New member- Node 304 build

hitmantony26 · 30 Dec 2012 at 19:19

wanted to try a m-itx build and found the node 304 for a great price so I went for it fitting everything was a little bit tight but it was easier than I originally thought.

need to order some shorter sata cables but apart from that its not to bad. wiring has been put through centre HD bracket so it does not restrict airflow to much and I put the intel fan in pull mode as it seems to keep it a little cooler.

got a little more cable management to sort but apart from that I am pretty happy

cpu temps average around 32 idle never gone above 50 yet
gpu 30 hit around 60 max
spec is

i5 3570k ( stock atm)
8GB corsair vengeance 2133
Samsung 840 pro 128ssd
Samsung 1tb hd
650 antec true power psu ( semi modular )
gigabyte windforce 3 7950
asrock z77e mobo

hitmantony26 · 31 Dec 2012 at 21:37

Cheers mate will be ordering smaller Sata cables and then working on hiding more of the wires. Also might fit a 120mm frame to the right hand side and fit a 120mm fan then vent it through the side. Depends on water cooling plans though really fancy braiding the psu cable but never done it before...

hitmantony26 · 1 Jan 2013 at 19:13

Not sure what you mean about a riser card mate my gpu is fitted directly into the pci-e slot on the itx board no riser card required.

Not yet weather to try and fit another fan to the rad aswell would a doible fan setup work any better or is it just a waste of time?

hitmantony26 · 1 Jan 2013 at 20:02

Doesn't look like theres room over your Cooler pipes.

What i would do is move the intel fan to the front and fit a standard 1 to the back the intel fan is tapered on the edges so its only 10mm thick which would clear the pipes just...

But it all depends if its worth the bother. I want to start overclocking it soon so it needs all cables cleaning up so the case has plenty of air flow.

With regards to planning what fits fractal have done such a good design that you could get pretty much anything in providing you go with a 150mm semi modular psu and just your mobo is compatible with whatever cooler you have being m-itx i believe a lot of wider coolers can hit certain parts of tje mobo.

hitmantony26 · 11 Jan 2013 at 14:21

Well done a few bits, ordered up a replacement for the Intel fan which is on the RAD its fine at low rpm but it don't push much air and at higher RPM it sounds like a jet...

Ordered a Thermalright TY-140 which is a 140mm fan but fits 120mm slots since this case is made for 140mm rear fan it made sense to go down this route. The Fan moves some serious air even on extremely low rpm. and its quiet even when its used at max its not really the fan more the air you can here moving.

also done some cable management and got it abit more tidy the ATX 24 pin plug now runs through the RH HD mount and the ssd has been mounted on the outside so the fan has a more clear path. the middle chamber has all the wires in but they have been clipped to the bottom of the HD cage and the middle is a lot clearer.

also done a very mild OC and got the i5 running at 4.0Ghz for now...Next plans are maybe to fit 2 x vertical rails to the RH side of the case and fit the RAD there for now or fully watercooling but I am undecided atm....

hitmantony26 · 5 Feb 2013 at 16:54

cheers mate i have no doubt you will enjoy building in the fractal case there quite easy to work with.

I managed to get another fan on the rad so i have a 120 and a 140 on there lower temps in the case cpu is the same though but i can run the fans slower so they are inaudible which is nice.

only problem with the double fans is it near enough covers the whole motherboard now .... so the plan to fit the rad to the right is still going to go ahead. will set it up so the rad fan pulls cool air from outside then the 140 can deal with exhausting all the hot air as the 2 front fans pulling air in seem a little restrictive.