The 605 I have came with both its case fans mounted in the two anterior spaces. This was puzzling as it meant the air flowed from one side to the other at the front of the case, and not directly over the board and CPU. Moving the fan on the CPU side to the rear mount, thus putting it in a better spot to exhaust CPU-heated air, greatly mitigates the concerns noted in the review.Reply
I've given up hoping that AT's reviewers will bother experimenting with fan placement/optimization so that we won't have to... but it SURE WOULD be nice, wouldn't it?Reply
I suggested that once, and recieved a sligtly angry answer, that everybody will have a different fan as their favourite, and so the comments would flow over with remarks like "Why that fan and not this, it´s much better" etc.
I can see their point, but is it that hard? Pick out a fan in three different sizes and say: "THESE are the fans that WE use, period! Now we gave you a pretty good idea, how the case performs with all fan mounts in use, and especially the DIFFERENCE in performance from the stock number of fans. If YOU feel other fans are better, go ahead and use them."
In this case, it COULD make a huge difference, as Dustin also points out. And what´s the review worth then?:
"Here is a case. It has a lot of empty/blinded fan mounts, that, if used, probably will have a huge impact on heat and noise. We won´t use them, though. So you´l have to buy the case and perform your own review, to get the picture of this enclosures actual performance..."
With that said, I´d never abandon neither AT nor Dustin´s reviews over this, though, it´s still one of the very best places to search for knowledge on new products.
And the guys over at SPCR has dedicated themselves to very thorough case reviews with a heavy emphasis on heat/noise and different fans and fan placement. If a case shows potential to be both quiet and effective, there will surely be a review of it there in near future.
SO, thanks for all the reviews in 2012, Dustin, look forward to more great stuff in 2013.
A $159 case should come with all the fans necessary to achieve optimal performance, period. If I'm going bargain basement, it makes sense to have to play around with fans. At this price point, it's inexcusable. Reply
I agree. Yes everyone could argue that Dustin could spend more time putting different fans in and adjusting their position etc...but, and especially at the price point, that should be Fractual's job - not his.
He is reviewing the quality of the enclosure that was sent to him, as it was sent to him, by the company. There are other websites that specialize in customizing your rig, this isn't one of them.Reply
Yup. At least Dustin notes, quite clearly, that there are extra fan mounts and that filling them would (almost certainly) fix the cooling problem. If I were in the market for an HTPC case that accepts ATX boards, I might be willing to pony up the ~$200 it would likely cost to buy the case and extra/better fans.
But it's well worth emphasizing that the case is not a good value at the $160 price point -- scarcely adequate in its stock configuration, in fact. Exhaustive testing of aftermarket cooling configurations might distract from that crucial message in the review.Reply
So, you want Anandtech to stop testing a product as it comes and start modifying it prior, which throws off the results for any person wishing to actually purchase and use it out of the box? While this case might warrant further research into Fractal's poor placement, I do NOT think that modifying the case setup from stock is a good idea at all.Reply
I think what Randinspace meant was, maybe Dustin could try moving the fans it ships with around to the different locations. The Silverstone case that houses my HTPC only came with 2 fans for the 4 positions available. I moved one of them to intake next to the CPU for no extra cost and about 8C improvement on temps. I think anyone that buys or builds in a case like this would be willing to move/experiment with the included components.
But like has been mentioned by others... on a case this expensive, it should have included all the fans anyway.Reply
It makes you wonder if they were trying to compete with Lian-Li as if I remember correctly, $150 is pretty much Lian-Li's price point for their tall HTPC case offerings. Although, aren't Lian-Li's cases typically ALL aluminum, which usually lets people justify a higher price tag?Reply
Compared to Lian-Li this thing is a joke. Build quality cannot be compared to LL. Steel HTPC/Desktop case which cost 160$$$?! Somebody hold me before I explode with laughter.
