Fractal Design North

[Vario]

View attachment 273408

Popsicle sticks / tongue depressors.

 

[Doctor Lo]

First of all great detailed review @Darksaber , I struggled to find a review of this case that went so much in detail and that gave me a more accurate idea on how to build around it and what could work.

More specifically I wanted to go the via the top AIO route (in general I don´t like so much the front mounted approach.... where you basically warm the air up before pushing it through your case), but @Mussels you have a good point:

First thoughts:

The wood is nice. Different to usual, but personally not something i'd go for. Very "Office" but totally out of place as a HTPC or gaming system, unless you've also got old-style furniture or devices near it.

The open-rear design for pure intake on fans is smart in this form factor. Let the heat passively vent out, minimise dust and noise.
I can however see this going badly with a top mounted AIO as it's going to simply suck air in from the rear, and fill with dust in no time at all.
View attachment 273505View attachment 273506
There is ZERO chance that's getting air from anywhere but that unfiltered rear, since the side panel fans will feed the GPU and exhaust straight out (if they even fit, with modern GPU sizes)

I Tried using my rear 140mm to feed fresh air into my custom loop and despite being 1.5 meters off the ground on it's own shelf with an air purifier in the room, it was clogged to the point the fan had no airflow in under a month - and the dust was then bypassing it to clog the 360mm EK radiator i had installed up there.
(I cant find photos but I had it installed Nov '21, and by Jan '22 all photos of my PC were lacking a rear case fan, by feb a new exhaust was installed)



Mesh side panel is a good option for heat, but it's going to let any and all noise out and make that air situation even worse -the front intakes wont even reach anywhere


It's like they finally had great ideas for what they want a case to be, but then had to modify it to fit the common trends of a 240mm AIO at the top and dual radiator support because 'marketing says we need it' and therefore it's trashed their vision for it


Considering my (quite common) corsair ram is 51mm tall, that 35mm height limit for the AIO isn't going to work


Damnit i love fractal, but I don't love or even like the choices they're making for their modern cases. Fractals whole deal was cases that were great for low noise, control over the exhaust locations and great dust filtering setups


The open rear and mesh die panel will help keep temps down, but only until the AIO clogs with dust. they'll be out of the return period for the case by then, so who cares?

I'd be okay with this case for an office PC or a low wattage (by todays standards) gaming PC with just front fans or a front mounted AIO, but honestly it just seems like a total failure on design for airflow and dust filtration


What's that side fan accessory from? Can't say i've seen that before

Wouldn´t this be something that a positive pressure avoids ? (I would have thought 2*140mm fans at the front would push more air than the 2*120mm of the AIO pull out). Guess you could always experiment and track the airflow as you build, even cover part of the rear, but of course at that point you are already committed. Again I´m considering this case but wanted: a) use liquid cooling to keep it relatively quiet b) avoid front mounted radiator to keep the air flow through the case cool (that would be benefiting mostly the GPU, as I was planning on the TG side pannel).

Cheers,

 

[Mussels]

First of all great detailed review @Darksaber , I struggled to find a review of this case that went so much in detail and that gave me a more accurate idea on how to build around it and what could work.

More specifically I wanted to go the via the top AIO route (in general I don´t like so much the front mounted approach.... where you basically warm the air up before pushing it through your case), but @Mussels you have a good point:


Wouldn´t this be something that a positive pressure avoids ? (I would have thought 2*140mm fans at the front would push more air than the 2*120mm of the AIO pull out). Guess you could always experiment and track the airflow as you build, even cover part of the rear, but of course at that point you are already committed. Again I´m considering this case but wanted: a) use liquid cooling to keep it relatively quiet b) avoid front mounted radiator to keep the air flow through the case cool (that would be benefiting mostly the GPU, as I was planning on the TG side pannel).

Cheers,

not that closely with an open case, you'd need seriously high pressure 140mm intakes

It'd do so passively sure, but not with an AIO fan sucking air in from an inch away

 

[Doctor Lo]

not that closely with an open case, you'd need seriously high pressure 140mm intakes

It'd do so passively sure, but not with an AIO fan sucking air in from an inch away

Good point. I´ll see how I go about it when I finally pull the trigger, maybe could either block the top part completely or adapt some dust filter, I´d report back in that case. Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Mussels]

Good point. I´ll see how I go about it when I finally pull the trigger, maybe could either block the top part completely or adapt some dust filter, I´d report back in that case. Thanks for the thoughts.

Gaffer tape is great for covering the gaps, as its heat resistant and doesnt melt away in summer, or leave nasty residues

Consider a dust filter for the rear, as well

 

[Doctor Lo]

Gaffer tape is great for covering the gaps, as its heat resistant and doesnt melt away in summer, or leave nasty residues

Consider a dust filter for the rear, as well

Thanks again, must have gaffer around that could use for this indeed. Also made me realise how unclear my previous message was... meant covering the top part, of the rear of the case (so either restrict airflow completely just by the fans, or adding the dust filter, full length or just the top part again... something to probably best figure out by testing).

 

[claes]

Might consider running the GPU fans as intakes

 

[Doctor Lo]

Might consider running the GPU fans as intakes

You mean on the side panel on the mesh version ? In my case I´d go for the TG version (mostly for looks, because I like to have a some view on the build from inside, but also I saw some reviews comparing both versions that didn´t find significant cooling performance on the mesh version with the side fans). Thanks in any case for the idea !

 

[Doctor Lo]

So I went ahead with the build and as promised here are some updates.

