A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the case has a similar footprint than most tower cases, but comes with a focus to remain square. This design choice also has a bit of an influence as Fractal had to find a size that offers the right compromise for space that is required for cooling, GPU and motherboard while retaining a small, square footprint on your desk. Dimensioned at 212 x 212 x 453 mm, it clocks in at approximately 20.36 liters. While it has a similar height than other tower cases, the Mood is much wider, though not as deep due to that square base resulting in up to 20% less volumetric space.


Looking at the front, you can see the air vent behind the cloth fabric in form of larger round openings in the metal sheet. It makes sense that whatever structure picked as a base of the cloth had to provide plenty of surface area while also facilitating airflow. On the bottom, you will find a tiny fractal logo and a set of IO consisting of an audio jack, USB-C as well as two USB-A ports. The power button is at the center, with a white LED ring around it. Fractal opted for a black audio port, whereas a metal one would have fit better overall with the rest of the ports. Additionally, Fractal no longer uses their signature round, silver power button on the Mood.


In the rear, you will find a solid panel, with the round opening exposed. It still sports a dust filter on the inner side of the cover, but removing this not only reveals the GPU position, but also the locking mechanism at the bottom holding the rest of the exterior shell in place.


As the exterior shell beautifully wraps three sides of the case seamlessly, the left and right areas of the Fractal Design Mood are just cloth covered. If you look closely, the air vent shining through the front is not visible on the sides, so it will be interesting to see if Fractal actually has venting on these sides or not.


Looking at the top of the unit, there is a metal mesh cover so that the 180 mm fan can push air out the top of the chassis. Having active air flow here is one of the best spots to exhaust hot air, so it is nice to see this included inside the Fractal Design Mood. Tipping the chassis over, there you can see the opening for the motherboard backplate as well as the two expansion slots for the GPU. The rear is open for cables to be run out nice and clean, with two compact hooks to zip tie them to.