Impressive Fractal Era 2 & Mood Mini Casesjimmy_thang June 10, 2024
The Highlights
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Fractal had several new products to show at Computex this year that include 2 new cases, a revision to the North XL, office chairs, a wireless headset, and more. Let’s get into it.
Editor's note: This was originally published on June 5, 2024 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.
Steve Burke
Mike Gaglione
Vitalii Makhnovets
Jimmy Thang
Starting things off is Fractal’s upcoming Mood mini-tower. It features a 180x38mm Torrent fan at the top.
The exterior of the entire case is almost entirely covered by fabric with the exception of the GPU side panel, which pops off. 2 of those sides are solid with one side having numerous holes that are covered by the fabric, which raises concerns around porosity.
This exterior can slide up and provides access to the interior chamber of the case.
The interior chamber is extremely light.
Inside, there isn’t a ton of space for the GPU but it has a PCIe gen 4 riser. There are also perforations within the case for the gpu that point to where the power supply fan would typically go.
The case has a recessed area at the bottom for cables, though it could be cramped for bulkier Display Port cables.
It’s a 20.4 liter-volume case, which includes the dimensions from the feet at the bottom of the case.
The Mood supports 110mm CPU coolers, like Noctua’s NH-D9L.
It also has a drive cage, which users could remove to accommodate a 280mm liquid cooler.
The Mood is coming out this month for $150 and includes its fan.
Grab a LIMITED RUN GamersNexus T-Shirt in Charcoal Heather or 100% Cotton! This shirt features band-style "tour dates" on the back, detailing the most disappointing moments in PC hardware for all of 2023. They also have an explosion diagram of a RAM module on the front. Buying these directly funds our AD-FREE website reviews and our in-depth testing. Charcoal Heather is ultra comfortable and still in stock! Once these are gone, we will not be restocking them!
The next case is the Era 2, which features a wooden top with slits.
It’s an 18.9 liter chassis that comes with 2 120mm fans on the base.
The outside of the case is made of anodized aluminum that measures 2-3mm thick.
The Era 2 includes a PCIe gen 4 riser.
Inside the case, the Era 2 has a spine in the center that has at least 3 adjustable locations.
The bottom dust filter pulls double duty as the lock mechanism for the outer shell. Pulling the filter out slightly allows the exterior to pull up, similar to the Mood.
Users can remove the top wood panel, which has a steel structure underneath to reinforce the wood.
The bottom of the case has a chamfered dust filter coupled with 2 120mm intake fans.
It can theoretically support a 280mm cooling solution on the top as well.
While we recently reviewed the North XL, Fractal is making a version that repositions the motherboard to accommodate back-connect support.
Fractal is getting into the office chair business. They aren’t gaming-themed (thankfully) and will retail for around $500. There will be different options for colors and materials.
Fractal is also making headphones. We don’t review audio products and really only want to point out that it has a magnetic base for inductive charging.
Grab a GN Tear-Down Toolkit to support our AD-FREE reviews and IN-DEPTH testing while also getting a high-quality, highly portable 10-piece toolkit that was custom designed for use with video cards for repasting and water block installation. Includes a portable roll bag, hook hangers for pegboards, a storage compartment, and instructional GPU disassembly cards.
Finally, one last thing that Fractal showed us was its Raspberry Pi Mini North. It’s not going to be an actual shipping product, but served as the Scape’s MP3 player at Computex. It features the same wood as the Fractal North and we actually really want Fractal to ship it.
Continue reading...
Fractal showed off two impressive cases at Computex, including a mini tower and a new wooden-themed chassis
The Highlights
- The Fractal Mood is a mini tower that features a 180x38mm fan at its top
- The Era 2 features a wooden top surrounded by an anodized aluminum chassis
- Fractal is making a revision of the North XL to offer back-connect support
- Refine is Fractal’s attempt at getting into office chairs
- Scape is the company’s new wireless headphones
Table of Contents
- AutoTOC
Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.
Intro
Fractal had several new products to show at Computex this year that include 2 new cases, a revision to the North XL, office chairs, a wireless headset, and more. Let’s get into it.
Editor's note: This was originally published on June 5, 2024 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.
Credits
Host, Writing
Steve Burke
Camera, Editing
Mike Gaglione
Vitalii Makhnovets
Writing, Web Editing
Jimmy Thang
Mood
Starting things off is Fractal’s upcoming Mood mini-tower. It features a 180x38mm Torrent fan at the top.
The exterior of the entire case is almost entirely covered by fabric with the exception of the GPU side panel, which pops off. 2 of those sides are solid with one side having numerous holes that are covered by the fabric, which raises concerns around porosity.
This exterior can slide up and provides access to the interior chamber of the case.
The interior chamber is extremely light.
Inside, there isn’t a ton of space for the GPU but it has a PCIe gen 4 riser. There are also perforations within the case for the gpu that point to where the power supply fan would typically go.
The case has a recessed area at the bottom for cables, though it could be cramped for bulkier Display Port cables.
It’s a 20.4 liter-volume case, which includes the dimensions from the feet at the bottom of the case.
The Mood supports 110mm CPU coolers, like Noctua’s NH-D9L.
It also has a drive cage, which users could remove to accommodate a 280mm liquid cooler.
The Mood is coming out this month for $150 and includes its fan.
Grab a LIMITED RUN GamersNexus T-Shirt in Charcoal Heather or 100% Cotton! This shirt features band-style "tour dates" on the back, detailing the most disappointing moments in PC hardware for all of 2023. They also have an explosion diagram of a RAM module on the front. Buying these directly funds our AD-FREE website reviews and our in-depth testing. Charcoal Heather is ultra comfortable and still in stock! Once these are gone, we will not be restocking them!
Era 2
The next case is the Era 2, which features a wooden top with slits.
It’s an 18.9 liter chassis that comes with 2 120mm fans on the base.
The outside of the case is made of anodized aluminum that measures 2-3mm thick.
The Era 2 includes a PCIe gen 4 riser.
Inside the case, the Era 2 has a spine in the center that has at least 3 adjustable locations.
The bottom dust filter pulls double duty as the lock mechanism for the outer shell. Pulling the filter out slightly allows the exterior to pull up, similar to the Mood.
Users can remove the top wood panel, which has a steel structure underneath to reinforce the wood.
The bottom of the case has a chamfered dust filter coupled with 2 120mm intake fans.
It can theoretically support a 280mm cooling solution on the top as well.
North XL (with back connect support)
While we recently reviewed the North XL, Fractal is making a version that repositions the motherboard to accommodate back-connect support.
Refine (Chairs)
Fractal is getting into the office chair business. They aren’t gaming-themed (thankfully) and will retail for around $500. There will be different options for colors and materials.
Scape (Headset)
Fractal is also making headphones. We don’t review audio products and really only want to point out that it has a magnetic base for inductive charging.
Grab a GN Tear-Down Toolkit to support our AD-FREE reviews and IN-DEPTH testing while also getting a high-quality, highly portable 10-piece toolkit that was custom designed for use with video cards for repasting and water block installation. Includes a portable roll bag, hook hangers for pegboards, a storage compartment, and instructional GPU disassembly cards.
Raspberry Pi Mini North MP3 Player (Not Shipping)
Finally, one last thing that Fractal showed us was its Raspberry Pi Mini North. It’s not going to be an actual shipping product, but served as the Scape’s MP3 player at Computex. It features the same wood as the Fractal North and we actually really want Fractal to ship it.
Continue reading...