:runningaroundincircleslaughinglikemad:
It has pretty much only one Pro: it can hold full ATX board which many of HTPC cases can't. Still LL or Silverstone have cases which can do same thing with far superior quality and features.Reply
When I bought a LL PC-C50b I probably would've considered this if it were available and cheaper. This is seemingly aimed squarely at that model. I have no idea if it has been successful or not, but it was essentially the only case that would do what a lot of enthusiasts probably want or will want as these setups gain even more traction:
1. 120mm mounts on the sides because 80mm fans make no sense for this large of a case or it's likely environment. There are so very, very few that are not either much larger or a cube. Which doesn't make sense because you need the height for... 2. Space for an ~225w full-height graphics card (ie anything not x900/x80 length because it would likely get too hot in these cases) pc-c50 says 250mm which is exactly the spec of my 7870. There's slightly more room, but I would doubt 290mm. They probably figured space for the peg connectors, which of course are now usually on the side of cards (top when installed). 3. Clearance for a nice top-down cooler with appropriate venting (apparently only LL understands this). I'm sure I'm not the only htpc'er out there with a noctua c14 or similar that needs to pull air from somewhere. 4. Space for a regular (likely modular) power supply.
Here we are a year or so later and something is finally available that is similar, but it's still not cheaper, and with the proliferation of mobo headers and pwm fans, the fan controller is hardly a value-add IMHO. The only plus I see are dust filters (that granted I had to do myself...and wasn't fun). Neither have IR, which is also kind of a bummer but obviously remedied easily-enough if you want it.
I wish there were more cases like this. It's about as no-compromise as you're going to get while still fitting on an AV shelf and fitting in with components like an AVR/DVR etc, and really...who needs more than that with the current state of hardware and TVs? Reply
First I'm going to say +1 to the comment about AT not at least attempting to swap fan positions and add more, then reporting back with different results. Honestly, you're not doing either the product or your review any justice by skipping what anyone reading this site would undoubtedly do if they received one of these cases for free ... tinker with it. Any enthusiast likely has fans lying around, and I'm sure you guys do too. I don't even remember the last time I bought a case and just left it the way it came out of the box.
As far as Fractal goes, there's a few major fails here. How much effort would it have taken to make the bar mounting holes elongated ovals (and on the white drive mounts too) so that they're adjustable to some extent? There's gobs of room in there, especially with an mITX board. And those huge front panel cables... at least raise the MB tray so you can run wires under it or something.
Overall I think it deserves a good scolding for that terrible bar placement, but it's hard to knock its other supposed downfalls when there's no effort or creativity put into solving them. Sure you could argue that the customer shouldn't have to, but are we assuming the customer is going to use a GTX560Ti? It's pretty much a given these days that the manufacturers include the bare minimum to keep costs down. In a bare minimum config, the case doesn't perform terribly. Throw some 80mm exhausts in there and it's a different story I'm guessing.Reply
I mean really, after all these years most cases still look like drek. I'm talking from a visual stand-point. I'm not that anal about heat and airflow, I'm happy to compromise if it doesn't look like a turd on my desk or under it.
This one doesn't look great. Just a hulking lump of black with ports etc. that look like a cut out after-thought behind a flap. Too many just seem to lose the design greatness when it comes to the functional bits. Cant the bit behind the flap or door look great too?
After 20+ years of PC use I still haven't seen a case I have truly thought.."that looks really fantastic!"
What kind of stylistic touches would you find attractive? Once a decision is made to design a case to fit in with the standard home audio component look, you're somewhat limited in what can be done from a style perspective.Reply
Personally, I chose the Silverstone GD06 when I built my HTPC 18 months ago. Everything performed well, but it's not that quiet nor cool (AMD 955BE + 5750).
I think that ATX is overkill and that Silverstone designs that are ITX and mATX only are superior designs. I would also love to see a slightly taller HTPC with room below the motherboard for cable management. I also agree on adding/replacing fans in the review to show what the case is really capable of.Reply
If you for some reason insist on using only two fans, have one at the side (next to the PSU, I suppose) as an intake, and one next to the CPU above the backplate as an exhaust.
Fractal have done what they have with the fans because they (rightly) assume that users will want to drop in at least one of their own choice of exhaust fan. Ignoring this in an otherwise excellent and well thought out review is a huge shame imo.Reply
I havent seen any reviews for the Origin AE lineup on your site? I have the s14v in black and it is the nicest htpc case on the market imo. it is expensive but its made from a solid block of aluminium so i think its worth it.
would love to see some reviews for their ranges on here.
