Fractal Node 304 Review

Internal

When we strip away the all-in-one shroud that Fractal have decided to use instead of the traditional side panel removal system, we get a bit more of an insight about what the case aims to achieve.

There are 3 sets of drive caddy's located just behind the front vent and the 90mm fans. These ensure any storage devices held internally will be cooled sufficiently.

Located just beneath this area is where the power supply is to be situated. Note the ventilation holes which allow for air flow whether the power supply is mounted with the fan facing up or down.

To the rear of the case is the 140mm R2 fan, which is configured as an exhaust.

As is the case with some small form factor builds, the internal components need to be installed in a certain order for other parts to be installed afterwards. The Node 304 follows that trend as we found the power supply has to be installed 1st or things would be a little difficult later on.

With the power supply in place, we installed our motherboard of choice - a Zotac M880G-ITX and proceeded to connect the various power connectors.

Although installation was a little fiddly, which is to be expected when dealing with such components in a tight space. We was ultimately satisfied with our results.