[Build Log] Fractal Design Node 304

So my Node 304 is finally arriving tomorrow so I figured I would do a build log for it. This is not going to be those amazing logs with sleeved PSU’s and watercooling, I’m really just keeping this simple. This build log is mainly to just show off the Node as much as I can which is why I’ll be taking lots of pictures when I get it. I’m also going to try to see if an H80 could fit in there in push/pull which I know will help a lot of people looking into this case as well. Onto the parts that are going in:

Pictures of my rig before I sold it and switched over to mITX (Click to show)
Current rig:
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Intel i5 2500k
G.Skill 8GB RAM kit
NVIDIA GTX 680
Crucial m4 128GB SSD
Hitachi 1TB HDD
CM Hyper 212 Heatsink (for the meantime)
Rosewill Hive 650W PSU (for the meantime as well)
All of this is sitting on top of the ASUS mobo box since I’ve been waiting for the Node for quite some time now haha

Pictures! Caution: Not pretty to look at haha (Click to show)
Stuff I’ll be trying to put in the Node:
Silverstone ST50F-P with their PP05 shortened cable kit
2x 92mm Noctua NF-B9 Fans
2x Gentle Typhoon AP-14 Fans
Corsair H80

Pictures! (Click to show)
I really hope that the H80 can fit push/pull and I kind of think it will judging by the pictures I’ve seen online. I just can’t tell for sure since no one has really posted pictures of the Node with dimensions and all that so it is kind of hard to tell. Also, I’m looking to replace the front two 92mm fans that come with the case already since I think those two fans are really important. As the only intake fans, I feel that they should really be the best fans I could get because those fans will pretty much decide how hot it’ll get inside my case

Showing the maximum height for your CPU cooler





Measuring how far the 160mm PSU will go



The amount of space you have from the fan mount to the end of the motherboard, for the people wishing to put a radiator back there



Please don't mind the dust, I had that cooler on while my rig was sitting on top of a box, didn't want the reference cooler getting dusty like this since I knew I had to switch back to it when I got the node. This shows that a 160mm modular PSU will definitely not work



Another shot of how close a 160mm PSU sits next to the GPU




They really thought of everything with this case, even has a little cutout for your screwdriver as you're screwing in the PSU
Edited by aadk - 10/25/12 at 10:28pm

Lol, yeah your build actually made me want to watercool it as well but I just came to my senses and realized I really don't need it nor do I have the funds for it haha. But yeah, an H80 definitely fits push/pull inside the case, even with RAM with large heatsinks. Will post up the pictures when I can

Had a hard time picturing how the hard drives would mount so I figured I might as well take pictures for you guys to see how it does




Mounting the Noctua's. You can't use the rubber mounts that come with the fans because the fans kind of sit in a weird place and I couldn't fit my hand to grab the rubber thing. Who knows, maybe if you have smaller hands than me then you would be able to use it haha




An H80 sitting comfortably, even with really large RAM heatsinks




Sorry about my cable management, I'm tired and didn't really want to take time to fix it. I'll probably open her up again in the weekend to fix that up



Finished product, sitting on top of my desk. I really like the clean look of this case which is why I picked it over the Silverstone cases. If you guys have any questions about the case, feel free to ask

No problem. Glad I was able to help since it was also really hard for me to picture the whole thing in my head since there wasn't really a lot of pictures for it since not a lot of people had it yet


I actually got it from NCIX US right when the price dropped to $83 but it arrived in only 2 days since I live in California so it was really close. I think that's the reason why I got it a lot faster than a lot of other people