Fractal North, case of the year contender
- Thread starter Grim5
- Start date
I’ve been debating all evening if I should order one or not.
I particularly like the grey interior on the white one.
I’ve got a Meshify 2 Compact at the moment though and in a few areas this seems like a step back. But it does look very cool.
I particularly like the grey interior on the white one.
I’ve got a Meshify 2 Compact at the moment though and in a few areas this seems like a step back. But it does look very cool.
This would be a good improvement on my NZXT H510, but then mine is running fairly chill and quiet. Will see whether Gamers Nexus reviews it and what *shudder* the outcome might be 
I think the only thing that bugs me is Fractal's continued use of tinted glass on the dark versions. If though it can fit an Arctic AIO with fans in the roof then it would certainly make the list!
I think the only thing that bugs me is Fractal's continued use of tinted glass on the dark versions. If though it can fit an Arctic AIO with fans in the roof then it would certainly make the list!
Soldato
North
North reimagines the gaming PC, introducing natural materials and bespoke details to make gaming a stylish addition to the living space. Fusing design and airflow engineering, the case features fine-patterned mesh ventilation and an open front with real walnut or oak panels. The design is...
www.fractal-design.com
Shame I've just changed my case in the last 2 weeks as I would have gone for this instead.
Soldato
- Joined
- 30 Jul 2012
- Posts
- 2,773
I would consider one If I were to go back to ATX.
imgur.com
Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like rare6499.
imgur.com
Won’t get chance to build in it for a while, but I mainly went with the white due to the contrast with the grey interior. I really liked the darker colour with the brass details but was worried the dark interior would feel a bit lost on it. I’ve got a lot of grey in the build so should look clean. Z690 Gaming X DDR4/3060Ti FE/AK620, all the fans will be replaced with grey Thermaltake Toughfans 120/140.
Couple of first impressions - it looks great in person, very very clean. The grey against the white is beautiful. If the interior had been black it would have looked a bit odd. The build quality is OK, not as good in some places as something like a Meshify 2 Compact. I think that’s fine, it’s still good, but there’s a couple of odd bits. On the glass version at the rear of the case it doesn’t fully sit against the case, so there’s a gap that runs across it. It’s big enough that this is down to the design and not fitment (you can see it in the picture with the plastic wrap off, the left hand side of the glass panel). The much talked about single only top cable port/whole. And overall just a slightly cheaper/lighter feel. But that’s ok because it makes up for it with the unique design and the clean look.
Overall I’m happy with it, I think when assembled it’s going to look great.
Last edited:
Soldato
Beautiful looking case but i do think Fractal take the pee with quality, seems really flimsy compared to cases by the likes of Phanteks etc.imgur.com
Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like rare6499.
Won’t get chance to build in it for a while, but I mainly went with the white due to the contrast with the grey interior. I really liked the darker colour with the brass details but was worried the dark interior would feel a bit lost on it. I’ve got a lot of grey in the build so should look clean. Z690 Gaming X DDR4/3060Ti FE/AK620, all the fans will be replaced with grey Thermaltake Toughfans 120/140.
Couple of first impressions - it looks great in person, very very clean. The grey against the white is beautiful. If the interior had been black it would have looked a bit odd. The build quality is OK, not as good in some places as something like a Meshify 2 Compact. I think that’s fine, it’s still good, but there’s a couple of odd bits. On the glass version at the rear of the case it doesn’t fully sit against the case, so there’s a gap that runs across it. It’s big enough that this is down to the design and not fitment (you can see it in the picture with the plastic wrap off, the left hand side of the glass panel). The much talked about single only top cable port/whole. And overall just a slightly cheaper/lighter feel. But that’s ok because it makes up for it with the unique design and the clean look.
Overall I’m happy with it, I think when assembled it’s going to look great.
I think there are some that are worse than others. My Meshify 2 Compact is good, my Meshify S2 (R6 chassis) is excellent. It does feel like with some of the newer cases like this they’ve tried to cost cut and make them more profitable, but with a unique design. And that’s ok I think. It’s not at the normal Define levels of quality but it makes up for it with some thing interesting/new.
