A Closer Look - Inside

Simply remove the cover wrapping around three sides of the case to gain access to the interior of the chassis. This design should give you readily available access to all the areas of the case, even if it is quite compact.


Three white metal parts fill up the front of the chassis. These can each hold two hard drives, which allows for up to six 3.5 or 2.5" units to be installed. You may also remove these if you, for example, want to install a large graphics card. There are two 92 mm, white-bladed fans in the front to push cool air into the case and across the hard drives. They both feature sleeved cables and a 3-pin connector.


A third fan – this time 140 mm in diameter - is in the rear. It blows air out of the back of the case. Fractal Design has also included a simple but effective fan controller that can slow down up to three units. Not only does the Node 304 have exactly three fans, but most mini-ITX motherboards also lack a lot of fan headers, making this controller the perfect addition.

The PSU bay is actually placed below the hard-drive bays in the front of the case. You may install a standard sized ATX unit here as long as it is not too long. The mounting holes are arranged in such a way that the PSU pulls cold air from the underside into the chassis. The included dust filter makes sure that most of the grime will stay out of the interior.


All the cables within the Node 304 are sleeved black; this includes the cables for power and LEDs. There is no reset button on the Node 304, which seems quite the odd omission. There is always enough room for a tiny button somewhere, and it would be especially useful with the Node 304 as there is also no way to reach the power switch of the PSU on the outside of the chassis.