Fractal Era ITX Review

Special Restrictions – GPU Size, PSU Size and Radiator/Heatsink Size

Like many ITX cases, support for storage drives, fans, graphics cards and liquid cooling is a territory that’s filled with asterisks. The ITX form factor comes with compromises, and trade-offs will need to be made to get the most out of the compact form factor.

For starters, we need only look at the Era ITX’s fan support, with the case supporting two bottom-mounted 140mm fans that cannot be used when the system also contains a dual-slot graphics card. This is a huge limitation, and I’d argue that ITX systems without a graphics card wouldn’t need the extra cooling that these 140mm fans would have provided.

Next up, we have radiator support. Further down this page, we have a chart which details how long your graphics card and power supply can be for the Era ITX to support a top-mounted 240mm radiator. Fractal’s movable PSU mount offers PC builders a lot of flexibility, delivering ATX and SFX PSU support (a rarity of ITX cases) and the ability to choose whether or not they want extra space for their graphics card, cable management or liquid cooling radiators.

SFX power supplies are ideal for this chassis, as they allow builders to have ample space in all areas, and provides additional space for an extra 3.5-inch HDD or two 2.5-inch SSDs. That said, SFX power supplies are rare, and if you want to re-use parts from an existing system, the ability to use a standard ATX power supply is a great option for Era ITX users.

Below is a chart which details the radiator thicknesses, GPU lengths and power supply lengths that you can use concurrently within the Era ITX with standard 25mm thick fans.