Great to be back with cases! Which ones do you want us to look at next? There are a TON on the market now so we could use help narrowing it down. What's the interest in the new Corsair cases? Tons of cool stuff coming up. We're adding some more tests and will also be adding some noise profiling charts (similar to our handheld reviews) soon!
I really wanted you to do the Cooler Master HAF 700 Evo last year but I'm guessing you won't be doing it at this point. I was so interested in hearing your opinion and how it performed. I'm sincerely interested in that case despite the crazy price
@@GamersNexus I know you can't satisfy everybody, but personally I'd like to see more mATX; not everybody wants a tower the size of budget "surround sound" from the 80's.
@@UncleButterworthSame, but the issue I found is that mATX cases nowadays are either as big as some full ATX cases (like a Define Mini I have currently), or an afterthought "compromised" config on some larger ITX ones. I use a cheapy $30 mATX case for my HTPC that has the size of old "baby" AT cases and it's basically perfect but quality ones seems to be few and far between now that ITX is the "trend".
I have the north in black with the mesh side panel. Setting the RGB inside to cycle randomly between reds, oranges and yellows makes it look like a fireplace. It's gorgeous.
As someone who’s always been a big fan of mid towers, and was super interested in the North, I didn’t buy it because I felt it was just too small. The North XL is only a hair larger than my old h700 that I’m looking to replace, and ticks all of the boxes I felt the North was lacking on. I’ll 100% be buying this case!
You know it's going to be a good video when Steve basically smiles the whole time, that kind of enthusiasm is unironically contagious, it's been a long time coming (back), glad to see more ATX reviews. And whenever Steve would put his hands on the table and make either north case bobble a bit I was always anxiously looking at them, afraid they'd fall down at any moment lol. Also 12:28 "3 centimetres is acceptable" thanks, finally some validation here, much appreciated.
27:12 Regarding Case suggestions: Montech AIR 903 Max is currently working its way into becoming the default recommendation for budget (end even non-budget) builds among a lot of the usual pc building/parts advice community thanks to a full mesh front and 4 stock fans at only about 70$. If you're not already working on that one, I think it would be interesting to see how that performs and at what points the low price becomes noticable in terms of quality etc. Another personal interest of mine would Thermaltakes Tower 300, just cause its different and i've seen claims that the hanging GPU mount doesnt pair well with larger/heavier cards. It's an mATX case though, so i guess not really the target of this methodology, even if its large enough to fit all your standard parts.
I’m really glad PC cases have kept up with my style overtime. In 2008 cargo shorts and a lot of black were the norm in my life. Now I exclusively shop at anthropology and everything in my life is covered in ornate wood- I’m glad fractal could keep up with my hero’s journey and match my asinine pretentiousness
I have this case too. I call it 'Scandi chic'. It's the kind of case that listens to ambient, likes minimalism & art galleries and hangs around specialty coffee roasters with a laptop
Torrent is not perfect. One flaw, very poor access to top part of motherboard when using large air cooler. There should be more cut-outs. Or part in question should have had screws instead of being riveted so that it can be removed during installation. Dremel is essentially a requirement.
I bought the original North in white to make a desktop build for my wife (mainly thanks to the original GN review in fact) and I'm pretty jealous of how good it looks, so needless to say I've been considering what case to go with next time I switch mine out. (It's been a while.) This review really has me torn between the pleasing color scheme of the black and gold North XL and the still very nice looking but more functional Torrent. I'm really glad that we're spoiled for choice with functional yet more understated PC cases these days.
One thing that would be cool for the new testing methodology is to take the top ten cases of the old methodology and see how the cases hold up in the new methodology.
I was going to say this too..... perhaps they could also grab their old test rig and install into these newer 5 cases that are being tested... that would help establish a delta difference between the old data and the new data.... at least knowing that the new rig is "X degrees difference on average" could at least help provide an informed decisioon based on the old test rig data
I like the idea that they would have to come up with an obscure name for an even larger variation like "The Giga North" or "North Enormous". Im gonna shy away from the fact that they already solved this issue in the clothing department and just keeps adding another "X" as the sizes increase.
A suggestion for PC cases reviews. You really do amazing, deep dive and collect a lot of data. I think it would be good to consolidate that data. How? Using grades, lets say A-F and categories (noise, thermal, build options (regarding psu sizes, gpu sizes, motherboard sizes, gpu orientations), cooling options (aio, fans, passive ...), ease of build/replacing parts, footprint...) You establish ranges of values for each grade for each category (ease of build is more on the subjective side, but if there isn't a lot of screws and they are all of the same type and size... you get it). If you need granularity you could add + and - to grades of those products that are near the boundaries. So, in the end you could say in a review or on the site, this case is GN (certified) A in noise and A+ thermals, but C in cooling options, or we have a new A+ case in thermals.
