For this review, I would have loved to organize a couple of exquisite old wing chairs and a bottle of the finest single malt, because the new FRACTAL DESIGN North gives off a real whisky lounge feeling. Whether the North can also convince functionally, or whether it is a blender, you can read in the test.
After Fractal had already launched a few brightly colored cases in the usual Fractal quality with the POP AIR series in the summer, they now send in late fall with the NORTH (and Ridge) series still suitable cases for the cold season. Actually, quite clever, because when I see the North series, I immediately think of a cozy warm “man’s room”, with the comfortable leather armchairs already mentioned above. So also fits perfectly with the onset of winter weather. Without losing myself further in details, we free the good piece directly from its packaging. By the way, this is the black version with walnut wood and glass side panel, we will go into the other versions later.
Unboxing
A certain euphoria set in as soon as I unpacked it and I really felt like testing it, but we’d better start from the beginning. The outer box is extremely plain, which is typical for Fractal. Only a few meaningless letterings adorn the surface.
Fun fact: From the inside, the box is covered with the company logo and almost looks better than from the outside. The case is very well protected by thick foam posters.
The equipment is spartan, but sufficient. Besides the extensive and very well illustrated user guide, only the usual screws and a few rubber buffers for decoupling hard drives are included in the box.
Freed from the outer carton and dust protection foil, the all-dominating wooden front is immediately revealed.
The wooden bars are placed on the plastic front and look very classy.
The gold I/O including Type-C USB also immediately conveys a high-quality and sophisticated impression.
The tail is practically completely “perforated”, which greatly benefits the airflow.
Nice detail: The flap for pulling off the top cover is made of imitation leather – you can actually still inspire me with such gimmicks.
The top cover removed:
There is room for fans or radiators under the cover, I’ll go into the exact space conditions later.
For more inexperienced users, Fractal has even marked the holes for the corresponding fan sizes – easy.
Another nice detail, which I was already excited about with the POP Air. The logo is “stamped” into the power supply cover.
A bit tight, the opening?
No problem, it opens up even further. The interior is evenly painted and tidy, overall also kept nicely minimalistic.
Below we see a (unfortunately backwards) extendable dust filter for the power supply and the rubberized feet.
The latter allow for better airflow under the case, which greatly benefits the PSU.
The pretty front can also be removed completely, of course.
The plastic construct still hides a removable dust filter behind the wooden bars.
The back is straightforward and pragmatic, everything finds a place and is well thought out.
The cable shaft is widened towards the front and thus offers decent space for cables.
There are a few HDD trays under the power supply cover. I will go into these in more detail on the next page.
Cool: There are no bars between the slot bezels for the expansion cards, which should make it much easier to convert to vertically mounted graphics cards using an adapter – no Dremel needed.
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