Really, what do you do with ports behind a flap? I might understand it for a card reader and may be a DVD drive? But head phones and mic and USB ports behind a flap? What is the user experience of this? If I use such things, the flap needs to stay open, so making the entire design horrid. I'd understand if the USB ports would be sideways and the flap had side channels to route the cables of an external drive, so I can still close it. But mic and head phone ports need to be outside of the flap!
For that price, I'd like to see some display included, that can be controlled by software. I'd think that it must be possible to produce a simple display with a USB interface that can show output channel, and volume, etc. just by the virtue of it's driver. Not to mention adding any sort tuner card and being able to see tune information or similar.Reply
with a 2500K, it's not even audible and there's enough space. Would have been nice if this case worked well though...having space for 4 drives would have been nice...Reply
I don't need flash either. And I'll deviate from most posters and say that this is one of the best HTPC chassis I've ever seen for the money (if only just from the front.)
I like that the optical bay and all of the I/O ports are behind a flap. I don't need (visible) ports, a headphone or mic jack, and all sorts of buttons---and certainly not a volume knob---on my HTPC. I have a bloody preamp for that. And as far as VFDs and touchscreens go, they look pretty, but at the end of the day are a distraction. Touchscreens are for remotes anyway. An HTPC should be like Seraph from The Matrix: dark, svelte, mysterious, pretty, and silent.
So on the outside the Node 605 does just fine for me. It's such a shame the interior was designed by an ape. Why did they put the HDD hangers on the same side as the expansion slots, power supply and optical bay? The cpu side is like Montana and the other is like Tokyo. No f---ing sense for a case this size.Reply
After all these years, and no case designer cares to design their case with airflow in mind?
I mean, all I see is a box with holes all around it. You design your own airflow, depending upon what you put in and where you put the fans. I'm sure a thermal engineer geek (I'm an electrical engineering geek myself :-P ) could design a case that has a single, well defined airflow path that could have far better thermal and accoustic performance than you or I could manage.Reply
Silverstone TJ08-E springs to mind as clearly designed around proper airflow.
Personally I wonder why there is a need for these big HTPC cases. To be honest they are nothing more than a standard 1990s case laid on its side. Having built a silent HTPC, mini-itx motherboard was sufficient for me (but I do have a separate NAS for storage), although I accept some audiophiles will want a separate audio cardReply
It's amazing how involved people get with something that is just a metal box. And even more amazing and odd what some companies ask for it. Especially since some devices/tools/vehicles come with large metal housings and those don't seem to significantly influence the cost half the time.
But on the other hand some basically simple spare parts for cars that are very basic are also sold for outrageous prices if they are hard to source. It truly is a fine example of price and demand and making a business out of things.Reply
Just a note on the video card situation, i've got a matx board in the case and am able to stick a powercolor 6970 inside without the hard drive bays being a hindrance and i've still got room to run cables, etc in front of the video card. I don't think I'd be able to crossfire the 6970s (don't know who would want to in an htpc case) there is room between the card and the hard drives (if you mount the hdd facing the other way) but considering the width of the card i dont think 2 could fit Second, The fan controller in the case has 3 Fan connectors but they only fit 3pin connectors (i bought 3, 4pin fans -_-) I know Fractal includes 2 Fractal fans but even at high speed they're only pulling 40cfm (they're the FD Silent R2 fans) and that wasn't enough imo so I replaced them with some Cougar Vortex fans. I contacted Fractal Designs about the 3pin connectors and I must say their customer service is amazing, they sent me a step by step email including pictures on how i could cut the 3pin fan connector to accommodate a 4pin fan which they said would work with the fan controller as they've tested it. Instead of going that route though I found some 4 to 3 pin fan connectors online, even 3pin extension cables that could support a 4pin connector. Also the molex connector for the fan controller, in my case, was loose so it was