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Thread: Fractal Design Node 202

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    Fractal Design Node 202

    A starting point for your homebrew Steam Machine.
    Read more.

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    Would you say the silverStone SST-FTZ01B offers better cooling possibilities? I'm liking this due to the price but hesitant due to the heat :/

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    You also have the options of the RVZ01(£65 on scan) and ML07 (£51 on scan) which use the same chassis as the FTZ01.

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    If I was going to buy this I'd get an overpowered GPU and keep the settings in check, so it never really had to struggle and therefore would keep cool

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    There are no optical drives, you won't be able to install any 3.5in hard disks, motherboard support is confined to mini-ITX, no fans are included and the power supply needs to conform to the smaller SFX standard, as opposed to widely available ATX.
    Am I being old fashioned or does "SFX power supply" mean "noisy" too? Just curious

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    Quote Originally Posted by crossy View Post
    Am I being old fashioned or does "SFX power supply" mean "noisy" too? Just curious
    Standard SFX can be noisy under load if you're used to a full size PSU, as they are limited to an 80mm fan, but Silverstone's SFX-L PSU's with a 120mm fan aren't bad at all. I don't know if the Node 202 can fit the longer PSU, though Silverstones RVZ01/ML07/FTZ01 and the smaller RVZ02/ML08 do.
    Last edited by Michael H; 20-07-2015 at 05:39 PM.

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    Looks really nice but I do not like the fact that there is no room for a traditional 3.5' drive.

    Most people I know want an SSD for the OS and a large 2TB+ conventional drive for their media archive when it comes to an HTPC.

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    Call me old school but a HTPC still needs an DVD/Blu Ray drive.

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    Quote Originally Posted by Myss_tree View Post
    Call me old school but a HTPC still needs an DVD/Blu Ray drive.
    Not "old school", more "sensible" in wanting to maximise the use of the PC. BD for choice - that way you can play DVD's and CD's. With a drive in place surely you can use the PC to rip content to the local storage and then put the originals away safely in storage. If you don't have the drive then surely you've got to rip the content on a second machine and then transfer, plus you can't run home with a new purchase and play it then and there (you have to fire up that second machine and rip and transfer it first).

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael H View Post
    Standard SFX can be noisy under load if you're used to a full size PSU, as they are limited to an 80mm fan, but Silverstone's SFX-L PSU's with a 120mm fan aren't bad at all. I don't know if the Node 202 can fit the longer PSU, though Silverstones RVZ01/ML07/FTZ01 and the smaller RVZ02/ML08 do.
    Thanks, Silverstone's got some cracking cases, and none of them are Lian-Li style "premium" pricing. I was actually looking at their product line for a super quiet build to replace a laptop I've got here doing server/desktop style work.

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael H View Post
    You also have the options of the RVZ01(£65 on scan) and ML07 (£51 on scan) which use the same chassis as the FTZ01.
    Thanks for the tip off

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    I'm honestly rather surprised at the high GPU temperatures. Comparable SFF chassis with the GPU very close to the case wall do not hit such high temperatures during testing. It may be that the Node 202 is just large enough that the gap between the GPU intake and the case wall intake is enough to encourage air recirculation rather than fresh air intake. A simple duct between the case wall and GPU intake would easily solve this.

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    I like the idea, but my personal preference would have been to enlarge it slightly (example - 1/2 to 3/4" higher and 1/2 to 1" deeper when viewed laying flat) to incorporate a ODD and at least one 3.5" drive. This may also have the ability to fit a slightly larger CPU cooler and video card.
    Maybe it is already being thought of as a extension to the product line.
    I use a Thermaltake Core V21 as I have a PCIe AC wifi card, and a PCIe port multiplier with a water cooled 290x and CPU as my HTPC. Fortunately, my TV cabinet happens to have a space just large enough to incorporate the chassis and still allow sufficient air flow. Even though there is no hole in the front cover for a ODD, there is a hole in the chassis where I fitted a slim BD with a 3.5" media card reader in a single 5.25" slot adapter (easy to remove the front cover to access when needed - just pops off almost like a front door). I know it is a fair bit larger, but along with 2x dual TV tuners and a full sized PSU, I have a very capable gaming HTPC. Good water cooling helps keep the temps right down, so less overall fan noise (200mm and 140mm fans used for lower speeds). When watching movies or TV (using a original windows media remote) it is, for all intents and purposes, silent - hidden by the surround sound system.
    The most important thing is I am happy.
    Last edited by whatif; 24-07-2015 at 04:01 PM. Reason: forgot to check spelling

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    Re: Fractal Design Node 202

    I've done a lot of SFF builds in my time and this case is very tempting, its just HHD space that may be a little tight and i fearit might be a bit on the noisy side.

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