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.

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Getting the PSU in is also a bit of a tight squeeze; our test PSU is 180mm with modular connections, essentially longer than the Node 304's spec. As a result, the PCIe slot is rendered essentially unusable to cards longer than the motherboard itself. The problem is that a modular power supply is practically essential for a case like this as there simply isn't anywhere else for the cables to go. I don't think this is a dire situation, but it's one of the places where I feel like the SFX power supply standard really needs to proliferate and would be more ideal. You just don't need a full ATX PSU in a case this size, and space is at a premium. 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. Lastly, not all PSU;s are created equal. So you're not necessarily guaranteed even 50% of the power total provided on the 12v rail. Assuming a single rail PSU. Most that I would trust being made by seasonic, while being branded by different companies. Antec comes to mind ( earthwatts 500 ) I've owned one now for 4-5 years and am perfectly happy with it. Granted, as stated above, i do not require a massive GPU.. Mostly i opt for mid range. Fractal Design's Node 304 is in many ways a surprising jump forward in case design. We've seen SilverStone, BitFenix, Lian Li, and Cooler Master all try their hands at mITX cases with varying degrees of success, but there's just no set design language when you get down this small. The conventions we take for granted in ATX case design don't really apply here, but Fractal Design has tried for something fairly different with the Node 304, even by mITX standards.

CPU Cooler: Intel heatsink from combo OR CoolerMaster V4 GTS (Optional) - I've it already from old PC 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 804 and 304? - Linus Tech Tips Difference between node 804 and 304? - Linus Tech Tips

yyrkoon - Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - link May as well call it 300W peak after adding a HDD, and optical drive. a Tad more with an SSD in addition. The Fractal Fan controllers are just simple passive devices with a 3-speed switch. On my Define R4 the three positions are labelled 5V, 7V and 12V 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.

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May I use nonECC memory for Supermicro X11SCL-iF + i3-9100F? I've heard that it's possible to use nonECC memory with i3, and it's impossible with Xeon, is it true? I just don't want to spend more money on memory than CPU+Motherboard cost. Rear: 1 x 140mm Silent Series R2 hydraulic bearing fan, 1000 RPM speed (compatible with 120mm fans) – included The front two come with filters and there is a filter for the PSU as well, and they're all removable. All three case fans can be connected to the three-speed fan controller which comes with the case. 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.

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Front: 2 x 92mm Silent Series R2 hydraulic bearing fans, 1300 RPM speed (compatible with 80mm fans) – included First things first: I know next to nothing about what constitutes a good cooling system besides the fact that I want positive air pressure. Cooling 2 x 92mm front fan mounts (fan supplied), 1 x 120/140mm rear fan mount (140mm fan supplied) 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. While the maximum size support for motherboards is microATX, you can get a good deal on older boards that work with powerful Intel processors for running Plex Media Server, virtual instances, and other server-related tasks. There are also some good gaming motherboards in this segment that will make for great PC foundations.The PSU is installed on its side and the one thing to note is that the case supports PSUs up to 160mm total depth for non-modular designs; for modular designs, you need to find units of a maximum of 140mm deep. 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.