a big hassle getting it connected to the power supplies female molex Third, The slim optical disc drive, Fractal supplies a mounting kit but no slimline sata connection to power your drive you'll have to buy that yourself you can find them online for as low as a dollar. The mounting kit is a bit difficult to install, it was for me anyway, since i left it for the last thing to install -_- and because the screws supplied were larger than the holes on the mounting kit (ever so slightly) so I really had to use some force to screw it in Fourth, CPU cooling, There is not much height to the case to attach a large heatsink, Fractal recommends no higher than 125mm if the fans are attached on the sides; this was difficult for me to find a suitable cooling unit,, hydro cooling units won't fit btw there's no room to mount the rad+fan unless you do some modding like having it stick part way out of the case. I was fortunately able to find the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 which fit perfectly inside the case with both fans mounted. Lastly areas for improvement: I wish that there was a fan on top of the case to help suck air out (like silverstone does, i believe) I'm not sure on what my temps will be like since I haven't gotten it up and running yet but it would certainly ease my mind as that whole right side of the case is really congested with hard drives the gpu and psu and there's only that 1 fan blowing in on the right side but its completely restricted with the grill/the hard drives and the cables; again I don't know what my temps will be like but it would certainly ease the mind and there is certainly room for a fan in that area. There's also room, believe it or not, to stick more hard drives in the case and it would be nice if Fractal had included mounting brackets for this but I can understand why not. I bought a pci expansion slot hard drive mount to mount my SSD and a 2.5" drive and there’s still plenty of room; there’s even room for a 3.5" Also the aforementioned lack of a slimline sata cable, it would be nice if Fractal had included this considering the price of the case and Fractal needs to improve Quality Control (the loose molex and mounting holes) Overall though I'm impressed with the build quality and the looks of the case and I can't wait to start using it, but i've been very frugal in my build using hand me down parts and waiting for all my cables/parts from different vendors.Reply
29 Comments
Back to Article
Gigantopithecus - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
The 605 I have came with both its case fans mounted in the two anterior spaces. This was puzzling as it meant the air flowed from one side to the other at the front of the case, and not directly over the board and CPU. Moving the fan on the CPU side to the rear mount, thus putting it in a better spot to exhaust CPU-heated air, greatly mitigates the concerns noted in the review. Replyrandinspace - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
I've given up hoping that AT's reviewers will bother experimenting with fan placement/optimization so that we won't have to... but it SURE WOULD be nice, wouldn't it? Replykevith - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
I suggested that once, and recieved a sligtly angry answer, that everybody will have a different fan as their favourite, and so the comments would flow over with remarks like "Why that fan and not this, it´s much better" etc.I can see their point, but is it that hard? Pick out a fan in three different sizes and say: "THESE are the fans that WE use, period! Now we gave you a pretty good idea, how the case performs with all fan mounts in use, and especially the DIFFERENCE in performance from the stock number of fans. If YOU feel other fans are better, go ahead and use them."
In this case, it COULD make a huge difference, as Dustin also points out. And what´s the review worth then?:
"Here is a case. It has a lot of empty/blinded fan mounts, that, if used, probably will have a huge impact on heat and noise. We won´t use them, though. So you´l have to buy the case and perform your own review, to get the picture of this enclosures actual performance..."
With that said, I´d never abandon neither AT nor Dustin´s reviews over this, though, it´s still one of the very best places to search for knowledge on new products.
And the guys over at SPCR has dedicated themselves to very thorough case reviews with a heavy emphasis on heat/noise and different fans and fan placement. If a case shows potential to be both quiet and effective, there will surely be a review of it there in near future.
SO, thanks for all the reviews in 2012, Dustin, look forward to more great stuff in 2013.