First of all 0 issues with RAM clearance, at least with my build I could have taken pretty much any height:

In case that helps other builders. Here you have full build BTW: link


Regarding airflow, thanks again @Mussels for your thoughts on this. At constant high settings (front and radiator fans at 80%) the flow seems to be in the "right" direction, but this is a very primitive test for now (just put a long stripe of thin paper from inside and outside and a flashlight inside the case):

The radiator fans definitely have the power to suck air from the rear in any case, for example on start-up, when there is no airflow yet, they almost sucked the piece of paper through ) I think I´ll put a filter on the top part of the rear grill to be safe anyway... but seems it´s not a big deal so far (almost fans run a lot lower most of the time, pretty good airflow). I´ll do some proper airflow testing with incense or something when I set that up. EDIT: could also put a exhaust fan in the rear of the case...

Hope it helps someone and thanks again for the comments.

 

[Mussels]

So I went ahead with the build and as promised here are some updates.

First of all 0 issues with RAM clearance, at least with my build I could have taken pretty much any height:

View attachment 278593

In case that helps other builders. Here you have full build BTW: link


Regarding airflow, thanks again @Mussels for your thoughts on this. At constant high settings (front and radiator fans at 80%) the flow seems to be in the "right" direction, but this is a very primitive test for now (just put a long stripe of thin paper from inside and outside and a flashlight inside the case):

View attachment 278585

The radiator fans definitely have the power to suck air from the rear in any case, for example on start-up, when there is no airflow yet, they almost sucked the piece of paper through ) I think I´ll put a filter on the top part of the rear grill to be safe anyway... but seems it´s not a big deal so far (almost fans run a lot lower most of the time, pretty good airflow). I´ll do some proper airflow testing with incense or something when I set that up. EDIT: could also put a exhaust fan in the rear of the case...

Hope it helps someone and thanks again for the comments.

The RAM height is an issue with an AIO or radiator, since they come down into the space of the RAM
radiators can come in thicknesses of 15-45mm, and then fans vary from 15 to 30mm

Some slim setups will fit just fine, but it's something you absolutely need to know about

 

[Doctor Lo]

The RAM height is an issue with an AIO or radiator, since they come down into the space of the RAM
radiators can come in thicknesses of 15-45mm, and then fans vary from 15 to 30mm

Some slim setups will fit just fine, but it's something you absolutely need to know about

Absolutely.

To underline the build and the photo is with an AIO with the radiator on top (DeepCool LT520 with the standard fans in push configuration). I included the link to the detailed build because I am aware it can be specific to the choice of components, but in this specific case any height would have fit, and thought it can be good to know for others as long as they are aware of the caveat.

 

[ryosaeba86_86]

Hello,
i'm new in the forum. I would like to buy this Case and create a new Build. Since mounting a front radiator there is a limit of 300mm to install a VGA, I was therefore thinking of mounting it on the TOP.
I was thinking about a Corsair AIO, do you think I will have problems with the RAM profiles? Do I have to evaluate the distances well or can I go easy and buy any model of RAM?
Thanks,

 

[wheresmycar]

Hello,
i'm new in the forum. I would like to buy this Case and create a new Build. Since mounting a front radiator there is a limit of 300mm to install a VGA, I was therefore thinking of mounting it on the TOP.
I was thinking about a Corsair AIO, do you think I will have problems with the RAM profiles? Do I have to evaluate the distances well or can I go easy and buy any model of RAM?
Thanks,

You probably know already.... top mount supports max 240mm rads

RAM clearance shouldn't be a problem. A friend of mine picked up the same case with a 240mm rad on top (NZXT Kraken) + memory sticks standing at ~45mm height (g skill trident). As long as its your usual consumer AIO models and not one with a thick radiator or fat fans, you should be good to go. I'm picking up the same case and sought the same info. Most memory sticks are in the ~45mm bracket... if yours push past this height you might want to double check clearance.

love the case although a little disappointed for no 280mm support on top (its what i have)

 

[Mussels]

240mm AIO's tend to have much greater clearance than 280mm AIO's, by exactly 20mm

Most of my systems support 140mm top fans, but none of them would work with an AIO that size without hitting the RAM (most RGB ram is sadly, very damned tall)

 

[wheresmycar]

240mm AIO's tend to have much greater clearance than 280mm AIO's, by exactly 40mm

Most of my systems support 140mm top fans, but none of them would work with an AIO that size without hitting the RAM (most RGB ram is sadly, very damned tall)

thats odd, aren't all (or most) AIOs roughly the same size. Im familiar with 240/280 Corsair H and Kraken AIOs and the height (or thickness) is pretty much the same. They only extend in width and length which is non-combatant with memory sticks

 

[Mussels]

thats odd, aren't all (or most) AIOs roughly the same size. Im familiar with 240/280 Corsair H and Kraken AIOs and the height (or thickness) is pretty much the same. They only extend in width and length which is non-combatant with memory sticks

They're wider. I did typo 20mm to 40mm - 120mm fans to 140mm fans have a 20mm difference, which because they're sideways eats into the clearance for your RAM.


the 120mm fan mounts always start at the far edge from the motherboard, so 140mm fans/rads eat into the RAM clearance.
I've got about 0.2mm clearance from my RAM hitting my fan, and that's with a slim alphacool radiator - AIO's can often be chunkier

 

[Doctor Lo]

Hello,
i'm new in the forum. I would like to buy this Case and create a new Build. Since mounting a front radiator there is a limit of 300mm to install a VGA, I was therefore thinking of mounting it on the TOP.
I was thinking about a Corsair AIO, do you think I will have problems with the RAM profiles? Do I have to evaluate the distances well or can I go easy and buy any model of RAM?
Thanks,

As per my post / photo just a bit above I did not have any issues with my specific mobo / AIO combo, plenty of speace, BUT the manual does specify a very limited clearance so I assume there might be some combinations that are trickier.