Fractal Design North XL Full-Tower Chassis Review

TweakTown's Rating: 94%

The Bottom Line

Fractal doubles down with the North XL in several flavors, focusing more on water cooling support. The North XL certainly does not hold back.

Pros

• + The front now supports up to a 420mm radiator
• + Three included Aspect 14 140mm PWM fans
• + Included PWM fan controller
• + Unified design pattern

Cons

• - The rear fan is not included

Should you buy it?

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Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Today, we will look at a case from Fractal, the North XL, essentially a larger version of last year's North, receiving TweakTown's Recommended Award with a solid 94% rating. So, following in the footsteps of previous Fractal cases, the North XL offers additional support for 360mm and 420mm radiators from AIOs and custom water cooling loops. The North XL keeps the sophisticated Scandinavian design while supporting larger hardware. There are four different SKUs, with white and black being the primary colors. Other choices include tempered glass or mesh for the side panel. Pricing, regardless of model, is set at $179.99.

So, why don't we see what makes the North XL much more different or strikingly similar to the original North?

Fractal Design North XL

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$179.99	$179.99	$179.99	-	Buy
	$203.99	$203.99	$203.99	-	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 5/17/2024 at 2:16 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Packaging

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For packaging, Fractal ships out the North XL in the standard brown cardboard box with nothing but the product name, Fractal's company logo, and the Fractal name itself.

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The only other side of the packaging shows that we received the Black TG Dark Tint model.

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Removing the North XL from the cardboard packaging shows great use of the packing materials, which include high-density foam and a clear plastic bag for added protection during shipment.

Outside the Fractal Design North XL Case

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After removing all the packing materials, including the tempered glass protective plastic, we are greeted with a familiar yet larger North, which we have reviewed previously and loved.

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Following the same design as the smaller North, the North XL has 11 walnut wood slats about 1 cm or 10 mm apart. This panel can be easily removed by tugging at the bottom.

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The walnut wood slats span most of the front section, which does not impede airflow.

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The rear side panel is uneventful, but how often do you stare at the backside?

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Looking at the rear of the North XL shows a faux leather tab to remove the top section by pulling it straight back. Further down the backside, it shows options to mount a single 120mm or 140mm fan; a rear fan, however, is not included. Seven PCIe slot covers that match the same design as the rest of the rear of the case are noted and appreciated. Looking at the section right above the PCIe slot covers, it is that same pattern, which I couldn't help but notice that one could install some smaller fans; maybe we will see someone try this later. Next is subtle but appreciated: a cable velcro strap for all the external cables, making for a little tidier desktop. Lastly, in traditional Fractal fashion, there is a PSU mounting bracket. I can't tell you how much easier it is to install a PSU with a mounting bracket than the other, more archaic methods.

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The North XL's bottom shows the same feet as its predecessor, complete with gold accents and rubber dampeners. A slide-out PSU filter can be accessed from the rear of the case. Several mounting positions are also located on the floor; more on that later.

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The top section, which can be removed via the faux leather tap on the rear, is completely meshed out except for the front I/O. This section can also support a 280mm or 360mm radiator or three 120mm or two 140mm fans.

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The I/O, which remains practically unchanged from the previous North, is located on the top front edge, with gold accenting on the round power button and the 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks. There are two USB 3.0 Type-A ports for USB connectivity and one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port.

Inside the Fractal Design North XL Case

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Removing the front walnut panel reveals that Fractal has included three 140mm Aspect 14 PWM fans mounted in the front fan locations. Up to a 360mm or 420mm, radiator can also be mounted for a huge amount of thermal headroom.

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The Aspect 14 140mm PWM fans rated at .24A on 12V are capable of 20 to 78 CFM while only getting as loud as 35.5 dBa while running at an RPM range of 500 to 1700.

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The North XL's design language differs from the North, aside from the extra cable grommets, which are present and accounted for to support EATX motherboards. Additional clearance above the top of the motherboard allows for top-mounted radiators with a good amount of motherboard heatsink clearance to allow cables to be plugged in after installing an AIO. Also, the panel to the far right is removable via a single captive thumb screw if the user wants to show off water cooling or other hardware.

