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 Taufik ᠌

Name: 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
Item: 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
Rating: 5

November 30, 2022

I was surprised by the quality for this price.

I was exhausted looking for a mini-ITX mother for it with support for ECC RAM under LGA1150, but still I found E3C226D2I on the secondary in March. Now I would collect under ryzen.
I made a NAS out of it under the fryakha, it stands quietly in the corner and just works, and another system unit is on top of it. I did not find a better option for myself this spring, so that it is small and under six hard drives for raidz2.
Although regular fans do not howl like server ones, they are still audible. Personally, it does not bother me, I got used to it almost immediately. Behind the rumble of the propellers, the crunch of the hard drives is not audible at all, and this is good, since the rumble is quiet.

Pros

Six 3.5" hard drives fit in, they are well ventilated and hang on complete hangers with rubber spacers for bolts. Climbed a normal size radiator with a cooler on the processor. Got an ATX power supply. It seems that a full-sized video will also fit if you sacrifice a suspension for two hard drives. Looks awesome, looks like it makes me happy.

Cons

Mother mATX does not fit. If I could fit in, I would take another such node for the main system unit. It is inconvenient to get to the connectors on the mother when all six hard drives are connected, you have to remove the heatsink from the processor. On the other hand, this drawback was noticeable for the first two days, then there was no need to disassemble the case. Expensive.