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Today we are going to look at the Node 605 from Fractal Design which is designed to be used primarily for home theatre PC builds. It is part of the same range as the Node 304 that we looked at recently which we found to be a very competent product. We did feel that it was slightly over-priced when compared to the competition, though, so we are hoping that the Node 605 will offer superior value for money.
Fractal Design are a fairly new player in the PC chassis market as they have only been established for a few years. They have been steadily expanding their range since their genesis however, catering for the specific needs of different users.
Considering Fractal's rich history of producing quiet cases, it seems quite surprising that they have waited until now to launch a series of cases for those looking to build home theatre PCs. When compared to the Node 304 which we reviewed recently, the 605 has a number of advantages.
It's larger size means that it's able to support Micro-ATX motherboards in addition to Mini-ITX units, giving users the opportunity to install other expansion devices alongside the graphics card.
We look forward to seeing how the Node 605 fares in our tests, especially the acoustic test which is critical for HTPC users.
Features
- Solid aluminum front panel.
- Supports full ATX motherboards.
- Noise-dampening material.
- 4 HDD/SSD slots.
- Integrated card reader.
- Two Silent Series R2 hydraulic bearing fans included.
- Supports graphic cards up to 280mm in length (180mm with all hard drives in place).
- USB 3.0 and FireWire front connectors.
Specifications:
- ATX, microATX, Mini ITX, DTX motherboard compatibility.
- 7 expansion slots.
- 4 – supports either 2.5″ or 3.5″ HDD / SSD.
- 1 slim-line ODD (only supported with mATX or smaller motherboards).
- PSU compatibility: 180 mm (including any modular connectors) with both hard drive cages mounted or 190 mm (excluding cables and any modular connectors) with one hard drive cage mounted.
- CPU cooler compatibility: Approx 125mm with side-mounted fans – For coolers with top-mounted fans, Fractal Design recommends that you add at least 30 mm clearance for decent airflow.
- Case dimensions (W x H x D): 445 x 164 x 349 mm (excluding front panel – 440 x 162 x 341 mm).
- Net weight: 6,0 kg.
excellent, I love the appearance of this case, looks fantastic.
I always wanted to build a system like this to fit inside my hifi rack for connection to the tv and fast enough to handle anything, even some gaming.
This looks like a good option. need to work out the cost now.
Very very sexy. im sold.
shame it wasnt all aluminum, id pay extra for that. so much lighter too.
Just a note on the video card situation, i’ve got a matx board in the case and am able to stick a powercolor 6970 inside without the hard drive bays being a hindrance and i’ve still got room to run cables, etc in front of the video card.
I don’t think I’d be able to crossfire the 6970s (don’t know who would want to in an htpc case) there is room between the card and the hard drives (if you mount the hdd facing the other way) but considering the width of the card i dont think 2 could fit
Second, The fan controller in the case has 3 Fan connectors but they only fit 3pin connectors (i bought 3, 4pin fans -_-)
I know Fractal includes 2 Fractal fans but even at high speed they’re only pulling 40cfm (they’re the FD Silent R2 fans) and that wasn’t enough imo so I replaced them with some Cougar Vortex fans.
I contacted Fractal Designs about the 3pin connectors and I must say their customer service is amazing, they sent me a step by step email including pictures on how i could cut the 3pin fan connector to accommodate a 4pin fan which they said would work with the fan controller as they’ve tested it.
Instead of going that route though I found some 4 to 3 pin fan connectors online, even 3pin extension cables that could support a 4pin connector.
Also the molex connector for the fan controller, in my case, was loose so it was a big hassle getting it connected to the power supplies female molex
Third, The slim optical disc drive, Fractal supplies a mounting kit but no slimline sata connection to power your drive you’ll have to buy that yourself you can find them online for as low as a dollar.
The mounting kit is a bit difficult to install, it was for me anyway, since i left it for the last thing to install -_- and because the screws supplied were larger than the holes on the mounting kit (ever so slightly) so I really had to use some force to screw it in
Fourth, CPU cooling, There is not much height to the case to attach a large heatsink, Fractal recommends no higher than 125mm if the fans are attached on the sides; this was difficult for me to find a suitable cooling unit,, hydro cooling units won’t fit btw there’s no room to mount the rad+fan unless you do some modding like having it stick part way out of the case. I was fortunately able to find the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 which fit perfectly inside the case with both fans mounted.
Lastly areas for improvement:
I wish that there was a fan on top of the case to help suck air out (like silverstone does, i believe) I’m not sure on what my temps will be like since I haven’t gotten it up and running yet but it would certainly ease my mind as that whole right side of the case is really congested with hard drives the gpu and psu and there’s only that 1 fan blowing in on the right side but its completely restricted with the grill/the hard drives and the cables; again I don’t know what my temps will be like but it would certainly ease the mind and there is certainly room for a fan in that area.
There’s also room, believe it or not, to stick more hard drives in the case and it would be nice if Fractal had included mounting brackets for this but I can understand why not. I bought a pci expansion slot hard drive mount to mount my SSD and a 2.5″ drive and there’s still plenty of room; there’s even room for a 3.5″
Also the aforementioned lack of a slimline sata cable, it would be nice if Fractal had included this considering the price of the case and Fractal needs to improve Quality Control (the loose molex and mounting holes)
Overall though I’m impressed with the build quality and the looks of the case and I can’t wait to start using it, but i’ve been very frugal in my build using hand me down parts and waiting for all my cables/parts from different vendors.