The Fractal Design Node 202 Case Review: Mini-ITX Gaming For the Living Room
by E. Fylladitakis on June 6, 2016 9:15 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- HTPC
- Fractal Design
- ITX
Test Setup
Professional testing requires the emulation of real-world situations but with repeatable results; thus, a perfectly controllable test setup and environment are required, especially for comparable results. Testing the thermal performance of any case with a typical real-world setup technically limits the comparability of the results to this setup alone, as an active system interacts with its environment and the change of a single component would alter myriads of variables. As such, we developed synthetic loads that emulate the thermal output of real systems, which however are passive, steady and quantifiable. As such, the thermal testing now displays the thermal capabilities of the case alone, as if it would have to deal with the entire thermal load by itself, regardless of the system that would be installed inside it. Laboratory data loggers are being used to monitor the PT100 sensors and control the safety relays, which are fully accessible via our custom software. The Mini-ITX version simulates a 150 W CPU, 30 W VRM, 20 W RAM and 1 × 120 W GPU card thermal load. For low-profile card setups, we are using a 50 W dummy GPU card instead. Finally, 2.5" HDD dummy loads have also been created, converting 15 W of electrical power to thermal. As such, the thermal load can be very high and only the best of cases will be able to handle it for more than a few minutes.
For the full power test, we are using the aforementioned configuration with the full-size 120W card, plus two 2.5" loads. The low load test reduces the main system's power output down to about 42% (132 Watts total), but the disk loads remain unchanged.
Noise testing has been performed with a background noise level of 30.4dB(A). Advanced noise testing is also being performed, in order to assess the ability of the case to dampen the noise of the components installed inside it. This includes the installation of two noise-generating sources (strong fans) inside the case, one positioned approximately over the first expansion slot and one over the CPU area, which generate ≈ 44.2 dB(A) when unobstructed. During the advanced noise test, all stock cooling options of the case are entirely disabled.
Results and Discussion
The thermal performance of the Node 202 is a complicated matter. From our testing, at first glace it appears to be very bad, which was to be expected from such a small case that lacks any active stock cooling, a scenario that admittedly doesn't mesh well with our test's dummy thermal loads. However digging deeper, it's clear that the is designed to assist the cooling systems of the installed devices - assuming that they are at least close to the latest reference designs - rather than taking on the work itself. This means a modern video card that will draw air from the bottom of the case and exhaust our the rear, along with a CPU cooler that will draw air in from the top of the case and the pressure will force it to exhaust via the vents to the side of the Node 202. Similarly, the PSU intakes air from the bottom and exhausts it to the right side of the case.
This cooling design should be good enough for a typical mainstream gaming system, but it is likely to cause issues with passively cooled or powerful hardware. The lack of active airflow would essentially trap the generated thermal energy inside the case. This is also true for every bit of hardware installed inside the Node 202 and will cause higher operating temperatures even if the CPU and GPU coolers are as described above, but small amounts of thermal energy generated by, for example, RAM modules and motherboard chipsets, should not pose a problem even when their cooling relies on passive, very low volume air flow. However, the thermal energy dissipated even by low power CPUs and GPUs is many times greater and the lack of proper airflow can easily cause overheating and throttling issues.
As the Node 202 has no stock cooling options, it obviously generates no sound pressure at all. The system’s noise entirely depends on the installed hardware and their programmed cooling scheme. The sound dampening capabilities of the Node 202 are limited, but better than we initially anticipated from a case lacking serious measures, most likely due to the lack of openings at the front side of the case. During our advanced noise testing, the Node 202 reduced the sound pressure of the installed dummy noise generator by 2.5 dB(A), a substantial figure.
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FLHerne - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
The pictures show a mic icon under the left socket, so it's (unsurprisingly) the body text that's wrong.romrunning - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
"When placed vertically, depending on the system and setup, it is wise to place the Node 202 with its left side down, as the right side offers some ventilation to the CPU/Motherboard area."Ironically, the vertical-standing case pic on page 2 shows the exact opposite - the case is standing on the right side, basically covering the ventilation.
JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
I'd argue this isn't really meant as a HTPC, despite the form factor, because of the lack of 3.5" drive support (most HTPCs are used as a means to playback videos, and many videos take lots of storage, and lots of storage requires the usage of multiple 3.5" drives). No 5.25" drive bay is actually OK since most users can just get an external 5.25" BDR drive, or whatever.It's really meant as a mobile/LAN party mini PC, where you can fit powerful current-gen desktop parts and still have it actually fit inside a large backpack, along with peripherals and cables, while you hold a monitor in your hands. It's also good for users who move/travel a lot, like those in the military, moving from one location to another every few months.