Happy New Year! Reply
TokamakH3 - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
A $159 case should come with all the fans necessary to achieve optimal performance, period. If I'm going bargain basement, it makes sense to have to play around with fans. At this price point, it's inexcusable. ReplyTalion83 - Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - link
I agree. Yes everyone could argue that Dustin could spend more time putting different fans in and adjusting their position etc...but, and especially at the price point, that should be Fractual's job - not his.He is reviewing the quality of the enclosure that was sent to him, as it was sent to him, by the company. There are other websites that specialize in customizing your rig, this isn't one of them. Reply
Tech-Curious - Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - link
Yup. At least Dustin notes, quite clearly, that there are extra fan mounts and that filling them would (almost certainly) fix the cooling problem. If I were in the market for an HTPC case that accepts ATX boards, I might be willing to pony up the ~$200 it would likely cost to buy the case and extra/better fans.But it's well worth emphasizing that the case is not a good value at the $160 price point -- scarcely adequate in its stock configuration, in fact. Exhaustive testing of aftermarket cooling configurations might distract from that crucial message in the review. Reply
Aikouka - Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - link
So, you want Anandtech to stop testing a product as it comes and start modifying it prior, which throws off the results for any person wishing to actually purchase and use it out of the box? While this case might warrant further research into Fractal's poor placement, I do NOT think that modifying the case setup from stock is a good idea at all. ReplyHemi345 - Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - link
I think what Randinspace meant was, maybe Dustin could try moving the fans it ships with around to the different locations. The Silverstone case that houses my HTPC only came with 2 fans for the 4 positions available. I moved one of them to intake next to the CPU for no extra cost and about 8C improvement on temps. I think anyone that buys or builds in a case like this would be willing to move/experiment with the included components.But like has been mentioned by others... on a case this expensive, it should have included all the fans anyway. Reply
Aikouka - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
It makes you wonder if they were trying to compete with Lian-Li as if I remember correctly, $150 is pretty much Lian-Li's price point for their tall HTPC case offerings. Although, aren't Lian-Li's cases typically ALL aluminum, which usually lets people justify a higher price tag? Replyypsylon - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
Compared to Lian-Li this thing is a joke. Build quality cannot be compared to LL. Steel HTPC/Desktop case which cost 160$$$?! Somebody hold me before I explode with laughter.:runningaroundincircleslaughinglikemad:
It has pretty much only one Pro: it can hold full ATX board which many of HTPC cases can't. Still LL or Silverstone have cases which can do same thing with far superior quality and features. Reply
alwayssts - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
When I bought a LL PC-C50b I probably would've considered this if it were available and cheaper. This is seemingly aimed squarely at that model. I have no idea if it has been successful or not, but it was essentially the only case that would do what a lot of enthusiasts probably want or will want as these setups gain even more traction:1. 120mm mounts on the sides because 80mm fans make no sense for this large of a case or it's likely environment. There are so very, very few that are not either much larger or a cube. Which doesn't make sense because you need the height for...
2. Space for an ~225w full-height graphics card (ie anything not x900/x80 length because it would likely get too hot in these cases) pc-c50 says 250mm which is exactly the spec of my 7870. There's slightly more room, but I would doubt 290mm. They probably figured space for the peg connectors, which of course are now usually on the side of cards (top when installed).
3. Clearance for a nice top-down cooler with appropriate venting (apparently only LL understands this). I'm sure I'm not the only htpc'er out there with a noctua c14 or similar that needs to pull air from somewhere.
4. Space for a regular (likely modular) power supply.
Here we are a year or so later and something is finally available that is similar, but it's still not cheaper, and with the proliferation of mobo headers and pwm fans, the fan controller is hardly a value-add IMHO. The only plus I see are dust filters (that granted I had to do myself...and wasn't fun). Neither have IR, which is also kind of a bummer but obviously remedied easily-enough if you want it.
I wish there were more cases like this. It's about as no-compromise as you're going to get while still fitting on an AV shelf and fitting in with components like an AVR/DVR etc, and really...who needs more than that with the current state of hardware and TVs? Reply
Interitus - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
First I'm going to say +1 to the comment about AT not at least attempting to swap fan positions and add more, then reporting back with different results. Honestly, you're not doing either the product or your review any justice by skipping what anyone reading this site would undoubtedly do if they received one of these cases for free ... tinker with it. Any enthusiast likely has fans lying around, and I'm sure you guys do too. I don't even remember the last time I bought a case and just left it the way it came out of the box.As far as Fractal goes, there's a few major fails here. How much effort would it have taken to make the bar mounting holes elongated ovals (and on the white drive mounts too) so that they're adjustable to some extent? There's gobs of room in there, especially with an mITX board. And those huge front panel cables... at least raise the MB tray so you can run wires under it or something.
Overall I think it deserves a good scolding for that terrible bar placement, but it's hard to knock its other supposed downfalls when there's no effort or creativity put into solving them. Sure you could argue that the customer shouldn't have to, but are we assuming the customer is going to use a GTX560Ti? It's pretty much a given these days that the manufacturers include the bare minimum to keep costs down. In a bare minimum config, the case doesn't perform terribly. Throw some 80mm exhausts in there and it's a different story I'm guessing. Reply
jabber - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
I mean really, after all these years most cases still look like drek. I'm talking from a visual stand-point. I'm not that anal about heat and airflow, I'm happy to compromise if it doesn't look like a turd on my desk or under it.This one doesn't look great. Just a hulking lump of black with ports etc. that look like a cut out after-thought behind a flap. Too many just seem to lose the design greatness when it comes to the functional bits. Cant the bit behind the flap or door look great too?
