New Fractal Design ITX cases

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medeyer

Limp Gawd
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Fractal have shown off some new ITX cases. The Core 500 and the Node 202

The Core 500
52b77b8e-bf9e-4112-a999-2baa0b23d800


The Node 202
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More interested in the Core 500 personally and seeing what can potentially be done with it.
 
202 is still 10.2L case which is not so small as consoles.
The cover is completely made out of plastic.
They didn't solve the problem of PSU C14 socket rotation completely - it can happen that you get a psu where you'll have to forcefully bend the cable to connect it.
Apart from those three things it's an interesting case for its price.
 
looking good the 500 except for the front logo, i wonder how hard would be to remove it, fan filters all around, pretty cool! and is not a goddamn friggin tower (i hate towers! except for the dondan A4)

found a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3VECxHN204 yes yes german but we're all used to by now thanks to hitler (almost shit my pants on his dragon ball live movie rant)
 
I've having trouble visualizing where the PSU goes in the 500, thinking the same placement as the node 304, making the internal layout similar to Ncase style cases?
 
It mounts in the front bottom of the case, likely sideways so it exhausts out of the small vent on the left panel.

You can see the power cord routed to the front of the case in one of the photos, as well as the ventilation on the bottom front of the case for the PSU intake fan.
 
So much yes to the Node 202! Yes it's a little bit large, but it's still one of if not the most compact console-shaped gaming cases that are on the retail market right now. It's the case the steambox makers need and frankly, the SFF community needs as well. We can't expect everyone to suddenly start counting millimetres, this is a great start as far as I'm concerned!

The plastic front seems to be quite easy to replace, so if a retailer wanted to modify that part, they absolutely could. Oh and it still looks better than the Milo B by miles, some would argue it looks a lot better than the two RVZ01 and that other thing that SS showcased earlier this year.
 
Yeah, I'm liking the look of the Node 202 far more than my ML07.

The one thing I would say though is that it would be nice if the 202 had actual feet like the Core 500 appears to. Instead, it just appears to have rubber pads in the photos (I assume because it has to be able to be used vertically too?).
 
JoeH823 said:
The one thing I would say though is that it would be nice if the 202 had actual feet like the Core 500 appears to. Instead, it just appears to have rubber pads in the photos (I assume because it has to be able to be used vertically too?).
Click to expand...

Yeah I think that would be a good reason. Also, what would you need the feet for?
 
It's about time more manufacturers stepped up and started introducing more steambox styled cases. I give Silverstone props for being one of the first, but their designs are hideous in my opinion. The Node 202 has my interest and for the price I can't complain.
 
raymondo said:
It would fit in nicely in your living room media center with those feet micking other hifi gadgets' looks.
Click to expand...

Exactly. The main reason is that it matches other components better... but also, screw-in feet will last far longer than stick-on rubber pads.
 
JoeH823 said:
Exactly. The main reason is that it matches other components better... but also, screw-in feet will last far longer than stick-on rubber pads.
Click to expand...

Valid arguments, especially in a use case like this, but I think of all the things, screw-in feet are one of the easiest things to mod on the case if you need them.
 
Good view of the PSU mount from Linustechtips' video on the core 500.
KOY6nCU.png



So what I'm seeing is it's pretty similar internally to an Ncase, which is a good thing, :)
 
For as big as the Node 202 is the lack of HDD/SSD slots is disappointing. Maybe there is a way to use the 120mm fan mounts to mount additional drives?
 
Andorski said:
For as big as the Node 202 is the lack of HDD/SSD slots is disappointing. Maybe there is a way to use the 120mm fan mounts to mount additional drives?
Click to expand...

Um, there is a mount for two 2.5" drives, doesn't that count?
 
iFreilicht said:
Um, there is a mount for two 2.5" drives, doesn't that count?
Click to expand...

I meant other than those two slots. Fractal Design's video about the Node 202 talked about how there are 2x120mm mounts underneath the GPU, but their thermal tests showed that having two fans installed didn't do any significant amount of cooling. It would be nice if that area could be used for more HDD/SSD storage.
 
