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My previous case was a Phanteks P400s TG, so the review is coming from that angle.
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Fractal Design North XL Review - KitGuru
Fractal Design North XL Review.
Posted: Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
PCMag supports Group Black and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownerships. We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund in accordance with our return policy – no receipt needed if you have a Micro Center Insider Account. Fractal's North is a mid-tower ATX case that disguises itself as a pretty piece of furniture. Now, I never took woodshop in high school, but this feels and looks like bamboo. I recently bought a Fractal North (Charcoal / Black Mesh version) and I just wanted to share some impressions before I forget.
CPU Overclocked
Case companies often take an existing design and mostly (or sometimes only) change the front panel. This isn’t the case (no pun intended) with the North, which is available in either white or black and with a mesh or tempered glass side panel. Enter Fractal Design, a case manufacturer that often finds itself on our Best PC Cases, and its latest (and hopefully trend-setting) North case. The North is an ATX mid-tower chassis that features wood slats on the front panel (backed by mesh) and the option for a mesh or tempered-glass side panel. Fractal Design’s new case retails for $130 and comes in Charcoal Black or Chalk White.
Fractal Design North Review: Mid-Century Mid-Tower
Inside, it offers more room to cater to ambitious build aspirations, including space for a 420 mm front-mounted radiator, 360 mm top-mounted radiator and support for graphics cards up to 413 mm. Its spacious, flexible, and intuitive interior layout is designed to allow users to make the most of their building and gaming experience. The front 2.5-inch drive tray is filled with a box containing the case’s hardware kit and is mounted very close to the front fan bracket. Both trays can be relocated 1.5 inches farther back, but doing so reduces the power-supply space from a measured 7.9 inches (200mm) to a mere 6.4 inches (163mm). The North XL’s motherboard tray is flat all the way to the front, allowing motherboards of any depth (up to its 413mm max card length) to fit.
Get Fractal Design's beautiful North PC case for £110 after a 20% Ebay discount - Rock Paper Shotgun
Get Fractal Design's beautiful North PC case for £110 after a 20% Ebay discount.
Posted: Sat, 23 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
We were able to get our test configuration’s standard parts installed quickly, and connected the cables…after manually operating our screwdriver, of course. Look past the back-panel power-supply insertion, and the North XL is one of the simplest cases we’ve ever used in a build. Like the standard North, the North XL lacks the proper clearances behind its solid panel to insert a power supply from the side and thus relies on a removable bracket to enable installation through the back panel. The washable dust filter matches the one on its smaller sibling, just large enough to cover the intake vent beneath the power supply bay. 2022 has been a big year for Fractal Design; the Swedish case company started off with the Torrent Compact, which was an impressive start. In the summer, we saw the Pop Silent, which was refreshing, as the case market has become saturated with mesh and RGB.
Verdict: Wood I Ever Build a Big PC, This Wood Be the Case
Behind the wood are two pre-installed Fractal Design Aspect 140mm fans, which can be replaced with fans or radiators up to 360mm. And, finally, the rear fan mount can fit a 120mm spinner, although the case only comes with the two fans up front. Official subreddit of Fractal – leading designer and manufacturer of premium PC gaming hardware. Welcome to your go-to-channel for everything Fractal-related from information to inspiration. You may pick your poison, but we’ll just stick with the version that gets us the best temperatures. The Fractal Design North measures up at 18.5 x 8.5 x 17.5 inches (HWD), so I wouldn’t try to fit an E-ATX board in here.
Internal Layout
The small connector seen on the right uses a 4-pin PWM connector for motherboard control and connects up to four PWM fans (including the three front fans that come with the case). The Core i K is set at a fixed 4.7GHz clock at 1.3v on all performance cores to ensure consistent power consumption across test scenarios. Letting the GPU run at 75% fan speed enables it to maintain its power target while sticking to one set reasonable fan speed, so that the temperature is the only variable. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
North reimagines the gaming PC, introducing natural materials and bespoke details to make gaming a stylish addition to your living space. Leveraging design to give you a better experience, its airflow functionality and intuitive layout make building and gaming both smooth and enjoyable. What would the popular Fractal Design North look like, expanded to Extended ATX (EATX) scale? Real walnut trim was the biggest thing that made Fractal Design’s original North a big hit among ATX system builders, and the firm is ready to take another chunk out of the market (and some forest) with a $179.99 North XL version. Key improvements include the ability to fit a triple-140mm (420mm format) radiator up front or a graphics card up to 413mm deep, and all that extra capability costs only an extra inch or two of additional space on your desk.
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Still, the cost of raw materials these days is up, up, and up, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a finer-looking combo of steel, glass, and wood outside an architect’s studio. You might assume the mesh improves thermals, but there's also evidence (at least in some cases) that air coming in from the side can be detrimental to the front-to-back airflow path. The only other case we've tested recently with a mesh side panel was the Azza Aero 480, and that did not perform very well. Fractal's North, though, performed exceptionally well in our testing – especially with CPU thermals. The top of the North features a removable panel with a leather tab and the back for easier removal.
It supports up to three 120mm, two 140mm, or even two 180mm fans, as well as radiators up to 406mm long. That last number covers most (but not all) 360mm-format closed-loop coolers. We measured 71mm between the top panel and the motherboard’s top edge, and builders who aren’t afraid to let their coolers hang past the motherboard’s top edge will find around 52mm of horizontal distance between 120mm fans and motherboard standoffs.
Fractal Design's cases generally aren't all that quiet, and that's true here as well. During our full-speed test, we got an average of 53 decibels, which is, bluntly, quite loud. So it's likely the tempered glass version of the North is at least a little quieter.
The side panels are removed via two thumb screws, which is a bit disappointing for a case of this price, and it’s almost ironic when you consider the otherwise excellent aesthetics of this chassis. If you’re smitten with the wood face of the original North, the North XL will be likely your go-to pick if your timber-lust goes along with a need for oversize components. It didn’t dominate our benchmarks, but it’s no slouch, and the build process was about as easy and quick as any of recent note.
The Fractal Design North XL is a little noisy at full speed, partly because it has large fans, and partly because its front panel is designed for optimal airflow rather than as a noise barrier. Fortunately for Fractal Design, most of its competitors are also a little noisy. Regardless of how we got there, the installed card now sits vertically above the power supply tunnel and looks pretty spiffy, if you ask us.
Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. Here’s a quick recap of the parts in our standard test build for ATX and larger chassis. It fits together as shown, by removing the North XL’s original eight slot covers. We found, though, that the heads of the included card screws were too large to fit through the openings above them. Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.
Of course the maximum spec for EATX motherboards is only 330mm, and the empty holes that fit the extra standoffs required to support such wide motherboards are clearly visible just a few inches behind the front fans. A cutaway in the power-supply shroud beneath the motherboard tray provides space behind the fan mounts to install radiators up to 58mm thick. Developed for an enjoyable building and gaming experience, North offers an intuitive interior layout and generous compatibility. It supports GPUs up to a length of 355 mm, or up to 300 mm with a 360 mm front radiator. For a smooth start, it includes two 140 mm Aspect PWM fans, a USB-C port and drive mounts for up to four 2.5” drives and two 3.5” drives out of the box.
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