After 20+ years of PC use I still haven't seen a case I have truly thought.."that looks really fantastic!"
Surely it can't be that hard? Reply
ggathagan - Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - link
What kind of stylistic touches would you find attractive?Once a decision is made to design a case to fit in with the standard home audio component look, you're somewhat limited in what can be done from a style perspective. Reply
jabber - Thursday, January 03, 2013 - link
I'll know it when I see it.I just know that case (and others like it) is not what I want sitting in my living room.
Its a monstrosity.
For a start if its only doing home theatre work why the hell does it need all those 120mm fans? Why ATX?
A case designed by committee if ever there was one. Reply
bobbozzo - Friday, March 01, 2013 - link
Bigger fans are quieter than smaller ones. Replythereddog - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
Nice review, thanks.Personally, I chose the Silverstone GD06 when I built my HTPC 18 months ago. Everything performed well, but it's not that quiet nor cool (AMD 955BE + 5750).
I think that ATX is overkill and that Silverstone designs that are ITX and mATX only are superior designs. I would also love to see a slightly taller HTPC with room below the motherboard for cable management. I also agree on adding/replacing fans in the review to show what the case is really capable of. Reply
Olaf van der Spek - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
> 1x 120mm intake fan on each sideReally? Wouldn't bottom (PSU) to top airflow work better? Reply
Blibbax - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
If you for some reason insist on using only two fans, have one at the side (next to the PSU, I suppose) as an intake, and one next to the CPU above the backplate as an exhaust.Fractal have done what they have with the fans because they (rightly) assume that users will want to drop in at least one of their own choice of exhaust fan. Ignoring this in an otherwise excellent and well thought out review is a huge shame imo. Reply
chrissp - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
I havent seen any reviews for the Origin AE lineup on your site? I have the s14v in black and it is the nicest htpc case on the market imo. it is expensive but its made from a solid block of aluminium so i think its worth it.would love to see some reviews for their ranges on here.
thanks for the great great reviews.
chris Reply
Conficio - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
Really, what do you do with ports behind a flap? I might understand it for a card reader and may be a DVD drive? But head phones and mic and USB ports behind a flap? What is the user experience of this? If I use such things, the flap needs to stay open, so making the entire design horrid. I'd understand if the USB ports would be sideways and the flap had side channels to route the cables of an external drive, so I can still close it. But mic and head phone ports need to be outside of the flap!For that price, I'd like to see some display included, that can be controlled by software. I'd think that it must be possible to produce a simple display with a USB interface that can show output channel, and volume, etc. just by the virtue of it's driver. Not to mention adding any sort tuner card and being able to see tune information or similar. Reply
kenyee - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
with a 2500K, it's not even audible and there's enough space.Would have been nice if this case worked well though...having space for 4 drives would have been nice... Reply
smitty123 - Tuesday, January 01, 2013 - link
i don't need flash , just something else than a gray slab. Replyrockoqatsi - Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - link
I don't need flash either. And I'll deviate from most posters and say that this is one of the best HTPC chassis I've ever seen for the money (if only just from the front.)I like that the optical bay and all of the I/O ports are behind a flap. I don't need (visible) ports, a headphone or mic jack, and all sorts of buttons---and certainly not a volume knob---on my HTPC. I have a bloody preamp for that. And as far as VFDs and touchscreens go, they look pretty, but at the end of the day are a distraction. Touchscreens are for remotes anyway. An HTPC should be like Seraph from The Matrix: dark, svelte, mysterious, pretty, and silent.