Thermalright earning a spot in the new Case testing build is basically the highest praise they can get. Going to miss that odd MSI cooler i never knew existed though 😂
@@Troynex I kept it simple with the Noctua NH D15. It works out well enough I haven't bothered to swap, but if I could do it over I'd either look for a slightly smaller one or swap to an AIO. The fins are practically touching the GPU and I didn't have enough clearance around my RAM to mount both fans, just one in the middle.
@@Troynex It's not necessary, but it would definitely give you more wiggle room with your build. My clearance problems with my DH 15 were more due to motherboard component placements and RAM height I think, though it is close to the mesh panel on the case and doesn't leave room to mount the fan slightly higher than the fin stack to clear the RAM. My biggest problem with clearances was due to the case length, which didn't allow me room to mount the anti-sag bracket for my model of 4090 due to it running into the front case fans. Thankfully the card looks okay visually without much or any visible sagging.
I love my North, it's been a fantastic case for my first mid/high build. I appreciate how many individual panels can be removed independently, it makes it really easy to maintain and clean.
I love his excitement at the beginning when he starts talking about doing these again. You guys are really the best tech channel and it's clear you have a passion for this .
Was literally thinking last night, “huh it’s been a while since I’ve seen a case review by GN”, then I got worried cause I thought maybe you shifted your focus away from cases, but here we are. Thank you! That was very punctual of you, GN
GN's original review of the Fractal Torrent made it my choice for my first-and so far only-gaming PC build, and I'm still grateful for making that choice today. Even for a sort of semi-casual person like myself, GN's reviews are invaluable, and I'm glad cases are part of the mix again.
Great Video as usual, happy to se the case reviews are back. Will be great to see the CTE desing of Thermaltake lineup (or one of them like the C750), since they launched in the mean time of the reviews and are really focused of airflow. (Also since in some countries ouside the North American market the prices vary a lot with all the brands, since it usually depends in the existence of a official distribution or not).
I think the small looks better so I’ll still be getting that for my next build. The small’s proportions just look more pleasing to me, somehow more elegant. I think the one additional wooden slat in the XL makes it look busier and that takes away from the sleekness of the original.
@@GamersNexus I don't see me replacing mine at all. The "normal" sized is already pretty big, and will provide plenty of room for what I have (Ryzen 7 3700x with 6700XT). Even if I were to upgrade to better (and most likely bigger) components I'd still have enough room. Even though I aimed for a semi-budget pc as my first I'm glad I did not cut down on my case. Should save me the hassle and money of replacing that too.
Your Fractal Torrent video was the one that made me get it and I am honestly so pleased to see you back doing more case reviews. The go to channel for cases. Thank you Steve and GN Team.
Fractal has crowned itself with this range of computer cases. They are incredible! Sober, elegant and with an elitist touch, they stand out from the common designs or the absurd "spaceships".
@@pie_stains Yeah I have a substantial music CD collection, old games on CD/DVD, and around 20 Blu Ray movies. My only other Blu Ray player is a PS3 so I'd like a backup. I ripped almost all of my music to a nas + cloud years ago but some files have become corrupted so I want the ability to re-rip them if needed.
@@pie_stains I don't even use the 5" drive slot but I love the little storage compartment, its extremely useful for me. Much respect to the bluray drive though
after watching this review I bought a north XL glass. I am really happy with it. Everything fit well, and the case has little details that made it feel a lot more premium.
My issue is that there are no good cases bellow 60$. Good old days just few years ago I could get a really, really nice case for 60-70 and a decent case for 30-40$ and most came with a full set of fans! and even power supplies! My first case I bought I paid 39$ in 2016. Per inflation, it would cost 50$. But it was an actually good freaking case, not the current garbage in the sub 60 range.
Yep, bought a case 20 years ago and it came with fans and a power supply.... Was probably around $50 - $60. The PSU it came with even still works. It's too out of date to likely be upgraded again though, a dual slot video card is all it can fit, and it barely fits that... But I like having 5.25" and 2.5" bays.
It's so funny to me that a case this large has so few internal and external bays. I must be getting old, because I'm still wanting cases that will fit 16 hard drives...
@@QWERTYCommander the point is that the case should natively support more of them considering the size, hell the H510 could fit 3 and it was much smaller.
Also no 5.25'' support and a meager 2x USB 3.0 and 1x USB-C ports. I don't think I'll ever retire my Define R5 at this point, doesn't seem likely another case (except R6 and R7) comes out with these specs AND noise dampening.
Your reviews are the reason why I have my Torrent Compact. Its a bit of a pain to cable manage in the back and around the power supply but since its something I have to do only once every few years I dont mind it as much. Definitely looking forward to more cases.
