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One section is the usual PC inside affair with the motherboard tray. The front panel has some ventilation and the I/O is located to the right, alongside the power button and cut-out for the slot-loaded ROM drive bay. Ports-wise, it’s not too bad, rocking two USB-A 3.0 ports and two 3.5mm audio jacks. There’s a window present, but it’s an all-black affair with little in the form of styling. The Fractal Design Node 804 is one of the company’s smaller cases with full support for server deployment.
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But you will have to remove the front cover for you to do this. Unlike other micro ATX case, you would be surprise to find out that the Fractal Design Node 804 can be configured in several different ways. It features a dual chamber layout, where the motherboard section is separated from the PSU and storage drives. Speaking of storage drives, you can actually install a total of up to 12 HDD/SSD drives (8 x 3.5″, 4 x 2.5” or up to 10 x 3.5”, 2 x 2.5″) inside this case.
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So too is the top panel if you were to ignore the fact that there’s a massive section of perforated holes to vent out and exhaust hot air from four 140mm fans. The rear houses the usual I/O slot for the motherboard, as well as a mount for the ATX PSU, but there are two fans located here instead of just one. The front panel itself can be extracted by lightly pulling on it.
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Today we are looking at their latest cubic Micro-ATX case, the Node 804. Compared to other PC cases, there’s little difference in the performance of this processor. The available fan mounts ensure ample airflow is achieved, even if the front panel is a little restricting.
Fractal Design Node 804 Review – A Cube Type Micro ATX Case
The fan controller draws its power from a SATA power connector. Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. The Fractal Design Node 804 is designed for use as a server as well as a microATX PC, resulting in a price that can range between $100 and $200, depending on demand and chosen retailer.
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I would have loved Fractal Design to alter the design of the HDD cages to allow the removal and installation of drives without needing to take them out of the case, but this is a minor complaint. The Fractal Design Node 804 is one of the best PC cases for putting together your own NAS. There are also some good gaming motherboards in this segment that will make for great PC foundations. Upfront is a removable cover rocking a brush aluminum effect finish. The lower section of this panel features a grill for the four fans to draw in cool air.
What is good about this setup is that the heat of the CPU is actually separated from the motherboard chamber. But make sure that your water cooling tubes are long enough so that you can install the radiator in this location. If you don't fancy installing any hard drives, the two white cages can be removed.
Once everything is installed and ready to go, making necessary changes to the internals is also a breeze, so long as some cable management is performed. Building a compact PC with a microATX motherboard for a streaming box or running a server requires a small form factor chassis that supports the installation of more than a few hard drives. That's precisely where the Fractal Design Node 804 comes into play. It's compact enough to fit inside a TV stand but has more than enough internal space for a capable media PC.
However, there’s not enough clearance or room for you to properly connect the SATA power, since those SATA power cables have a 90° angle orientation. Unless you have a modified straight SATA power cable, you will have to change the orientation of your storage drive if you want to install them in this part of the chamber. The top plays host to four fan mounts as well as a filter cover while the rear of the Node 804 is a similar PC case affair with five horizontal PCI slots and two fan mounts.
It may be showing its age slightly, but Fractal hasn’t yet seen the need to refresh it and we agree with this stance. Fractal Design’s Node 804 is a mid-tower PC case with support for up to 12 drives. That’s plenty of capacity for NAS use, allowing for up to 240TB if using 20TB drives. You’d assume the case would be on the large size, but Fractal Design managed to make good use of the available internal space to keep the dimensions down. Excellent water cooling support with space for up to four radiators simultaneously. The front panel dust filters can be easily removed by sliding it downwards.
Mainly, I'm building this as my current NAS is full and I have no spare drive bays. The only other potential use is for a Hackintosh as I have an OSX VM in another system in my homelab that is currently without a GPU so is mostly useless. The Fractal Design Node 804 is affordable, has plenty of internal space for numerous fans and drives, and performs well when the system is full and under load.
If you notice there are straps underneath, those are actually for cable management from the inside. From the top, you can see four large openings, two on each chamber. You can install additional exhaust fans or radiators on those locations.
Being a cube design, you can get away with additional airflow through the rear panel whilst having room for an ATX power supply to be fitted. Was originally looking at Jonsbo N1 case but worried about poor thermals. Fractal node 804 looks to have better cooling options with more airflow, but it’s a rather old case with outdated front I/O panel, optical drive slot etc.
After unboxing, it’s immediately apparent just how understated this thing is and that’s by design. NAS — or a server in general — is meant to be hidden away in the back somewhere. The specifications are positive, especially when compared against other PC cases of the same caliber. When it comes to picking a chassis for a DIY NAS build, options are rather limited if one doesn’t want a traditional tower PC. Our in-depth reviews, guides, and buyer recommendations are only possible thanks to the vast knowledge and experience we’ve managed to accumulate over the years. The fan controller is actually very discrete and comes with high, medium and low settings.
The unit we have in for review is finished in black, which is the only color option available. These cages can support 4 HDD or SSD each cage and comes with anti-vibration rubber pads. You need to screw each drive, and I think Fractal Design could further improve this area and make it tool-free installation instead. It’s not also easy to install or remove a hard drive, because you have to disconnect all drives and remove the whole cage just to add or remove a drive. Underneath the Node 804 are four rubber feet, and additional ventilation with removable dust filters as well.
I have installed an Asus Maximus VI Impact with Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler. The Node 804 supports large CPU heatsinks, however I haven’t tried Cryorig’s R1 Ultimate yet. The Fractal Design Node 804 is packaged well, as is the case with most of the company's products. Included with the chassis are a few accessories, including cable ties to help with the installation of a PC. Much like its packaging, the Node 804 is designed with a minimalist brief, resulting in a sleek black cube PC case. The Fractal Design Node 804 is a gem of a PC case, designed with gamers in mind and with a focus on efficient component cooling.
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