I've got the mesh version with a 5800x3d cooled (PBO2 -30 on all cores) with a Noctua NH-U12A alongside a 6800xt Nitro
3x120mm Noctuas in the front, 1 Bequiet 140mm above the CPU cooler and 1x120mm fan in the rear - decided against using the side mount for the time being as I've heard conflicting reports on how useful it is
CPU temps are down approx 5C from the old H5 Flow I had - max out at 80C on a long cinebench run
GPU temps are down slightly a few degrees (but suffering from the Nitro junction temp being 25-30C higher than the general temp, so my fans are going haywire)
Building in it is OK - NZXT has better cable manage routing on the back, and the openings for cables are too small IMO - however it feels much better made the the H5 (which was rattly and horrible)
However, once it's built, it looks absolutely fantastic, matches my Ikea Karlby walnut desk and with the GPU RGB set to 'brown' it looks very sleek - the power LED colour is a really nice gold light strip by the front I/O
Honestly feel like its the best case I've had in absolutely ages and won't change it for a long while
imgur.com
3x120mm Noctuas in the front, 1 Bequiet 140mm above the CPU cooler and 1x120mm fan in the rear - decided against using the side mount for the time being as I've heard conflicting reports on how useful it is
CPU temps are down approx 5C from the old H5 Flow I had - max out at 80C on a long cinebench run
GPU temps are down slightly a few degrees (but suffering from the Nitro junction temp being 25-30C higher than the general temp, so my fans are going haywire)
Building in it is OK - NZXT has better cable manage routing on the back, and the openings for cables are too small IMO - however it feels much better made the the H5 (which was rattly and horrible)
However, once it's built, it looks absolutely fantastic, matches my Ikea Karlby walnut desk and with the GPU RGB set to 'brown' it looks very sleek - the power LED colour is a really nice gold light strip by the front I/O
Honestly feel like its the best case I've had in absolutely ages and won't change it for a long while
imgur.com
Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.
imgur.com
Last edited:
I need to take some better pictures but finished mine today. Really pleased with it, it’s a lovely case. Never owned a white case before but it looks good with the contrast grey interior. Only one real gripe is the lack of an additional cable whole/ grommet at the top of the motherboard on the right side. And it would have been nice to have the option to fully blank off the end of the PSU cover but these are minor points.
imgur.com
imgur.com
Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like rare6499.
imgur.com
Soldato
Looks very nice, wood really does match your counter top!I need to take some better pictures but finished mine today. Really pleased with it, it’s a lovely case. Never owned a white case before but it looks good with the contrast grey interior. Only one real gripe is the lack of an additional cable whole/ grommet at the top of the motherboard on the right side. And it would have been nice to have the option to fully blank off the end of the PSU cover but these are minor points.
imgur.com
Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like rare6499.
Associate
Its avail for pre order on OCUK, any idea of when it will be in stock?
Lads, this one's caught my eye
Hows the noise and thermals?
I haven’t had chance to even instal windows on it yet. So I would say noise and thermals are pretty good haha!
Owned a 6800XT Nitro for a while. Mine was solved without even removing the heatsink. Most of the screws were almost loose. Doing so, mine was cured. The only issue was that, from day one, the card would crash with anything using Ray Tracing, not that I even use it, but clearly the card was faulty. Tried RMA and was denied because the screws had marks because I did what the manufacturer should done in the first place.I've got the mesh version with a 5800x3d cooled (PBO2 -30 on all cores) with a Noctua NH-U12A alongside a 6800xt Nitro
3x120mm Noctuas in the front, 1 Bequiet 140mm above the CPU cooler and 1x120mm fan in the rear - decided against using the side mount for the time being as I've heard conflicting reports on how useful it is
CPU temps are down approx 5C from the old H5 Flow I had - max out at 80C on a long cinebench run
GPU temps are down slightly a few degrees (but suffering from the Nitro junction temp being 25-30C higher than the general temp, so my fans are going haywire)
Building in it is OK - NZXT has better cable manage routing on the back, and the openings for cables are too small IMO - however it feels much better made the the H5 (which was rattly and horrible)
However, once it's built, it looks absolutely fantastic, matches my Ikea Karlby walnut desk and with the GPU RGB set to 'brown' it looks very sleek - the power LED colour is a really nice gold light strip by the front I/O
Honestly feel like its the best case I've had in absolutely ages and won't change it for a long while
imgur.com
Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.
Quick question regarding the case: do you know if using thicker (Phanteks T30) will fit in place of the supplied fans? Not sure if they would be too close to the front panel. TIA.