Can't wait to watch the methodology piece. Loving the parts chosen for this new slate. We are so back! Thanks to you guys I chose a case and cpu for my first system back in 21. Happened to go with a cooler that y'all reviewed positively later down the line as well.
I built my first computer from scratch in like 2000. I just picked up a Fractal North last week and it's easily one of the best cases I've ever worked in. REALLY happy with it.
I just bought and used the Montech air 903 max in my build less than a week ago. And now I see Gamersnexus mention them in their video today. Very happy with the over all construction of my case. UPS did try to kill it but only dented the mesh thankfully. Price was $75 to my door with 4 fans, rgb controller/ fan hub. Very competitive case in the budget segment.
Thank goodness. I love your other videos too, but the reason why I even started and kept watching your videos was due to your very in-depth case reviews. The case market has gotten so insanely good at this point, that there are tons of options to choose from.
YES! The only thing that was stopping me from getting the Fractal North was the inability to top mount my 280 AIO radiator, my prayers have been heard.
Your review helped me with my torrent purchase, this review has me thinking about the XL version of this case for my next build, the original north was too small so this is kind of perfect. Shame there aren't more cases with solid or mesh panels for those of us who don't want a glass side panel, but glad the reviews are back!
7:00 The bracket fits in the regular north. it just has to slot through the fan mounting holes. I have a Gigabyte 4090 mounted nice and secure next to to 140mm fans mounted on the other side of the bracket.
Your review of the fractal north totally helped me with my build. Even put a white Peerless Assassin on my 14700K! Absolutely no regrets on the case. Looks fantastic in my home! Thanks!
I built my latest gaming rig for my Christmas present this year. I'm very pleased with it, even though it was a matter of weeks before the 4070 Super was released, rendering my 4070Ti obsolete. Ah well, such is life. I like the retro look of these cases, they remind me of high-end speakers from way back in the way back. I always enjoy the case reviews, it's very interesting to see what reality is, in contrast to all the marketing hype.
Glad to see case reviews from you again! My current case is an InWin 303, that I bought back in 2016 after you aproved it in your review! I still enjoy it and have no plans to change the case anytime soon!
Nice review, glad to see ATX back. What I just realized however is how limitted the options for decent PC cases are, when want them to fit your furniture and not look like a Fast and Furios car. On these ATX cases you are stuck positioning them on your right. I want them on the left however and there's zero options for that. Also there are no nice wooden or eye-pleasing metal options for flat desktop cases out there it seems. The PC market seems really uncreative atm.
I have the smaller North at home, it's a fantastic case and looks great. I have been following your case reviews for years and I think they are the best in business. Very much looking forward to your continuing analysis of cases.
I actually just bought the North black mid tower case yesterday for a custom build for a family member. I got the mesh version with the dark wood to match their office furniture. I'm glad to see this review pop up in my recommended videos today.
Still absolutely stoked about my Fractal North. Honestly I probably would have gone with the XL when I did my build last year if it existed, but I still love my regular North. Best case I've ever had, and that's second to my old Define 7. Fractal is just killing it for cases and I love to see it. Keep it up, Fractal! And and can't wait to see that methodology video!
I'm glad you mentioned the GPU blowthrough heat configuration issue for CPU temps. As an air enthusiast this has given me a few times the thought of tackling it, mainly just reversing airflow from back exhaust to intake (obviously lacks filters but have been curious about performance or generally other solutions).
Awesome, I am so glad the case reviews are back! Please include fan standardized results, I find those most realistic of case true airflow potential. Thank you for the content over the years 🤘
Great review. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but to me, these are gorgeous cases. Fractal nailed the Scandinavian design expression with these two cases.
Love Fractal's stuff these days. Good performance, a pleasure to build in, and nice, clean, understated designs. It's always appreciated when you can get great performance without your PC be aesthetically on par with having a racecar bed.
Upgrading my office to a black and walnut style modern design and my current case is white ao i came to Gamers Nexus for some PC case designs and this shows up... think its a sign. Thank you!
Just bought one to replace my very, very old Zalman T6 -- based off this review! I really liked the wood paneling too. Im 40 lol, RGB is not for me. This looked more adult and fits into my office aesthetically. I have high hopes for it. I've followed GN's reviews in the past and haven't been let down.
Thanks to you guys i bought Fractal Torrent, amazing looking case with insane airflow! Really love addition of open air bench temperatures, it gives some relative performance numbers. Using hotter more modern hardware also nice, as new metrics with VRAM, VRM etc. thoose also very nice.
