XzibitNot if you have SSDs they can be in the front or in the main section. Which leaves section 2 useless aside from holding the PSU and stuffing it with wires you don't want to see.
This design is aimed at elaborate water cooling and people with a lot of HDDs

Do you read your own post? In the first sentence you state that it's not necessary if you use SSDs, but in the next one you state that this case is designed around the use of lots of HDDs. Which is specifically why that fan is placed in the other section - to provide air current to move over the HDDs.

You completely contradicted yourself.

I do and I didn't contradict myself. Read the specs on the case

Fractal Design NODE 8042 - 2.5″ dedicated SSD unit positions
2 - Extra positions for either 3,5″ or 2,5″ drives
8 - 3.5″ HDD positions

Look at 2:40+ mark on that video. Limited to 4 HDDs in PSU chamber and no room for that specific 14cm fan.

If your priority is airflow through HDDs I don't think this case is for you since a tower with 2x12cm or 2x14cm will provide more airflow to cool them off. They are towers that have a push/pull configuration on HDD cages if that's what your looking for. I have one of those 4x12cm for 6x3.5 or 8x2.5 and its a low noise mid tower.

XzibitI do and I didn't contradict myself. Read the specs on the case



Look at 2:40+ mark on that video. Limited to 4 HDDs in PSU chamber and no room for that specific 14cm fan.

If your priority is airflow through HDDs I don't think this case is for you since a tower with 2x12cm or 2x14cm will provide more airflow to cool them off. They are towers that have a push/pull configuration on HDD cages if that's what your looking for. I have one of those 4x12cm for 6x3.5 or 8x2.5 and its a low noise mid tower.

Having a fan near your HDDs is a pretty standard feature in most cases and your choices shouldn't be limited to no fan, or push/pull. This case is a good compromise.

XzibitI do and I didn't contradict myself. Read the specs on the case



Look at 2:40+ mark on that video. Limited to 4 HDDs in PSU chamber and no room for that specific 14cm fan.

If your priority is airflow through HDDs I don't think this case is for you since a tower with 2x12cm or 2x14cm will provide more airflow to cool them off. They are towers that have a push/pull configuration on HDD cages if that's what your looking for. I have one of those 4x12cm for 6x3.5 or 8x2.5 and its a low noise mid tower.

Right. It supports 8, 3.5" drives. You don't need to push/pull configuration to cool your hard drives. It's completely unnecessary in all workloads that aren't a server rack or Blade cluster. All you need is one fan - either an intake or an exhaust - to move cooler air over the drives. That's it. There's nothing ridiculous about having a fan that large on the other side of the case.

JizzlerNice. I don't know if I'd use it if I had a need to house 8 drives (time to get some SAS backplanes up in here!) but I like the rad options vs size of it and especially the external looks.



It can accept a slim optical drive.

While many (myself included) are asking to free up that dead 5.25" space in modern cases, it's not that we don't use opticals, we just don't use them enough to have more than 1 or 2 in the entire house. Neither my wife's, kids, or my own computer have had an optical for over a year. Just been using the DVD-RW in my laptop and have never felt inconvenienced by it. When my home server is done, it'll have a Blu-Ray for all reading/writing purposes. I know others here in the forum have USB models they just swap around whenever anyone needs it.

You are very rich that you can afford as many computers but many are not and can not afford a good computer with good preformense! Of course, one unit is sufficient and may be external but I would not have sea units connected to my computer wherever possible, to have-fitted in my multimedia and gaming PC! . So here we have a real salad cable and another cable. Many have working copies of original games for XBOX PS or take them on the internet and this has to be burnd.! I capture a a dvd in 3 months. Really OU is becoming less used. data can be stored on the server and disk capacity is constantly growing. A single BR can stored permanently ! up to 1 TB. !!
Considers just missing that element in case I do not trust completely magnetic format. LOL ,hole in my first sentence on first coment, I noticed that I copied poor record as it was written. Sory!

fraggotHaving a fan near your HDDs is a pretty standard feature in most cases and your choices shouldn't be limited to no fan, or push/pull. This case is a good compromise.

I stated that if one uses SSD there are 4 SDD and 2 HDD options before you have to use the 2x4 HDD racks for HDD in the PSU chamber. Some where he made the connection that using the 2x4 3.5 HDD cages were mandatory.

He alluded to being interested in cooling HDDs and I mentioned they are better options if that's his goal.

Everyone going have there take on how to set it up they're own way.