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Once the rear side panel is taken off, we can now see the cable management potential of the North XL. Having two sections complete with three Fractal branded velcro tie-down points each helps keep the cables at bay, with one of those channels having the front I/0 cables, which are pre-routed. A plate on the backside of the motherboard tray allows for two 2.5" HDD or SSDs to be mounted, which is held in via a single captive thumbscrew. Two additional 3.5" or 2.5" HDD or SSD drives are supported in the sleds in the basement with five positions, however, if a PSU that is longer than 175mm in length, a drive sled must be removed to accommodate the longer PSU.

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A PWM fan controller is also located in the rear along the top edge. The three included fans already populate three of the four slots. Nice touch, Fractal.

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Fractal and their blue user guides are very thorough and well-designed. A small accessory box was also included, with a few zip ties and screws needed to complete a build.

Now, on with the build!

Test System, Installation, and Finished Product

• Motherboard: B650 AORUS Elite AX (AMD B650) - Buy from Amazon
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 - Buy from Amazon
• Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32GB DDR5 5600 RGB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA RTX 3090 Founders Edition - Buy from Amazon
• Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO XT Gen4 PCIe x4 NVMe M.2 SSD - Buy from Amazon
• Case: Fractal Design North XL - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: XPG Core Reactor II VE 850w ATX 3.1 PSU - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit Build 22621 - Buy from Amazon
• Software: AIDA64 Engineer v7.20.6800, CPU-z 2.09.0 x64. GPU-Z 2.57.0, and HWiNFO64 v7.63-5205

Final Thoughts

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With this build complete, this Fractal case is just like any other case from the Scandinavian-inspired ATX case manufacturer; it is just plain awesome. The build went very smoothly, completing the process in about an hour, which was when I took my time with the cable management, but I didn't need to. The six Fractal branded velcro straps make a complete difference, except for the two small zip ties for the HD Audio cable along the bottom edge.

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Testing the North XL from Fractal Design, the standard AM5 test hardware was installed consisting of an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X with the vcore limited to 1.128v while running at the base frequency of 4.5GHz on a B650 AORUS Elite AX motherboard. For memory, two sticks of Patriot Viper at DDR5-5600M/T. The test GPU is the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE, running at stock power limits and clocks via MSI Afterburner. The North XL did a fantastic job in total system cooling, mainly due to the three 140mm Aspect 14 PWM fans pre-installed as front intake. Mounting the Arctic Freezer II 360mm AIO in the roof mounting location fits like a glove. The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU only rose to an average temperature of 60C, while the GPU, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 FE, averaged only 64.1C while maintaining an average frequency of over 1.9GHz boost clocks. The noise levels were audible but manageable if a speed curve was set.

All testing was completed using Aida64 Engineer's System Stability Test version v7.20.6802 for over 5 hours; the ambient temperature was 18C. Other monitoring software used was HWiNFO64 v8.00-5400, TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.59.0, and CPU-Z 2.09.0.x64.

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The original Fractal Design North case is nearly two years old now. Looking back at its review, I see that the walnut wood slats on the front were different and refreshing in an ATX case. Although not revolutionary then, it was precisely what the market needed. Unfortunately, the North XL doesn't deliver on that same level of innovation. Most of the North XL's features were already present in its smaller predecessor. However, the North XL still has its place.

There are only three notable differences between the North XL and the original North case:

• The North XL can support EATX motherboards with a less compact, more spacious design, promoting additional water cooling.
• A user can mount up to a 420mm radiator in the front of the North XL instead of the somewhat limited 360mm radiator support in the North.
• The side-mounted radiator/fan option found in the North is missing from the North XL, which was included with the North via a bracket mounted to the front-side panel support.

Everything else, however, is the same: the same amount of HDD/SSD drive support, the same removable top panel, and the same feet, with everything else being a tad larger.

The North XL could be the case for you, particularly if you want to install a full water cooling loop with a 420mm radiator. Pricing-wise, $179.99 is on par with the current market standard. The only potential issue is that although the North XL does not include a 140mm Aspect 14 PWM fan for the rear, it would be better to include another one for optimal cooling. However, this is completely non-issue.

If you're looking for your next PC case but don't want to be part of the "fishbowl" trend of PC cases, the North XL might be a good option.