One of the things I really like about my normal North is its relative compactness for an ATX case. I'm glad they managed to sort out the drawbacks of the original with this version, but also glad they don't affect me as much. Been super smooth sailing since I got my black mesh :)
Please do go further on that side exhaust testing you mentioned at the end. Not just for this case but in general for all cases with a sort of universal side panel you can use to test other cases that don't include it to fully test whether side panel fans help or not as well as test whether side panel vents help. It's one of the reasons I thought the Lancool II Mesh might have done so well on your previous testing methodology ( because of the lower side mesh panel ) vs the Torrent when other reviews indicated conflicting results. Side panel fans or the vent and space for them used to be a regular thing to see on "gamer" cases so it would be a decent solo topic to cover and see whether that is something case manufacturers should pursue or something still left to case modders.
I've been building PCs since 1992, Fractal is the first case manufacturer in all that time that finally designed a case with one intake and one exhaust using oversized fans, and miraculously it outperforms all other cases in cooling and noise. They still messed it up a little with the mesh on the bottom, but close enough, maybe the Torrent V2 will have a solid floor, in 2056?
Great to be back with cases! Which ones do you want us to look at next? There are a TON on the market now so we could use help narrowing it down. What's the interest in the new Corsair cases? Tons of cool stuff coming up. We're adding some more tests and will also be adding some noise profiling charts (similar to our handheld reviews) soon!
I really wanted you to do the Cooler Master HAF 700 Evo last year but I'm guessing you won't be doing it at this point. I was so interested in hearing your opinion and how it performed. I'm sincerely interested in that case despite the crazy price
Will u mail fractal about that picture at 6:54 that show the radiator mounted the wrong way?
Would love to see a video on MagniumGear Neo Qube 2
Wonder if you will look at the Phanteks XT View?
@@kentahirono It is suboptimal but not entirely wrong if there are no better options, as we've explained a lot now.
Bought my Fractal Torrent after your glowing review. Thanks for helping me decide with such high quality reviews.
Great case!
Same thing here! Been loving my Torrent ever since. ❤
Same here, I've brought two, the Torrent and the Compact. Both builds are awesome!
Same love the torrent ! Am tempted by the norths design though
@@IbstarYT Relatable, haha
Gotta admit though Torrent is an absolute unit
Happy to see the case reviews is back. To be honest, your channel is my go to when looking for cases.
Thank you! That's a big compliment. Looking forward to delivering!
It's the ONLY one i beleive.
@@GamersNexus I know you can't satisfy everybody, but personally I'd like to see more mATX; not everybody wants a tower the size of budget "surround sound" from the 80's.
@@UncleButterworthSame, but the issue I found is that mATX cases nowadays are either as big as some full ATX cases (like a Define Mini I have currently), or an afterthought "compromised" config on some larger ITX ones. I use a cheapy $30 mATX case for my HTPC that has the size of old "baby" AT cases and it's basically perfect but quality ones seems to be few and far between now that ITX is the "trend".
Thanks for being honest. I was concerned you may be lying about who you in fact use for case reviews.
I have the north in black with the mesh side panel. Setting the RGB inside to cycle randomly between reds, oranges and yellows makes it look like a fireplace. It's gorgeous.
I would freak out if my PC does look like a fireplace tho..
"It can fit a 16 inch pizza, but we decided not to film that because that would be gross" Someone is gonna hear this and think this is a challenge lol
Challenge Accepted
I'll take on the pizza, someone else want to take on the case?
I'm thinking #dawid may check that out, if he can get a pizza from temu.
leave linus out of this
yeah me, challenge accepted
As someone who’s always been a big fan of mid towers, and was super interested in the North, I didn’t buy it because I felt it was just too small. The North XL is only a hair larger than my old h700 that I’m looking to replace, and ticks all of the boxes I felt the North was lacking on. I’ll 100% be buying this case!
You know it's going to be a good video when Steve basically smiles the whole time, that kind of enthusiasm is unironically contagious, it's been a long time coming (back), glad to see more ATX reviews.
And whenever Steve would put his hands on the table and make either north case bobble a bit I was always anxiously looking at them, afraid they'd fall down at any moment lol.
Also 12:28 "3 centimetres is acceptable" thanks, finally some validation here, much appreciated.
I bought the OG North after your review. It was my first ever PC build, and on top of looking awesome it was also extremely easy to build in.
27:12 Regarding Case suggestions: Montech AIR 903 Max is currently working its way into becoming the default recommendation for budget (end even non-budget) builds among a lot of the usual pc building/parts advice community thanks to a full mesh front and 4 stock fans at only about 70$. If you're not already working on that one, I think it would be interesting to see how that performs and at what points the low price becomes noticable in terms of quality etc.
Another personal interest of mine would Thermaltakes Tower 300, just cause its different and i've seen claims that the hanging GPU mount doesnt pair well with larger/heavier cards.
It's an mATX case though, so i guess not really the target of this methodology, even if its large enough to fit all your standard parts.
