Review: fractal node 804

Fractal Design is one of the best manufacturers of silent boxes, power supplies and liquid cooling internationally. Where it has become known has been for its wide range of boxes: the silent defines, the Arc gaming, the basic Core and its innovative and reduced Node. This time we bring you the hand of the Scandinavian and minimalist manufacturer Fractal Node 804 with cube format: compatible with mATX and ITX motherboards. It is one of the most innovative boxes with its great possibilities in refrigeration and support for large graphics cards. It is amazing! From Professional Review we will show you all its secrets. We appreciate the trust and the transfer of the product to Fractal Design:

Technical characteristics

FEATURES FRACTAL NODE 804
Format	Micro ATX
Dimensions	344 x 307 x 389 mm (W x H x D)
Storage capacity	External 5.25 inch (Slim) x 1 Internal: 3.5 inch x 8 2.5 inch x 2
Refrigeration system	Installed (s): 3x 120mm Optional (s): 3x 120mm and 4x 140mm
Compatible Plates	Micro ATX and Mini ITX
Slots	5
Heatsink, power supply and graphics card support.	Maximum height for 16 cm heatsinks Maximum length for 26 cm and 32 cm power supplies for TOP GAMA graphics cards.
Color	Available in black
Weight	6 kg
Warranty	2 years.

Fractal Node 804: Exterior

The packaging is very simple with a robust box and handles for transport. On the sides we find the most important technical characteristics and specifications of this fantastic chassis.

Next to the box we find an instruction manual and a quick installation guide.

The Fractal Node 804 is compatible with mATX motherboards and the mini ITX mini size. It has very good measurements: 344 x 307 x 389 mm (W x H x D) and 6 Kg of weight. The first impression when you see that it is robust and the quality of its construction components is “cream de la cream”.

On the right side we find a completely smooth panel. Already on the edge of the rear area we find a small area for a SLIM reader unit.

A little further down we see an audio input / output, power button and two USB 3.0 connections. The truth is that everything is very flirtatious.

Already on the left side we find an expected protagonist: a large window. In it we will be able to see the main components: motherboard, heatsink or liquid cooling, cooling system, RAM and graphics card.

We go to the top of the box as it has a grid to exhaust all the hot air optimally to the equipment. Nice London bus?

The floor of the box comes equipped with 2 filters, one for the power supply and one for the hardware camera.

Rubber foot detail.

Already at the back we have two fans, one 140 mm and the other 120 mm from the Fractal brand, the hole for the back plate of the motherboard, another hole for the power supply and 5 PCI expansion slots. All this accompanied by honeycomb grids for better cooling.

Fractal Node 804: Interior

The box allows us to install reduced base plates: mATX and ITX. The entire interior is painted black, which gives the end customer an elegant and sober aesthetic. The box allows us to install a heatsink up to 16 cm high and the possibility of installing high-end cards up to 32 cm. The great advantage of this box is that it allows us to install both air and water dissipation without losing performance or sound. A luxury!

I leave you a sketch of a configuration by liquid cooling:

The Fractal Node 804 provides a great cooling system with the possibility of installing up to 10 fans. As standard it is equipped with 3 Silent Series R2 120mm fans, they are silent fans with a very minimalist aesthetic. We must bear in mind that we have up to 5 PCI slots to install graphics cards or expansion cards: sound, network controllers, etc…

An image of the control panel: power, reset, power led and USB 3.0 cables.

The second area is dedicated to house the power supply (maximum 26cm in length), hard drives and solid state drives. In addition to an auxiliary or expandable system for cooling.

One of the most innovative aspects is how you take advantage of such a small gap. This is due to its two " floating booths " on the ceiling, which allows us to install up to 8 hard drives. All of them with a silent system that avoids vibrations. Fractal thinks of everything and installs a 120mm fan at the rear to blow hot air out of the discs.

In this hole we can easily install one of the hard disk cases, allowing us to install an independent liquid cooling system for one of the graphics cards. Also better distribution of hard drives inside the box.

The power supply has an anti-vibration system with 4 rubber plugs and a filter to prevent dust from entering the box.

To finish we describe all the accessories of the bundle:

Fractal Node Box 804.Instruction manual and quick guide.Tornillería.Hook plate for graphics cards.Canvas.

WE RECOMMEND YOU Review: Fractal Design Define XL

Final words and conclusion

The Fractal Node 804 is a high-end mATX box with two chambers that isolate the components from the heat and that allows a perfect order inside. Its design is black and the sheet is brushed aluminum. This style offers a minimalist and elegant touch at the same time. Noteworthy includes a window to see all the internal components and how to take advantage of all possible gaps to get the most out of this cube. The equipment allows us to install up to 8 storage units of 2.5 ″ /3.5 ″ and a very complete cooling system with 10 fans to superbly cool all internal components. I would like to stop in the cooling and comment that the box is very versatile, since we have space to install a high-end air sink or compact or piece liquid cooling. For example, we could locate a D5 pump with its tank and the radiator in the area of the hard drives, and have only the visible block of water with the hoses facing the other chamber. We have mounted a high gamma rig on it, with an Asus Maximus VII Gene motherboard, an i7-4790k and an Asus Matrix 290X graphics card with no issues. Having excellent temperatures both at rest / idle: 28ºC, and at maximum performance / full of 49ºC. In short, if you are looking for a high-end box with a small format, with an elegant design, excellent cooling and with possibilities to install up to 8 hard drives. The Fractal Node 804 is the ideal box for just € 110 in online stores.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DESIGN	- A BLANK VERSION WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA.
+ BRUSHED ALUMINUM.
+ UP TO 10 FANS.
+8 HARD DRIVES OR SSD.
+ ALLOWS SLIM UNIT AND USB 3.0.
+ POSSIBILITY TO INSTALL HIGH-RANGE GRAPHICS CARDS, HEATSINKS OR LIQUID REFRIGERATION.