Fractal North, case of the year contender

Got 4x140mm iCue fans on the side now, just need to figure out if I still need fans elsewhere. Fortunately dust isn't an issue where the PC is. The GPU is vertically mounted behind the two lower 140mm side fans so it's getting a good supply of cooler air.


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The GPU is vertically mounted behind the two lower 140mm side fans so it's getting a good supply of cooler air.

What's the change in temps been like? Toying with a few different cases (I've got a 7900XTX as well) and the impact of side/bottom-mounted fans for the GPU's benefit doesn't seem to be highlighted in many case reviews.
 
Hotspot is down perhaps 5 degrees, general GPU temps are down a little more than that on average. It's hard to tell because I wasn't paying that much attention to it prior to installing it.

The main reason was this sits on a shelf so has limited space around it except that side. I'm running case fans slower than before (were on a curve, now static at 40%) so it's a lot quieter too. Fans at the front of the case have been removed and I've got two 140mm at the top at 20% just helping air move upwards although these 4x140s push enough to clear the case easily anyway.
 
Anyone running the North regular with the fractal flex vertical GPU mount?

I’ve heard the way the vertical mount works it knocks 20-30mm off the length the GPU can be before interfering with the front fans.

Edit on second thoughts I might need to verify if my heatsink would interfere with the pie cables first.
 
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Looks like its 3D printed and houses a Raspberry Pi.

I didn’t pay full attention to the video but I think it was a one off? Made by fractal to use at computex, they have their new headsets plugged into it iirc so it’s not apparently being produced/released from what I remember from the video. And it is indeed housing a raspberry pi
 
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Exactly. All looking like some unskilled DIYer job.
I find it amusing its so retro it reminds me of a 1970's TV set the wooden panel at the side of the screen housing the speaker and the channel select buttons (all 4 of them, 8 if it was posh) it looks just like it

I didn’t pay full attention to the video but I think it was a one off? Made by fractal to use at computex, they have their new headsets plugged into it iirc so it’s not apparently being produced/released from what I remember from the video. And it is indeed housing a raspberry pi
Yeah GN Steve is half seriously trying to convince them to put the case on general sale rather than just a one off, not sure how far that will go.
 
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is the XL worth getting over the regular? I'm leaning towards the XL black mesh version but as with all things you can't really gauge the size until you actually see it in your room
 
is the XL worth getting over the regular? I'm leaning towards the XL black mesh version but as with all things you can't really gauge the size until you actually see it in your room

I wasn't impressed with the North XL. It's bigger yes, but it absolutely does nothing with the extra space. I think if you need a bigger case, there's better options.
 
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