Andorski said:
I meant other than those two slots. Fractal Design's video about the Node 202 talked about how there are 2x120mm mounts underneath the GPU, but their thermal tests showed that having two fans installed didn't do any significant amount of cooling. It would be nice if that area could be used for more HDD/SSD storage.
Click to expand...

Well that would probably be possible when you used a blower style GPU, the question is whether the space would be sufficient for a 3.5" HDD, which I guess it won't be.
 
In love with the NODE 202. Why no one say that is SFX-L compatible?. In the homepage of Fractal says that the maxium long (depth) is 130mm "PSU compatibility: SFX PSUs up to 130mm long" . Thats the deep of SFX-L . I forget something? Becouse de rest of the dimensions are de same as SFX

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02064558455l.jpg


SFX Dimensions:

SFX-3.jpg


SFX Dimensions: (in that case of the Silverstone SX500-LG)

sx500-lg-dimension.jpg
 
elshekar said:
In love with the NODE 202. Why no one say that is SFX-L compatible?. In the homepage of Fractal says that the maxium long (depth) is 130mm "PSU compatibility: SFX PSUs up to 130mm long" . Thats the deep of SFX-L . I forget something? Becouse de rest of the dimensions are de same as SFX
Click to expand...

You are right. It should be able to fit the SFX-L PSU's if indeed the 130mm limit does not include the modular cable connectors.

The fact that they're launching a SFX PSU themselves, but not SFX-L could explain why they haven't specifically stated the SFX-L support. Guess they'd want to sell you a PSU instead of you running to Silverstone for a 500W or 700W SFX-L one.

Edit: You could probably remove the 2,5" drive cage (opting for M.2 storage) for definate compatibility, or mod it to still fit one drive fairly easily.
 
I think there is enough space for SFX-L + modular connectors - that's how it looks from the photo. But it'll be barely usable as modular because you won't be able to easily connect/disconnect cables when installed. You'll end up installing the PSU before mounting the drive cage while keeping the cables bent.

I see a problem of bending the cable if the C14 power connector on the PSU is in vertical position like in the silverstone SFX - it'll be really tight there. That problem also happens for every other rotation than those supported/took into account by case designers. And there's really a lot of different configurations there. It sucks that this is not defined by the ATX standard. Anyway it looks like the node 202 doesn't solve this problem.
 
SaperPL said:
I think there is enough space for SFX-L + modular connectors - that's how it looks from the photo. But it'll be barely usable as modular because you won't be able to easily connect/disconnect cables when installed. You'll end up installing the PSU before mounting the drive cage while keeping the cables bent.

I see a problem of bending the cable if the C14 power connector on the PSU is in vertical position like in the silverstone SFX - it'll be really tight there. That problem also happens for every other rotation than those supported/took into account by case designers. And there's really a lot of different configurations there. It sucks that this is not defined by the ATX standard. Anyway it looks like the node 202 doesn't solve this problem.
Click to expand...

If you mean that the C14 cable could be too short when it has to be plugged in the other way, there's a small outlet on the top of the SFX bracket that would allow the cable to be routed above the PSU.

I'm a bit concerned about the solution for fixing the riser to the case. To me it looks like the CPU cooler would block access to the screws that hold the riser in place. But the riser itself is interesting, it looks like a mix of flexible and stiff so you only have one piece but are still able to get the GPU in, unlike the RVZ01 that uses two stiff risers.
 
iFreilicht said:
If you mean that the C14 cable could be too short when it has to be plugged in the other way, there's a small outlet on the top of the SFX bracket that would allow the cable to be routed above the PSU.
Click to expand...

note the images of SFX-L elshekar posted vs the image of the C13 plug inside the case:

17-256-116-TS


For this PSU cable would go down, not up (in this case psu is upside down). What I mean is there's every possible rotation on the market + 2x the possible position (which side) + different position vertically (how close to top or bottom). This makes it all complicated. I hope soon manufacturers will realise that and will standardize how the connector is mounted.

iFreilicht said:
I'm a bit concerned about the solution for fixing the riser to the case. To me it looks like the CPU cooler would block access to the screws that hold the riser in place. But the riser itself is interesting, it looks like a mix of flexible and stiff so you only have one piece but are still able to get the GPU in, unlike the RVZ01 that uses two stiff risers.
Click to expand...

