Fractal Design Node 202 ITX Case Review

The Build    

To fit the riser bracket you first have to remove the ninety degree angled PCI and tunnel section as a whole.  Don’t worry though as it only takes three simple easy to get at screws to do this. 

       

 

The vertical part of the riser then attaches to the tunnel section via three screws, with the horizontal part simply plugging into it as it it were a PCI socket on the motherboard The whole shooting match is then re inserted into the case with the vertical section plugging into the actual motherboard.  If this sounds complicated and long winded, believe us, it’s not. 

       

 

With the riser in place the GPU can then be fitted in the horizontal direction.  As usual we’ve used our trusty EN 8800 GT.  If you’re noticing a bit of a curve, don’t worry, it’s the card, and nothing to do with the case. 

       

 

If you’re looking to house something a bit bigger then you’ll be pleased to know the 202 will take cards up to 310mm long.  They do however also have to be under 145mm deep and no more than 47mm thick.  None of which should be a problem for your average twin slot card, but if you’ve got a fancy copper pipe job you might want to check things out first.

         

 

With everything in we can see that very little space is wasted, with any spare room being set aside for cable management.  The 202 we have on test today comes with an Integra SFX PSU, but should you buy the model without the PSU and fit your own then anything up to 130mm will fit just fine and still leave room to turn those cables.  From the viewpoint of cooler though things are a little more limited, as with only 56mm of room on tap you’re limited to either the stock Intel and AMD coolers or at a push some of the more low profile designs from Noctua such as the NH-L9i