A Closer Look - Outside

Right out of its box, one may wonder how to stuff a mATX board and fully sized components into this case, alongside 12 hard drives. The NODE 804 also looks very much like the 304, just bigger. Fractal even chose to go for some metal mesh in the front and a window on the side.


Looking straight at the NODE 804, there is nothing on the front except for a small Fractal Design logo. How everything will fit into the chassis becomes a bit clearer once you take a look at the rear. The uneven divide of the interior and a unique internal approach will essentially make all the hardware fit. Naturally, as this is a Fractal case, there are plenty of white element, like the fan blades and expansion-slot covers.


The window allows you to look at the chassis' motherboard compartment, giving you the ability to show the parts that count off. As you would want hide all the boring drives and the PSU, the opposite panel is completely solid.


One unique aspect of this cube chassis is the placement of its ODD drive bay. It is of the slimline variety, offering no reset button - the norm with such a bay. Fractal embedded the bay into the chassis' front panel, along with the power and reset button and a pair of USB 3.0 plugs.


You may also pull the entire front panel off to reveal two dust-filter-equipped openings, each capable of holding two 120 mm fans. Fractal includes a single such unit on the motherboard's side of things. Look closely and you can also discern how the many hard drives are to be installed within - but more on that later. Looking at the insides of the front panel, there are two dedicated SSD-mounting positions and the slimline ODD bay; you will have to use the metal plate to install an optical drive there.


Taking a more thorough look at the rear, the PSU bay in the bottom-left corner comes equipped with two sets of mounting holes, so you may install your PSU with the fan facing up- or downward. Above the bay is a 120 mm exhaust fan set to push hot air out through the back.


Moving onto the chassis' other half, a third 120 mm fan has been placed there for the same purpose. Look closely and you will also find a small switch in the top-left corner. It is a fan controller for up to three units. Below it are the five motherboard expansion slots for the MicroATX board. MicroATX boards also only require four such slots, leaving you with an extra slot for easy multi-GPU setups.


The entire top cover is one big metal mesh panel. Removing it reveals four 120/140 mm mounting positions for fans. It would have been pretty cool had Fractal Design placed the top cover high enough for fans to be installed above the chassis' frame, but it is still excellent to have as many fan-placement possibilities as there are within.


Two dust filters on the bottom cover all the openings in the floor. Given their position, these may be pulled out without pulling off the entire front cover.