Review on Fractal Design Node 304 - Black - Mini Cube Compact Computer Case - Small Form Factor - Mini ITX – mITX - Enhanced Airflow - Modular Interior - Includes 3x Fractal Design Silent R2 120mm Fans - USB 3.0 by Agata Zuzankiewicz ᠌
Great value for money, one of the best offers.
Configuration: - ASUS Z170I PRO GAMING - Intel Core i7 6700K - Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 2400 2x16gb - Deepcool Maelstrom 120 - the simplest water cooling [. After six months, the pump began to chirp quite noisily. Changed to Scythe Kotetsu SCKTT-1000 turret.] - Cooler Master V650 - 650W semi-modular unit 140cm long [2. The block was covered after a year with a little. Changed to Corsair TX650M.] - GeForce GTX 1070 MSI Gaming X - SSD Samsung 850 EVO 250Gb SATA (M.2 did not dare to take because of the extreme inconvenience of maintenance, if suddenly something) [. In connection with the replacement of the cooler, I still had to disassemble everything - it's not so scary, now I would take M.2] - HDD WD Blue 5400 2Tb It took 3-4 hours to assemble. There are practically no protruding wires. Power to the motherboard, processor, and drives goes first through the power supply next to the front fans (a flat SATA cable even under them), and then through the drive cage. The cords from the case to the motherboard (usb3 and system panel), SATA cables and power supply for the two front coolers (through the 4-pin splitter mentioned above; the standard reobas is removed) are crammed along the power supply at the bottom, they are not very noticeable and do not interfere with the air flow. The cord for the audio connectors on the front panel is routed from the outside of the video card. So the notorious "cable management" in some form is still possible, but it requires suitable components, time and inspiration. :) With noise and temperature, the situation is as follows. I did not overclock anything, in the BIOS I set all the fans to quiet mode. As a result, this box, standing on the table half a meter away from me, can only be heard in complete silence (closed windows, turned off electrical appliances). Under load, the case, of course, becomes more audible (the video card fans turn on - they are turned off up to 60 degrees, the rest of the fans speed up). The processor in idle time is 25-30 degrees. Under load (fired for 20 minutes at 100%) - a maximum of 75. [. With Scythe in half an hour 73.] Video card in idle 35, under load - 70. Drives - 30-40 degrees.
- - Small size - something like a 15" laptop with a height of 20cm - Thoughtful layout of components - free space inside the case is used very efficiently - Good cooling and ventilation - Dust filters [. Strong thing! For more than six months, the amount of dust inside is minimal - it is removed with an ordinary breath, and no dust clouds fly in the face.] - Ability to install a cooler up to 165cm high - Possibility to install a two-slot video card up to 310mm long (at the same time, however, you will need to think about choosing a power supply - according to the data on the manufacturer's website, it cannot be longer than 160mm, and if modular, it is better to choose shorter than 160mm; in fact, I strongly recommend 140mm - so part of the wires will fit between the unit and the video card) - Ability to install a standard ATX power supply (taking into account the remarks above) - Three good and quiet (at low and medium speeds, of course) included fans (140mm on the rear wall and two 92mm in the front; all 3-pin) - Handsome
- There are probably three shortcomings: - Screws. Not that it’s a direct disaster - everything is spinning, but sometimes with some effort - Peeling paint around the screw on the disk basket (apparently, it was overtightened, as a result, part of the paint in this place cracked and fell off) - The front fans did not start through the regular reobas at the minimum speed either [. In some reviews they write, they say, "your power supplies are crap, therefore they will not start." Let me disagree with this thesis, because the power supply is quite decent.] The rest are not cons, but features that you need to know about before buying (you can read about all this on the manufacturer's website): - As noted above, a short power supply is desirable for a long video card - There is not much space in the case, so it will be much easier with a modular or semi-modular power supply - The coolers are powered by a reobas located on the back wall. Reobas is powered by molex, so you will have to pull a bundle of wires that is not needed for anything else from the power supply. Therefore, when buying a case, I recommend immediately thinking about 4-pin -> 2x4-pin adapters so that you can power the fans on the case from the motherboard. At the same time, they will be regulated normally through the BIOS, and there will be no problems with their launch
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