Fractal Design Node 804 Micro-ATX Chassis Review

Complete System

It took me just under an hour to put the Fractal Design Node 804 together, which is roughly twice as long as a standard mid-tower build would take me. The extra time was needed due to the unique design and layout of the case, it was a little tricky to work with. The end result however was worth it and this is a very nice looking build.

In the base of the left side of the chassis I’ve installed our 2.5″ ADATA 128GB SSD. The drive is screwed directly to the base of the chassis, but you can use anti-vibration rubber washers and the included screws for 3.5″ drives.

It was a little bit of a squeeze fitting our Sapphire Radeon R9 270X through the left opening, but once installed there’s still enough clearance to install a 120mm fan in the front of the chassis. This card would however conflict with a radiator and fan combo on the front panel.

There’s room for a pair of graphics cards if you’re keen to SLI/Crossfire enable your rig.

Around the back you can now see exactly how the hard drives can be mounted. You can get four 3.5″ drives in each bay, although routing their respective cables may get a little tricky with all drives installed. I think it would be wise invest in splitter cables to reduce the number of power cables from your PSU. You can of course use 2.5″ drives if you use an adaptor bracket (not included).

The PSU cable straps in the bottom of the chassis are a welcome feature, but I didn’t feel the need to use them for this build. If you’ve got a front mounted radiator and need to keep your cables from jamming into your fans, then you’ll be glad to have these straps at your disposal. They’re also a welcome feature for those using non-modular PSUs.

I did have problems routing my 4+4 pin CPU power cable. I originally had the hard drive installed in this bay, but it meant that it was rather difficult to push the caddy all the way back into its bay; using flat PSU cables may prove to be an advantage here.

If you only have one or two drives to install, you may as well install them in the front of the chassis. If you have a few more drives, then I would advise you use the rear most bracket and remove the front ones. This way you would free up more room for front mounted fans or radiators and either configuration would also free up more fan and radiator mounts in the top of the chassis.

All the panels back in place and the build looks neat and tidy.

The side panel gives a great view of the motherboard, CPU cooler and graphics card; while doing a great job of hiding all the tedius stuff such as extra storage, cables and the PSU.