It's not really a problem - note that the whole section holding the gpu is detachable same as in silverstone cases but its smaller and doesn't hold the drives. You mount the riser and gpu to this piece of metal and after that install the complete section into the case. you don't need to access the riser screws inside a case.
 
SaperPL said:
...
For this PSU cable would go down, not up (in this case psu is upside down). What I mean is there's every possible rotation on the market + 2x the possible position (which side) + different position vertically (how close to top or bottom). This makes it all complicated. I hope soon manufacturers will realise that and will standardize how the connector is mounted.
...
Click to expand...
That problem will vanish down the road.. just look at the (possible) size of the GPU vs the motherboard.. it's nearly 2 times as big. This won't last. These days you have the 'luxury' to use the gap that is being created by the GPU size vs mITX boards to downsize the case envelope..
The mITX sized GPUs are getting closer to the top every iteration, just a matter of time until you get the top of the line GPU in mITX conform size (see AMD HBM) and then it's not a problem any more to place the PSU facing the back of the case again (no more mains plug orientation issues).
 
Shrinking the GPU doesn't matter here - if you're going for all connectors at the back wall you'll get a very wide case like the "inverse".
 
The case will be 'long' in any direction if you want to argue that way, as the PSU has to go 'somewhere'.
And most people will put it so, that the mains cable attaches to it once at the outside, the opportunistic move (being caused by large GPUs and small MBs) taking unused space at the 'front' of the case will vanish. There is no point anymore to put the PSU in the front at that point.

Maybe TFX get's a second look then or something new turns up.. can't see people putting in 1U server PSUs into their desktop machines.
 
You know, still if you add TFX to the current width of such a case then you get 400mm which is already wide, that's what I'm saying. With SFX you go for 430mm which is close to 1U width.

I get what you're trying to say but putting all components so their connectors face back just make the whole case really wide and short depth not rectangular like it's desired to be.
 
SaperPL said:
note the images of SFX-L elshekar posted vs the image of the C13 plug inside the case:

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/17-256-116-TS?$S300W$

For this PSU cable would go down, not up (in this case psu is upside down). What I mean is there's every possible rotation on the market + 2x the possible position (which side) + different position vertically (how close to top or bottom). This makes it all complicated. I hope soon manufacturers will realise that and will standardize how the connector is mounted.
Click to expand...

I see, didn't think about that. I guess there won't ever be a solution to this short of offering cables with all four orientations.
It's not really a problem - note that the whole section holding the gpu is detachable same as in silverstone cases but its smaller and doesn't hold the drives. You mount the riser and gpu to this piece of metal and after that install the complete section into the case. you don't need to access the riser screws inside a case.
Click to expand...

Ah I didn't think of that. If it really works that way, that would be a good solution.

JoanTheSpark said:
The case will be 'long' in any direction if you want to argue that way, as the PSU has to go 'somewhere'.
And most people will put it so, that the mains cable attaches to it once at the outside, the opportunistic move (being caused by large GPUs and small MBs) taking unused space at the 'front' of the case will vanish. There is no point anymore to put the PSU in the front at that point.

Maybe TFX get's a second look then or something new turns up.. can't see people putting in 1U server PSUs into their desktop machines.
Click to expand...

Shameless plug for my case design that does exactly that :p

EDIT: Well technically, the PSU can also go outside of the case, the H2O-Micro, Neutronium V4 and Little Mac builds show how you can use that to your advantage.

SaperPL said:
You know, still if you add TFX to the current width of such a case then you get 400mm which is already wide, that's what I'm saying. With SFX you go for 430mm which is close to 1U width.

I get what you're trying to say but putting all components so their connectors face back just make the whole case really wide and short depth not rectangular like it's desired to be.
Click to expand...

Who says that the case is desired to be more square (I think that's what you meant) than long and rectangular? Maybe that's how you like it, but wide and short fits in HiFi racks quite nicely, and the square shape has disadvantages when you've got little space on your desk. A high and short case that's used vertically has a very small footprint which a lot of people may prefer.
 