I’m really glad PC cases have kept up with my style overtime. In 2008 cargo shorts and a lot of black were the norm in my life. Now I exclusively shop at anthropology and everything in my life is covered in ornate wood- I’m glad fractal could keep up with my hero’s journey and match my asinine pretentiousness
I have this case too. I call it 'Scandi chic'. It's the kind of case that listens to ambient, likes minimalism & art galleries and hangs around specialty coffee roasters with a laptop
@@CodeCube-rv1rm ………… you just described exactly where I was and what I was doing when I got this notification
Lol, I just can't get over how it looks like a swamp cooler from the 70s. I know others don't see it, but I can't unsee it.
Damnit...
People up North have never seen one.
Bought my Torrent after watching the review and its been perfect. One of my all time fav cases
Still best case you can buy by a mile
how do u its perfect when it for less than a day
@@raptorhacker599 I said Torrent in the first 3 words of the message...not the North
Torrent is not perfect. One flaw, very poor access to top part of motherboard when using large air cooler. There should be more cut-outs. Or part in question should have had screws instead of being riveted so that it can be removed during installation. Dremel is essentially a requirement.
@@reav3rtm Perfect for me. Theres always some klutz out there that has a problem with every product on Earth. Nothing is actually "perfect"
I bought the original North in white to make a desktop build for my wife (mainly thanks to the original GN review in fact) and I'm pretty jealous of how good it looks, so needless to say I've been considering what case to go with next time I switch mine out. (It's been a while.) This review really has me torn between the pleasing color scheme of the black and gold North XL and the still very nice looking but more functional Torrent. I'm really glad that we're spoiled for choice with functional yet more understated PC cases these days.
Fantastic to have at least one YT channel offering case teardowns that we can trust, welcome back GN case reviews.
One thing that would be cool for the new testing methodology is to take the top ten cases of the old methodology and see how the cases hold up in the new methodology.
Planning to!
I was going to say this too..... perhaps they could also grab their old test rig and install into these newer 5 cases that are being tested... that would help establish a delta difference between the old data and the new data.... at least knowing that the new rig is "X degrees difference on average" could at least help provide an informed decisioon based on the old test rig data
And one of the worst!
I like the idea that they would have to come up with an obscure name for an even larger variation like "The Giga North" or "North Enormous". Im gonna shy away from the fact that they already solved this issue in the clothing department and just keeps adding another "X" as the sizes increase.
The Fractal Enorthmous
@@GamersNexus 😂😂
Yeah, XXL sounds great
Looking forward to the North XXXL with the special waifu color scheme
@@mjc0961 😏
A suggestion for PC cases reviews. You really do amazing, deep dive and collect a lot of data. I think it would be good to consolidate that data. How? Using grades, lets say A-F and categories (noise, thermal, build options (regarding psu sizes, gpu sizes, motherboard sizes, gpu orientations), cooling options (aio, fans, passive ...), ease of build/replacing parts, footprint...) You establish ranges of values for each grade for each category (ease of build is more on the subjective side, but if there isn't a lot of screws and they are all of the same type and size... you get it). If you need granularity you could add + and - to grades of those products that are near the boundaries. So, in the end you could say in a review or on the site, this case is GN (certified) A in noise and A+ thermals, but C in cooling options, or we have a new A+ case in thermals.
Torrent really is the GOAT. I have the compact one and it's honestly eerie.
I think Torrent is indeed the goat for Air cooled CPU and Lancool III goat for AIO rig. And both great brands.
Oh look there's my Torrent. Lovely case which is really quiet and cool with low rpm and massive air throughput.
Yep the daddy of the pc case world
Big praise to the editor for adding the blue bars on the sides to show how long that slide/section will be talked about. I love it so much.
love it when Patrick makes a cameo. glad you guys are back at this!
So much DATA, I love it! You guys are a bastion of truth for consumers, thank you guys sincerely.
Thermalright earning a spot in the new Case testing build is basically the highest praise they can get. Going to miss that odd MSI cooler i never knew existed though 😂
I've always wanted more wood in my PC. Glad to see that dream comes closer and closer every day.
I just did my first build in 15 years with the North + 7800X3D + 4090 thanks to your reviews. The build turned out amazing and I'm so glad i did it!
Which CPU cooler you have
@@Troynex I kept it simple with the Noctua NH D15. It works out well enough I haven't bothered to swap, but if I could do it over I'd either look for a slightly smaller one or swap to an AIO. The fins are practically touching the GPU and I didn't have enough clearance around my RAM to mount both fans, just one in the middle.
@@AriaLaurel so the xl case is Maybe better for 4080, d15 ?
@@Troynex It's not necessary, but it would definitely give you more wiggle room with your build. My clearance problems with my DH 15 were more due to motherboard component placements and RAM height I think, though it is close to the mesh panel on the case and doesn't leave room to mount the fan slightly higher than the fin stack to clear the RAM.