So on the outside the Node 605 does just fine for me. It's such a shame the interior was designed by an ape. Why did they put the HDD hangers on the same side as the expansion slots, power supply and optical bay? The cpu side is like Montana and the other is like Tokyo. No f---ing sense for a case this size. Reply
perrydoell - Wednesday, January 02, 2013 - link
After all these years, and no case designer cares to design their case with airflow in mind?I mean, all I see is a box with holes all around it. You design your own airflow, depending upon what you put in and where you put the fans. I'm sure a thermal engineer geek (I'm an electrical engineering geek myself :-P ) could design a case that has a single, well defined airflow path that could have far better thermal and accoustic performance than you or I could manage. Reply
cjs150 - Thursday, January 03, 2013 - link
Silverstone TJ08-E springs to mind as clearly designed around proper airflow.Personally I wonder why there is a need for these big HTPC cases. To be honest they are nothing more than a standard 1990s case laid on its side. Having built a silent HTPC, mini-itx motherboard was sufficient for me (but I do have a separate NAS for storage), although I accept some audiophiles will want a separate audio card Reply
Wwhat - Sunday, January 06, 2013 - link
It's amazing how involved people get with something that is just a metal box.And even more amazing and odd what some companies ask for it. Especially since some devices/tools/vehicles come with large metal housings and those don't seem to significantly influence the cost half the time.
But on the other hand some basically simple spare parts for cars that are very basic are also sold for outrageous prices if they are hard to source. It truly is a fine example of price and demand and making a business out of things. Reply
dj christian - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
"ATX motherboard support on the right side of the case, power supply standing on its side on the left."should be
ATX motherboard support on the left side of the case, power supply standing on its side on the right. Reply
stylinred - Wednesday, June 19, 2013 - link
Just a note on the video card situation, i've got a matx board in the case and am able to stick a powercolor 6970 inside without the hard drive bays being a hindrance and i've still got room to run cables, etc in front of the video card.I don't think I'd be able to crossfire the 6970s (don't know who would want to in an htpc case) there is room between the card and the hard drives (if you mount the hdd facing the other way) but considering the width of the card i dont think 2 could fit
Second, The fan controller in the case has 3 Fan connectors but they only fit 3pin connectors (i bought 3, 4pin fans -_-)
I know Fractal includes 2 Fractal fans but even at high speed they're only pulling 40cfm (they're the FD Silent R2 fans) and that wasn't enough imo so I replaced them with some Cougar Vortex fans.
I contacted Fractal Designs about the 3pin connectors and I must say their customer service is amazing, they sent me a step by step email including pictures on how i could cut the 3pin fan connector to accommodate a 4pin fan which they said would work with the fan controller as they've tested it.
Instead of going that route though I found some 4 to 3 pin fan connectors online, even 3pin extension cables that could support a 4pin connector.
Also the molex connector for the fan controller, in my case, was loose so it was a big hassle getting it connected to the power supplies female molex
Third, The slim optical disc drive, Fractal supplies a mounting kit but no slimline sata connection to power your drive you'll have to buy that yourself you can find them online for as low as a dollar.
The mounting kit is a bit difficult to install, it was for me anyway, since i left it for the last thing to install -_- and because the screws supplied were larger than the holes on the mounting kit (ever so slightly) so I really had to use some force to screw it in
Fourth, CPU cooling, There is not much height to the case to attach a large heatsink, Fractal recommends no higher than 125mm if the fans are attached on the sides; this was difficult for me to find a suitable cooling unit,, hydro cooling units won't fit btw there's no room to mount the rad+fan unless you do some modding like having it stick part way out of the case. I was fortunately able to find the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 which fit perfectly inside the case with both fans mounted.
Lastly areas for improvement:
I wish that there was a fan on top of the case to help suck air out (like silverstone does, i believe) I'm not sure on what my temps will be like since I haven't gotten it up and running yet but it would certainly ease my mind as that whole right side of the case is really congested with hard drives the gpu and psu and there's only that 1 fan blowing in on the right side but its completely restricted with the grill/the hard drives and the cables; again I don't know what my temps will be like but it would certainly ease the mind and there is certainly room for a fan in that area.
There's also room, believe it or not, to stick more hard drives in the case and it would be nice if Fractal had included mounting brackets for this but I can understand why not. I bought a pci expansion slot hard drive mount to mount my SSD and a 2.5" drive and there’s still plenty of room; there’s even room for a 3.5"
Also the aforementioned lack of a slimline sata cable, it would be nice if Fractal had included this considering the price of the case and Fractal needs to improve Quality Control (the loose molex and mounting holes)
Overall though I'm impressed with the build quality and the looks of the case and I can't wait to start using it, but i've been very frugal in my build using hand me down parts and waiting for all my cables/parts from different vendors. Reply