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That PSU plug looks like a deal breaker for Silverstone's SFX-L... how typical. This case looked great to me otherwise.
 
iFreilicht said:
Who says that the case is desired to be more square (I think that's what you meant) than long and rectangular? Maybe that's how you like it, but wide and short fits in HiFi racks quite nicely, and the square shape has disadvantages when you've got little space on your desk. A high and short case that's used vertically has a very small footprint which a lot of people may prefer.
Click to expand...

If we're talking about something that's ought to replace a high-end game console then we should stick to the visuals of such products existing currently. Game consoles are trying to keep the rectangular form factor of a video/satelite decoders/receivers so it might be a good idea to also follow this trend.

Of course really small "consoles" with android such as OUYA/Nvidia Shield can go their separate ways because they will fit in front of tv anyway.

It's not my subjective opinion, it's rather that I've learned to follow what common folks like unless having awesome game-changing idea :)
 
SaperPL said:
If we're talking about something that's ought to replace a high-end game console then we should stick to the visuals of such products existing currently. Game consoles are trying to keep the rectangular form factor of a video/satelite decoders/receivers so it might be a good idea to also follow this trend.

Of course really small "consoles" with android such as OUYA/Nvidia Shield can go their separate ways because they will fit in front of tv anyway.

It's not my subjective opinion, it's rather that I've learned to follow what common folks like unless having awesome game-changing idea :)
Click to expand...

Do you have any source for that? Why would you know what the reasons for the shape of a console are? If they want to fit in, why was the PS3 formed in the way it was? And what video/satellite receiver you've used has this form in the first place? Most HiFi equipment I ever used was indeed wider than deep, not square.

The way I see it, consoles are trying to actively NOT fit in with HiFi equipment to make them stand out more, and if you really want to be like a console, maybe try to be like that. You want people coming into the living room of someone who bought your console/steambox/case/pc and have it be a conversation piece, not be mistaken for another boring cable receiver.
 
PS3 still is more squared than your case and for example 1U cases like this:
ITX-122-1.gif


The outer design and appealing/standing out from the rest of appliances is a completely separate problem.

What I'm addressing here is the space used visually by main body, how big it is etc. From early moments of my research for my case people wanted it to be more like a square than really wide because making single dimension over 400mm really makes it feel big.

About the source: I don't have a specific source for the consoles but from the design point of view you should usually start with something familiar/fitting the space you want to occupy.

I think so far consoles were supporting this trend except for PS2 which is I think the only one more rectangular than square but again is also a bit smaller.

17984.jpg


So familiarity of form factor for the end user might be the one reason but another might be that there are some different (tighter) common spots for placing console than flat out under tv or on the media rack.
 
SaperPL said:
PS3 still is more squared than your case and for example 1U cases like this:
http://www.plinkusa.net/products/ITX-122-1.gif

The outer design and appealing/standing out from the rest of appliances is a completely separate problem.

What I'm addressing here is the space used visually by main body, how big it is etc. From early moments of my research for my case people wanted it to be more like a square than really wide because making single dimension over 400mm really makes it feel big.

About the source: I don't have a specific source for the consoles but from the design point of view you should usually start with something familiar/fitting the space you want to occupy.

I think so far consoles were supporting this trend except for PS2 which is I think the only one more rectangular than square but again is also a bit smaller.

http://mail2web.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2308/17984.jpg

So familiarity of form factor for the end user might be the one reason but another might be that there are some different (othter) common spots for placing console than flat out under tv or on the media rack.
Click to expand...

I was talking about the fact that the PS3 is absolutely not fitting in a HiFi rack because you can't stack anything on top of it, which seems to be the way most consoles go. Incidentally, most consoles aren't wide enough to be used for that (HiFi equipment commonly is between 400mm and 19" wide), so you may be right that there are different spots for consoles than the HiFi rack.

The question is: Do you really want to replace a console? Most people love their consoles dearly and I feel like you should give them the convenience to run both, their console and a PC in your case, side by side. You've also got to consider people that don't actually want to use the case in the living room, but on their desk. I see that if your sole goal is to make a PC case that is supposed to house a console replacement and be used as such, you want to make it as similar to the form factor of a console as possible, but if you want to go for versatility, maybe there are other ways to consider than just doing it like it was always done.