My biggest problem with clearances was due to the case length, which didn't allow me room to mount the anti-sag bracket for my model of 4090 due to it running into the front case fans. Thankfully the card looks okay visually without much or any visible sagging.
@@AriaLaurel Thank you! So a Bigger motherboard would help? So an E ATX is better than ATX or What do you mean?
I love my North, it's been a fantastic case for my first mid/high build. I appreciate how many individual panels can be removed independently, it makes it really easy to maintain and clean.
They're back!
So happy this was the first response. I was wondering if people would remember! It's been a while!
@@GamersNexusthanks Steve
@@GamersNexusthanks Steve
... back to you, Steve!
Thanks again, Steve
I love his excitement at the beginning when he starts talking about doing these again. You guys are really the best tech channel and it's clear you have a passion for this .
Case reviews! This is how I discovered Gamers Nexus so many years ago. Thanks!
Same here!
congratulations on the roll out! GN is an inspiration with its quality and lack of compromises
Was literally thinking last night, “huh it’s been a while since I’ve seen a case review by GN”, then I got worried cause I thought maybe you shifted your focus away from cases, but here we are. Thank you! That was very punctual of you, GN
They did one nearly a month ago
@@ventilate4267 ITX ones they still did, not ATX for a while though.
GN's original review of the Fractal Torrent made it my choice for my first-and so far only-gaming PC build, and I'm still grateful for making that choice today. Even for a sort of semi-casual person like myself, GN's reviews are invaluable, and I'm glad cases are part of the mix again.
Great Video as usual, happy to se the case reviews are back. Will be great to see the CTE desing of Thermaltake lineup (or one of them like the C750), since they launched in the mean time of the reviews and are really focused of airflow. (Also since in some countries ouside the North American market the prices vary a lot with all the brands, since it usually depends in the existence of a official distribution or not).
I just bought my north and I love it. I am sure everyone else with a big build will love this one
Me: Buys a North case.
Next week: Here we are.
The North is still great!
I think the small looks better so I’ll still be getting that for my next build. The small’s proportions just look more pleasing to me, somehow more elegant. I think the one additional wooden slat in the XL makes it look busier and that takes away from the sleekness of the original.
Literally me
@@GamersNexus I don't see me replacing mine at all. The "normal" sized is already pretty big, and will provide plenty of room for what I have (Ryzen 7 3700x with 6700XT). Even if I were to upgrade to better (and most likely bigger) components I'd still have enough room. Even though I aimed for a semi-budget pc as my first I'm glad I did not cut down on my case. Should save me the hassle and money of replacing that too.
@@user-jk5um1om8l plus it's large enough for most normal-sized components already. Even with the xl out I'd go for the regular north still
Your Fractal Torrent video was the one that made me get it and I am honestly so pleased to see you back doing more case reviews. The go to channel for cases. Thank you Steve and GN Team.
Fractal has crowned itself with this range of computer cases. They are incredible! Sober, elegant and with an elitist touch, they stand out from the common designs or the absurd "spaceships".
As someone who is looking to replace my 10 year old fractal define r5 case, I am super happy you guys are back on case reviews
I have a pop air because of gamers nexus. Great case, love the looks in white
I got one after the review also. Happy to still have a bluray drive.
@@pie_stains Yeah I have a substantial music CD collection, old games on CD/DVD, and around 20 Blu Ray movies. My only other Blu Ray player is a PS3 so I'd like a backup. I ripped almost all of my music to a nas + cloud years ago but some files have become corrupted so I want the ability to re-rip them if needed.
@@pie_stains I don't even use the 5" drive slot but I love the little storage compartment, its extremely useful for me. Much respect to the bluray drive though
after watching this review I bought a north XL glass. I am really happy with it. Everything fit well, and the case has little details that made it feel a lot more premium.
Excellent information on the motherboard sizes. As someone who plays with server motherboard this is very helpful.
your case reviews have always been of great use when i pick one for a build. thanks GN!
Finally a case big enough to keep my pizza warm while gaming. Truly an amazing time we live in
17 minutes in before the testing started... and I'm not even mad. Can't wait to see more case tests!
My issue is that there are no good cases bellow 60$.
Good old days just few years ago I could get a really, really nice case for 60-70 and a decent case for 30-40$ and most came with a full set of fans! and even power supplies!
My first case I bought I paid 39$ in 2016. Per inflation, it would cost 50$. But it was an actually good freaking case, not the current garbage in the sub 60 range.
Yep, bought a case 20 years ago and it came with fans and a power supply.... Was probably around $50 - $60. The PSU it came with even still works.
It's too out of date to likely be upgraded again though, a dual slot video card is all it can fit, and it barely fits that... But I like having 5.25" and 2.5" bays.
