Assembly

As with most SFF enclosures, you have to first consider storage installation before moving on to the other components. The Fractal Design Terra is no different. You may install a drive in the front using the Velcro straps which could remain here even if you go for a compact 120 mm AIO within the enclosure. While this is done without the need for any tools, using the included HDD tray allows for a drive to installed on the floor as well with the use of a screwdriver. This position would limit you to air cooling your CPU as well as get in the way of the potential cooling fan in the floor. Considering that any active air flow within a chassis of this size would be helpful, it would be no surprise if most end up limiting themselves to a single 2.5" drive to take advantage of lower temperatures.


Installing the PSU is really easy as well, as you may remove the mounting frame to first attach it to the unit and then simply put it back in place and plug in the power cord itself.


With those components in place, installing the motherboard is straight forward. The only aspects you need to be mindful of are cable routing as well as moving the spine to accommodate your air cooler. As you can see, both the power cables can be attached fairly easily and are out of the way of things. That said, on more complicated, modern boards that include stacked PCBs, you may have to go as far as to pre-connect some wires before lifting the board into place. As the Fractal Design Terra has a maximum GPU length of 322 mm, we opted for the PNY GeForce 4070 Dual-Fan, as this is short enough with a bit of room to spare. As this is also a true dual-slot card, we could easily skip the step of removing the whole bracket. If you do need to do so, it is advisable to install the GPU before adding your motherboard.


With everything installed, the Fractal Design Terra can be cable managed pretty well considering the size of the enclosure. Both the SSD and the GPU are all clear of any cables, and we ended up pushing the spine towards the center position a bit to accommodate the Noctua cooler while leaving as much room on the GPU side as possible.


With all the hardware in place, one can clip the side panels back into position and Fractal includes screws to secure them, so that people can't easily access the interior if the system is reachable - say in shared spaces or at a receptionist's desk.

Finished Looks

With the system filled up, there is really nothing that gives that way when viewed from the side or front of the case. In the back there are a few intentional gaps in the frame, but Fractal does allow for the motherboard backplate to be used. The reason for the gaps is the fact that you are able to move the spine to the left or right.


As both sides lack any kind of dust filtration, you will have to consider cleaning the interior from time to time. As such, it makes little sense to screw the panels down if you have your system in a private setting. You can clearly see the components through both sides, even without any ARGB elements as neither the case nor the components come equipped with any.