If we're talking about the space used visually, then you also have to consider the use case. If I use your case on my desk, it's going to look very big because it has a large footprint. If I use it in my HiFi rack or have it sit atop the TV table, it's going to look sleek and small because I can only see the front.
 
First of all that 19" media rack you're talking about - every piece of current/modern BluRay/media/TV/SAT equipment I know/have is under 14". There were also people in LRPC topic talking about that there are 14" racks limiting this size.

Another thing to consider is that of a bookshelf for tall books size which usually should fit up to B4 format which is also close to 14". So you won't fit your PC in such a bookshelf because it would totally stand out if the shelf is big enough or wouldn't fit at all.

That's for the format and fitting in various places.

As for the replacing the console - of course not - the thing is I want it to fit the living room the same as the consoles do. It's the same as those who use both PS4 and XBO. And I don't really think that stacking one on another is a real deal-braking problem.

Anyway that's how I see it and those upcoming rectangular like 14" cases tend to support this trend. I'm not saying going with anything different is bad.

This whole talk started from the point where You and Joan tried to show me that the problem of angled C13 connector will vanish because we won't need those when the PSU is on the back wall of the case. For me it's just not an option.
 
SaperPL said:
First of all that 19" media rack you're talking about - every piece of current/modern BluRay/media/TV/SAT equipment I know/have is under 14". There were also people in LRPC topic talking about that there are 14" racks limiting this size.

Another thing to consider is that of a bookshelf for tall books size which usually should fit up to B4 format which is also close to 14". So you won't fit your PC in such a bookshelf because it would totally stand out if the shelf is big enough or wouldn't fit at all.

That's for the format and fitting in various places.

As for the replacing the console - of course not - the thing is I want it to fit the living room the same as the consoles do. It's the same as those who use both PS4 and XBO. And I don't really think that stacking one on another is a real deal-braking problem.

Anyway that's how I see it and those upcoming rectangular like 14" cases tend to support this trend. I'm not saying going with anything different is bad.

This whole talk started from the point where You and Joan tried to show me that the problem of angled C13 connector will vanish because we won't need those when the PSU is on the back wall of the case. For me it's just not an option.
Click to expand...

Yeah I read that, too, completely forgot about it, and it makes sense to go for the smaller denominator, of course.

This doesn't change my issues with footprint on the desk, but you can't make everyone happy, can you?

Well for those cases, this problem vanished already. That's another advantage of using FlexATX, btw, the placement and orientation of the C13 connector is defined in the standard. It would be nice if something similar happened to SFX, but I don't see that happening ever.

Something that I think we both had ideas for that would solve this problem would be if the current size of such a case was kept, but the PSU and GPU would swap positions. I know it would require angled DP and HDMI cables and flex riser gallore and probably wouldn't be worth the effort, but It would make sure that the orientation and position of the PSU plug wouldn't matter at all.
And it would also allow people to define what kind of display outputs they want on the back of the case themselves, which would be cool.
 
Essentially this wouldn't be a problem if Nvidia Optimus wasn't dead, at least on the PC. I mean that if you had the video output on the motherboard you could simply swap the card with PSU as you said.

The other problem with that idea is that if you want to use pci-e x16 riser you will end up wasting a lot of space to bend the riser properly. I did try assembling such configuration in 3D and it wasn't such a neat idea because of the riser.
 
SaperPL said:
Essentially this wouldn't be a problem if Nvidia Optimus wasn't dead, at least on the PC. I mean that if you had the video output on the motherboard you could simply swap the card with PSU as you said.

The other problem with that idea is that if you want to use pci-e x16 riser you will end up wasting a lot of space to bend the riser properly. I did try assembling such configuration in 3D and it wasn't such a neat idea because of the riser.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah I remember that, Optimus was such a cool concept but with every Core CPU having an Intel HD chipset nowadays, there's simply no need for onboard graphics anymore, and collaborations between the companies will probably not happen either.

If MXM was more widely spread, that would be an option as well.
 
You got it wrong - Nvidia Optimus was using the integrated Intel HD - so theoretically it could stil be possible if nvidia kept supporting the optimus and moved with it to the desktop. Essentially the problem was with the drivers and quickly evolving architecture of intel HD graphics.
 
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