX 3 with the fan removed the CPU gets 70°C at maximum when running some programs which make full use of the CPU.

I want to build with 6 HDDs, but I am concerned that the 304 is too small and the passively cooled C27540D4I may not get sufficient airflow with all 6 drives installed. I'm also interested in any comments on typical power consumption for this build. We’re happy to award the Fractal Design Node 304 our Stamp of Approval for a product we’d recommend for those looking to build a clean and non-intrusive Mini-ITX build. http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=480&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64&g=spec Besides general file serving duties, primary use is to store older Photoshop / RAW files from my Lightroom catalog. Most of my photo editing work is done on my MacBook Pro (i.e. from high speed SSD), but with only 500 GB on the MBP, I have to move off older photos, which will get edited over the LAN from time to time. Media server duties will be modest - only occasional transcoding, and [almost] never to more than one device at a time. Some very light duty MySQL / web serving duties also. Overall, I’m a fan of this case. I wanted a small, elegant PC with a focused set of hardware inside—and that’s just what this case let me build. If this is the kind of thing you’re looking for, I’d highly recommend the Node 304. I think it’s worthy of at least 1.5 thumbs up, though I’d throw up the second if there were better options for cable management and fan speed.

Fractal Design Node 304 - AnandTech Assembling the Fractal Design Node 304 - AnandTech

Maximum during spinup with 6x6TB Reds is 126W for HDDs only. On top of that I would allocate another 40W* for the board/cpu itself on 12V. Combining that we'd be at circa 14A @ 12V which the PSU has to cough out at a minimum. To be safe I'd grab at least 18-20A on 12V. First things first: I know next to nothing about what constitutes a good cooling system besides the fact that I want positive air pressure. Only one question left: The 212 EVO's fan can be swapped for two 120mms. Should I do that? If so, which Noctua fans should I replace it with? Against other mini-ITX cases housing our four drive server configuration, the Node 304 measured the loudest but the difference was small compared to the BitFenix Phenom and Chenbro SR30169, and the Node 304’s noise increase from the one to four drive configuration was modest. Also, vibration effects were substantially worse with the Lian Li PC-Q18 and BitFenix Phenom, to the point where this factor was more annoying than the airborne acoustics. The Node 304 also boasted the second lowest hard drive temperatures. I choose these two cases to compare with and i just can't find any big differences between these two cases...One of the particularly nice features of this case is that it can take a full-sized ATX power supply. It goes in sideways, vents from the bottom, and there’s even a thoughtful cut-out in the bottom side of the case to accommodate a screwdriver while mounting the supply.

Case suggestions - alternatives to Node 304? : r/sffpc - Reddit Case suggestions - alternatives to Node 304? : r/sffpc - Reddit

I am building for a file / media server at home. My two key goals are that the file server can comfortably saturate a Gbps link and that energy use is as low as possible. Perpendicular SATA cables would help but the drives are not mounted in the same orientation. If you want the cables to face the same direction, you’ll need both right-angle and left-angle connectors.I haven’t built a PC in 10 years. I’ve gotten tired of the dismal gaming performance of my MacBook Pro, however, and decided I needed a change. The long hard drive activity LED is diffused somewhat, making for a pleasant blue glow. The white power LED underneath the bezel shines brightly downward like a spotlight and is blinding when viewed directly. We recommend leaving it disconnected. The fans have 2-pin connectors - they can only be used with the fan controller because mainboards have 3- or 4-pin connectors. http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=561&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=63&g=spec Which the Node 304 features. two 92mm in the front and one 120 or 140mm in the rear. they're standard.