I believe in the past, GN has mentioned the Montech X3 Mesh, a $60 case, in a positive light.
bought nr200p and meshlicious for around $60 each they are excellent
Thanks for making such consistently good content. :)
Babe, wake up! PC Jesus is preaching about cases again.
I have been YEARNING for more case reviews. Thanks :)
It's so funny to me that a case this large has so few internal and external bays. I must be getting old, because I'm still wanting cases that will fit 16 hard drives...
I want at least a 5.25" bay for an optical drive, and a 2.5" for a media reader that I don't have to plug in with USB and keep in a draw.
Yes, if you make a giant case at least use it properly, otherwise why would you just waste so much space.
I mean if you need a lot of HDD's then a RAID array built into a NAS would probably be better wouldn't it?
@@QWERTYCommander the point is that the case should natively support more of them considering the size, hell the H510 could fit 3 and it was much smaller.
Also no 5.25'' support and a meager 2x USB 3.0 and 1x USB-C ports. I don't think I'll ever retire my Define R5 at this point, doesn't seem likely another case (except R6 and R7) comes out with these specs AND noise dampening.
Your reviews are the reason why I have my Torrent Compact. Its a bit of a pain to cable manage in the back and around the power supply but since its something I have to do only once every few years I dont mind it as much.
Definitely looking forward to more cases.
Damn, I had no idea how much I wanted to see a case review. Is it relaxing and somewhat nostalgic to anyone else?
The cadence for the case reviews is what led to my often listening to it while drinking my morning cup of coffee and waking up. 😊
@@optiquest86 The only news I wanna hear in the morning is Gamers Nexus news :D
7:50 fortunately quite a lot of power supply manufacturers sell 90 degree power cables for 12V-2X6 now, so at least this has an easy solve available.
Finally a case with no freaking glass.
Great video. Patrick's breakdown was amazing, thank you for having such a good team.
GN are cowards. Show us the pizza shot!
I thought about it. And then I thought about cleaning it up.
@@GamersNexus We want pizza...we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..we want pizza..
@@GamersNexus lay the case on its back side, cut the pizza box cardboard to the same size as the pizza (maybe +1cm for grip), insert, remove.
I had to reinstall Windows halfway through the video, but I came back afterwards to watch until the end. Neat case.
Come ooon... Why XL? We want Mini North!
Can't wait to watch the methodology piece. Loving the parts chosen for this new slate. We are so back! Thanks to you guys I chose a case and cpu for my first system back in 21. Happened to go with a cooler that y'all reviewed positively later down the line as well.
How good is it for dust filtration?
I built my first computer from scratch in like 2000. I just picked up a Fractal North last week and it's easily one of the best cases I've ever worked in. REALLY happy with it.
please bring back normalized fans!
Why? No one buys an XL case and only runs two 140s for intake and a 120 for exhaust...
assembled a machine last week for a friend with the mesh version of the North.
Loved it, super high quality materials and very good looking evidently.
Clint from LGR is going to love these new woodgrain cases coming out.
I just bought and used the Montech air 903 max in my build less than a week ago. And now I see Gamersnexus mention them in their video today. Very happy with the over all construction of my case. UPS did try to kill it but only dented the mesh thankfully.
Price was $75 to my door with 4 fans, rgb controller/ fan hub. Very competitive case in the budget segment.
Thank goodness. I love your other videos too, but the reason why I even started and kept watching your videos was due to your very in-depth case reviews.
The case market has gotten so insanely good at this point, that there are tons of options to choose from.
YES! The only thing that was stopping me from getting the Fractal North was the inability to top mount my 280 AIO radiator, my prayers have been heard.
Your review helped me with my torrent purchase, this review has me thinking about the XL version of this case for my next build, the original north was too small so this is kind of perfect. Shame there aren't more cases with solid or mesh panels for those of us who don't want a glass side panel, but glad the reviews are back!
7:00 The bracket fits in the regular north. it just has to slot through the fan mounting holes. I have a Gigabyte 4090 mounted nice and secure next to to 140mm fans mounted on the other side of the bracket.
Your review of the fractal north totally helped me with my build. Even put a white Peerless Assassin on my 14700K! Absolutely no regrets on the case. Looks fantastic in my home! Thanks!
Im so jealous of this dude’s hair
Case reviews are actually how i found your channel originally. I'm really glad you've gotten back into this space!!
I built my latest gaming rig for my Christmas present this year. I'm very pleased with it, even though it was a matter of weeks before the 4070 Super was released, rendering my 4070Ti obsolete. Ah well, such is life. I like the retro look of these cases, they remind me of high-end speakers from way back in the way back. I always enjoy the case reviews, it's very interesting to see what reality is, in contrast to all the marketing hype.
Glad to see case reviews from you again! My current case is an InWin 303, that I bought back in 2016 after you aproved it in your review! I still enjoy it and have no plans to change the case anytime soon!
