Outside

Right from the beginning the Node 804 isn’t like most cases. The design is nearly twice as wide as a basic case but is also shorter. The left side of the case houses the motherboard and the right side of the case has your water cooling, power supply, and storage. The overall design looks like previous Node Mini-ITX models only larger. That means you have a completely clean front panel with the front I/O panel on the right edge as well.

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The front of the cases has a slight curve to it just like previous Fractal Node cases. Along the bottom the first three inches are a metal mesh and the rest of the front panel is brushed aluminum. There really isn’t much to see on the front, beyond the mesh there is a small Fractal Design logo and nothing else.

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The top of the case is made of plastic but mostly consists of a metal mesh. This is a large portion of the ventilation on the Node 804.

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The right side of the case has a solid panel. This is also where you will find the front I/O panel. Fractal gives you two USB 3.0 ports, a power button, and microphone/headphone ports. Up a little higher then even include a small slit for a slot loading slim DVD/BlueRay drive.

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Around on the back we can finally get a real look at the layout of the Node 804. We can see the split design. On the left you have the power supply mount on the bottom and an exhaust fan. On the right side we have another exhaust fan along with the rear I/O panel and five PCI slot covers. The space above the PCI slots is also ventilated as well for additional airflow. On the back we also have access to the thumbscrews that hold both side panels on as well as the top panel. Down along the bottom edge we can also pull the bottom intake filters out for cleaning. 

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The left side of the case that houses the motherboard is the only side with a side panel window. This means you can hide all of the wiring on the back section and have a clean looking view at your motherboard/video card.

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The bottom of the case gives us a better look at the two intake fan filters that come with the Node 804. The motherboard side of the case has a full 240mm intake filter and the power supply side of the case has a smaller filter that is just for the intake fan of your power supply. The feet on the Node 804 are a little unique a well. I noticed when taking photos that the case would basically stick to the table, more than cases normally do. When looking I noticed that Fractal used the same material that people use to hold phones and other devices right to your car dash. It doesn’t have an adhesive in it, but it is naturally sticky. You shouldn’t have to worry about the Node 804 falling off of your desk at all.

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VaporX's Avatar
VaporX replied the topic: #35920 29 Nov 2014 14:50
The move to SFF building continues to grow. For me personally anything over an mATX sized case is just to big and bulky. Right now for me there are two companies fighting for my case of choice and Fractal is one of them. The Node series is amazing and the Define Mini as well as Arc mini give you two other styling options while staying small.

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