http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/node-series/node-804
I've always had a problem with the standard tower case design. The motherboard goes up top, but up top you have the 5.25 bays instead of intakes. (Even if you mod the 5.25 bays you need three of them to add a single 120mm.) The intakes are on the bottom front, but that's also where the hdd cages and drives go, and even without those, a performance gpu (usually long) bisects the airflow coming in. So you need to create an airflow path that comes in from the bottom front, maneuvers around/past hdd cages and gpu, and somehow follow a sharp bend and make it to the cpu cooler and out the top rear. Just as a matter of physics this seems needlessly convoluted.
I undersrand plenty of folks make this work just fine. My Define R4 was working fine too -- until I fully populated the hdd cages, absolutely crushing the front intakes to uselessness, and got a 290mm hot gpu. And then my D14 temps went up 10c+. I modded the 5.25 bays to add some more air. Had minimal effect. I can have great cooling, or a lot of hdds, I can't have both, in the Define R4. And if I'm not going to have a lot of hdds, why do I have a full atx board and a big case? Unless I'm running triple gpu there doesn't seem to be a point.
The FT02 had the right idea with a straight path airflow from intakes to cpu cooler/gpu and out the back with psu and hdd cages out of the way. But then they rotated the board mount so air moves from bottom to top. You need a specific type of gpu cooler to make that work, even SIlverstone says so. The FT04 corrected that flaw, but then they put the hdd cage in front of the intake.
Enter the Node 804. If I were asked to design a case, this pretty much would have been it.
PSU and hdd cages are segregated into their own chamber, which you can use to install custom loop gear instead of hdds. In the motherboard compartment, you have a 120mm intake with a direct path to the cpu cooler and out the back, nothing can get in the way. The gpu gets its own front 120mm intake as well as bottom mounted double 80mms also being an option. Space up top to mount twin 280mm rads, or you could mount a single 280mm on either side. There's also a 140mm mount in the psu/hdd chamber for a smaller push-pull rad. No restriction on psu length. It's even got a big window and all cabling can be stuffed into the psu/hdd chamber for maximum presentability.
There's other cases similar to this obviously, but where the Node 804 takes the crown is, unlike those other dual compartment cases, this one can mount 10 (actually 12) 3.5" hdds with straight air path intakes cooling them, and all intakes are filtered. The dual 280mm mounts up top is also unusual.
So, unless you're running triple gpu, this seems to me as close to perfect as you can get in case design right now. About the only change I would make, is increase the dimensions half an inch all around. This would allow longer gpu, push-pull up top, and an option for a vertically mounted slim odd along the outer edge of the psu/hdd chamber. Maybe also replace the dual 80mm mounts in the bottom for a single 140mm. Other than that, this case is exactly what I want. And it comes from a manufacturer I respect as quality.
I've always had a problem with the standard tower case design. The motherboard goes up top, but up top you have the 5.25 bays instead of intakes. (Even if you mod the 5.25 bays you need three of them to add a single 120mm.) The intakes are on the bottom front, but that's also where the hdd cages and drives go, and even without those, a performance gpu (usually long) bisects the airflow coming in. So you need to create an airflow path that comes in from the bottom front, maneuvers around/past hdd cages and gpu, and somehow follow a sharp bend and make it to the cpu cooler and out the top rear. Just as a matter of physics this seems needlessly convoluted.
I undersrand plenty of folks make this work just fine. My Define R4 was working fine too -- until I fully populated the hdd cages, absolutely crushing the front intakes to uselessness, and got a 290mm hot gpu. And then my D14 temps went up 10c+. I modded the 5.25 bays to add some more air. Had minimal effect. I can have great cooling, or a lot of hdds, I can't have both, in the Define R4. And if I'm not going to have a lot of hdds, why do I have a full atx board and a big case? Unless I'm running triple gpu there doesn't seem to be a point.
The FT02 had the right idea with a straight path airflow from intakes to cpu cooler/gpu and out the back with psu and hdd cages out of the way. But then they rotated the board mount so air moves from bottom to top. You need a specific type of gpu cooler to make that work, even SIlverstone says so. The FT04 corrected that flaw, but then they put the hdd cage in front of the intake.
Enter the Node 804. If I were asked to design a case, this pretty much would have been it.
PSU and hdd cages are segregated into their own chamber, which you can use to install custom loop gear instead of hdds. In the motherboard compartment, you have a 120mm intake with a direct path to the cpu cooler and out the back, nothing can get in the way. The gpu gets its own front 120mm intake as well as bottom mounted double 80mms also being an option. Space up top to mount twin 280mm rads, or you could mount a single 280mm on either side. There's also a 140mm mount in the psu/hdd chamber for a smaller push-pull rad. No restriction on psu length. It's even got a big window and all cabling can be stuffed into the psu/hdd chamber for maximum presentability.
There's other cases similar to this obviously, but where the Node 804 takes the crown is, unlike those other dual compartment cases, this one can mount 10 (actually 12) 3.5" hdds with straight air path intakes cooling them, and all intakes are filtered. The dual 280mm mounts up top is also unusual.
So, unless you're running triple gpu, this seems to me as close to perfect as you can get in case design right now. About the only change I would make, is increase the dimensions half an inch all around. This would allow longer gpu, push-pull up top, and an option for a vertically mounted slim odd along the outer edge of the psu/hdd chamber. Maybe also replace the dual 80mm mounts in the bottom for a single 140mm. Other than that, this case is exactly what I want. And it comes from a manufacturer I respect as quality.
