Fractal Design first of all succeeded in creating a great looking mITX case. Being it to be used as a file server, HTPC or as mini LAN PC it will draw a crowd. Especially this tested white version is a real show stopper.

The simplicity in design, in typical Fractal style, clearly indicates we are dealing with a special sort of refined mITX enclosure. The storage capacity is nothing but amazing, okay Fractal opted to sacrifice the optical drive, but storing up to six HDD's in such a mini housing is pretty nice. Now depending on how many of the HDD brackets you intend to use, the cable management might take some time. Nevertheless a normal modular power supply, with far shorter cables then the ones from our Thunderbolt 1200W, will make the installation a bit easier.

Cooling wise the three included Fans are pretty silent. Even while running full blast the noise is barely audible. The fan controller is a nice add-on; however we feel it adds no real value to this case, as the slower selected Fan speed, had hardly any noticeable influence on neither the cooling nor the acoustics level. The cooling performance was good for such a small case with a pretty obstructed airflow thanks again due to the numerous PSU cables and hardware.

Even though it's mini in size this Fractal Node 304 has the goods to deliver. Pick your favorite gaming hardware wisely and it could turn out to be a real wolf in sheep clothes. Fill it up with drives and turn it into that little mini server you always wanted. The Node 304 is so versatile, offering great looks, hardware compatibility and good cooling. It must be added to your Xmas shopping list if you are in to build your own Home Theater PC, Mini gaming LAN rig or just use it as a fancy storage server. Retailing around 70 Euros it will not rip your wallet apart either.

The Node 304 receives a well deserved thumbs up and the MadShrimps High End Award

PROS:

• Storage capacity
• Good cooling
• Normal PSU sizes supported (150-160mm)
• Build quality

CONS:

• No fan grills

I wish to thank Heili Toome from Fractal Design for the Node 304 sample

Bernice from Gigabyte NL for supplying us with the Z87N-WIFI mITX board

Harry Butler from Corsair for the 16GB 2400C10 RAM kit.