Some notes for people interested in the case:
1) It's most economical to get the case with the included Integra SFX PSU, as it comes out to a 450W 80+ Bronze for $50 + Case for $80, assuming a $130 cost for the package. Yes, you can get modular PSUs and such, but you'll be paying extra for that, and the Integra SFX actually does have shorter cables optimized to fit the Node 202 well. SFX-L power supplies from Silverstone fit, but reduce your available cable routing options by quite a bit. It's best to stick with SFX. If you need SFX-L, look to the FTZ-01 or the ML07-B for a slightly larger, but similar form factor case.
2) You can watercool the CPU with a slim 120mm AIO CLC kit with flexible tubing, however, this requires some modification of the case and limits your GPU choices to either an R9 Nano or possibly even a GTX 970 mini, but I'm not sure on the latter. Google "Challenge Accepted: Liquid Cooling in the Fractal Node 202!?" for a video.
3) The largest and most effective air cooler you can place in here is a Thermalright AXP-100R, at 60mm, but this requires removing the top dustcover from above the motherboard area. The AXP-100R (not the AXP-100 Muscle) includes a bracket to install slim 120 mounting fans onto the heatsink. This lets you mount a slim 140mm fan with 120mm mounting holes on the heatsink. TechPowerUp's Node 202 review shows the AXP-100R in use with the stock fan.
4) If you got lots of stuff you want to store, it's possible to get a mini-ITX board with an m.2 slot on the back of the motherboard, and use both of 2.5" drive bays for 2TB 5400 rpm drives. You can improve the responsiveness of these drives by opting to use them in RAID 0, and possibly using the M.2 as SSD cache through Intel RST, but this is a pretty risky move. You can stuff a 3rd or possibly 4th 2.5" drive into the case without securing it with screws, but be aware that the Integra SFX is optimized for the Node 202 and has only 2 SATA power connectors. Sure the drives won't fall out, but this situation isn't exactly ideal.
5) The case's thermals are probably its worst aspect, and it's not exactly the ideal enclosure if your intention is to load it up with the most powerful hardware and get a big overclock out of your CPU. If that's your intention, you'll definitely want to opt for a larger cube-like ITX case.
In all, this case is very niche. It's for users who need a really mobile desktop on the cheap, but are willing to sacrifice thermal performance. It's most ideal for a non-overclocked system (H170 platform) due to the thermal performance of the case, but those want to overclock and want a small form factor are capable of doing that, too, if they're up to the challenge.
If money is no object to you and you want the absolute smallest ITX system, look for the Dan A4. It's ~$265 to back on Kickstarter and would theoretically ship at the end of this year.
auzn - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
HTPC does not need to have a large storage. That is what NAS is for.JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
1) Most people don't have anything more than 1 desktop-sized PC in their living space, and many don't even have a PC, period.2) Of the extravagant few that do have multiple PCs in their living space, it's often a case of 1 PC-per-person, and possibly a shared/guest PC.
3) Of the increasingly smaller number of people that have HTPC sized PCs attached to their entertainment center, even fewer will have an additional NAS PC as well.
All that being said, of the people that have an HTPC attached to their entertainment center at all, very few will also have a NAS, too, so it's important to consider this device in isolation, rather than taking for granted that "Oh, any dude that buys this has a completely separate NAS in their house" which is completely dumb to assume.
Oh, and thanks for the 2 sentence response, bro.
dsraa - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
While i agree with you, logic does dicatate that a NAS would make sense for this kind of scenario. This isn't meant as a one purpose fits all sizes type of use. Or neceassrily as a primary 'solo' system.So going forward, you'd have to adapt to the situation. If I were to be buying this as a HTPC/gaming, it would be used for streaming, not as a storage based multimedia system that would host movies, photos, and music. I would use or purchase a NAS for all of that OR, OR I would buy just a different case that had room for a 3.5 HDD or 2.
Icehawk - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
HD enclosures aren't terribly expensive nor are usb drives if there isn't a NAS or other PC as storage options. Heck many wifi routers allow direct connection of an usb hard drive too.LostWander - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
Thanks for the awesome post! I've been looking into building an ITX system to follow my way too big tower and while I might not go with this build you've got some great general points.ameanie - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
Thank you so much for all this information on this case. I've been trying to find the best case that has a similar design to this while also trying to account for being able to cool it as well as possible (if I have to watercool, I don't mind but I have 0 experience with it)My intentions are to have an i7 6700k and a (probably) EVGA GTX 1080 in the build, but I've been having a hard time finding a case that's thin and can house those and deal with heat. Do you have any suggestions for that? Is it only possible to do it with a cube-like ITX case? I really want to save as much space as possible I live in a really small place and don't mind saving the necessary money to build the right thing for myself..
ameanie - Monday, June 6, 2016 - link
apparently there is no omment editing here? but...Not to mention picking a motherboard. I'm way in over my head trying to plan a build that will last for a long time while also being able to handle all the things I intend on doing (image/video editing, high end gaming/streaming) while staying cool and calm.