Man its nice to see case reviews again. Remember the og website for the go to reviews and then the transition to youtube and then now.
I love the inspirational quote on the test bench, "Ground yourself."
Thank you for all the content over the years.
I bought this case and i didnt regret it one bit. GNs review made my purchase a worthy buy with those analytics and review. Thank you!
Nice to have the case reviews back! A small note: The case shown at 4:08 is not a Meshify C but a Define C.
Case reviews are back, just in time to plan a new build! Thanks, Steve and GN Team!
Nice review, glad to see ATX back.
What I just realized however is how limitted the options for decent PC cases are, when want them to fit your furniture and not look like a Fast and Furios car. On these ATX cases you are stuck positioning them on your right. I want them on the left however and there's zero options for that. Also there are no nice wooden or eye-pleasing metal options for flat desktop cases out there it seems. The PC market seems really uncreative atm.
I have the smaller North at home, it's a fantastic case and looks great. I have been following your case reviews for years and I think they are the best in business. Very much looking forward to your continuing analysis of cases.
Absolutely STUNNING case... All manufacturers should take inspiration from Fractal... I need this case!!!
I actually just bought the North black mid tower case yesterday for a custom build for a family member. I got the mesh version with the dark wood to match their office furniture.
I'm glad to see this review pop up in my recommended videos today.
Love my Fractal North, easily best-looking case and timeless/modern. Happily housing a 7900XTX Nitro+, cosy but perfect fit!
Still absolutely stoked about my Fractal North. Honestly I probably would have gone with the XL when I did my build last year if it existed, but I still love my regular North. Best case I've ever had, and that's second to my old Define 7. Fractal is just killing it for cases and I love to see it. Keep it up, Fractal! And and can't wait to see that methodology video!
It's great to see Steve really excited about something again, great job guys, hope to see more testing soon, especially mini-ITX cases
I'm glad you mentioned the GPU blowthrough heat configuration issue for CPU temps. As an air enthusiast this has given me a few times the thought of tackling it, mainly just reversing airflow from back exhaust to intake (obviously lacks filters but have been curious about performance or generally other solutions).
Awesome, I am so glad the case reviews are back! Please include fan standardized results, I find those most realistic of case true airflow potential. Thank you for the content over the years 🤘
Great review. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but to me, these are gorgeous cases. Fractal nailed the Scandinavian design expression with these two cases.
Good to have you back doing case reviews. I would love to see you covering the in win mod free case next. Keep up the good work.
Love Fractal's stuff these days. Good performance, a pleasure to build in, and nice, clean, understated designs. It's always appreciated when you can get great performance without your PC be aesthetically on par with having a racecar bed.
Upgrading my office to a black and walnut style modern design and my current case is white ao i came to Gamers Nexus for some PC case designs and this shows up... think its a sign. Thank you!
I just bought the XL. I am so excited to get my rig moved over into it!
I stuck my liquid cooled 4090 in og Fractal North, with a push pull deepcool 360 AIO setup on the front. tight fit, but it fits!
Just bought one to replace my very, very old Zalman T6 -- based off this review! I really liked the wood paneling too. Im 40 lol, RGB is not for me. This looked more adult and fits into my office aesthetically. I have high hopes for it. I've followed GN's reviews in the past and haven't been let down.
Finally, as interesting as they are, I have been looking forward to the return of your non-itx case reviews.
Thanks to you guys i bought Fractal Torrent, amazing looking case with insane airflow!
Really love addition of open air bench temperatures, it gives some relative performance numbers.
Using hotter more modern hardware also nice, as new metrics with VRAM, VRM etc. thoose also very nice.
One of the things I really like about my normal North is its relative compactness for an ATX case. I'm glad they managed to sort out the drawbacks of the original with this version, but also glad they don't affect me as much. Been super smooth sailing since I got my black mesh :)
Please do go further on that side exhaust testing you mentioned at the end. Not just for this case but in general for all cases with a sort of universal side panel you can use to test other cases that don't include it to fully test whether side panel fans help or not as well as test whether side panel vents help. It's one of the reasons I thought the Lancool II Mesh might have done so well on your previous testing methodology ( because of the lower side mesh panel ) vs the Torrent when other reviews indicated conflicting results. Side panel fans or the vent and space for them used to be a regular thing to see on "gamer" cases so it would be a decent solo topic to cover and see whether that is something case manufacturers should pursue or something still left to case modders.
I've been building PCs since 1992, Fractal is the first case manufacturer in all that time that finally designed a case with one intake and one exhaust using oversized fans, and miraculously it outperforms all other cases in cooling and noise. They still messed it up a little with the mesh on the bottom, but close enough, maybe the Torrent V2 will have a solid floor, in 2056?