Introduction

At this exact time last year I was still in email limbo with Fractal Design, as I was trying to obtain samples and see what all the hype surrounding their products were all about. In the short span of only a year I got to look at quite a few of their cases as well as a fan controller they released not too long ago. In that time I have come to not only like the white accented black chassis designs, but have come to revere them for their sturdy construction and solid build quality. Every chassis I have seen, whether small or large, have always delivered a chassis worth owning.

We all knew about the Arc series, and of course there was the Define series that covered a few of the more popular designs over the past couple of years, but we are introducing a whole new series today. With most of the chassis designs being a regular tower configuration, most of what I have seen has been almost a direct evolution from one design to the next. Delving into the SFF chassis world for the first time, Fractal Design had no real blueprint to work from, but from what I have seen in the past, it makes me eager to see what they have in store this time around.

The SFF chassis in question today is the Node 304, one of two cases currently offered in this series. There is a larger Node chassis that is more of an HTPC design and will allow for full ATX motherboards inside of it with the Node 604. While these two cases do share a few features, the chassis layout is completely different between the 604 and the Mini-ITX compatible Node 304. Things like front mounting a PSU and using a power extension cable, modular hard drive racks, and eliminating the ODD bays to give a very clean aesthetic appeal are just some of the features to be found.

If your interest is piqued and you want to see more, continue with us as I shed light on what the new Node 304 is all about.