Fractal Design has simply launched a classy-looking new case that’s preferrred for a mini gaming PC construct. The brand new Fractal Period 2 contains a equally curvy design to the Period ITX case the corporate launched in 2020, however with a walnut panel on the highest as normal, and a few extra room for elements.
The truth is, there’s technically simply sufficient room to squeeze an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Version into this chassis, which is a tremendous achievement for such a small case. Putting in such a strong GPU may push the bounds of this mini case’s thermals, however with its Nvidia SFF-ready specification, this tiny new Fractal Design chassis is licensed to work with a number of of one of the best graphics playing cards you should purchase proper now.
This doesn’t embrace the RTX 4090, however there’s assured compatibility with a variety of Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 fashions, in addition to the RTX 4070 Tremendous Founders Version. If you happen to’re in search of one of the best PC case for a small-but-mighty construct, then this might effectively be it.
Sensibly, the case additionally features a PCIe 4.0 riser to hyperlink the graphics card to your motherboard’s PCIe 4.0 slot. Even now, some SFF circumstances nonetheless include PCIe 3.0 risers, which trigger issues for those who run your motherboard’s slot in PCIe 4.0 mode.
Cleverly, the Fractal Period 2 has a movable motherboard wall, relying on which elements you wish to set up in it. Meaning there’s room for as much as 70mm of CPU clearance if you wish to use a two-slot graphics card, however you might set up a triple-slot graphics card with a smaller cooler, or certainly top-of-the-line AIO coolers. You’ll be able to even set up a good one of many latter, with room for a twin 240mm radiator within the roof.
In the meantime, a big opening within the entrance of the inside cage allows you to set up giant graphics playing cards by passing them by the entrance. At its restrict, the case can maintain a graphics card as much as 326mm lengthy, 137mm large, and as much as 63mm thick. House efficiencies are additionally launched by the PSU assist, with the case having room for both an SFX or SFX-L energy provide, however not a full-size ATC unit. You may get significantly highly effective SFX PSUs nowadays, although, with 1,000W fashions obtainable from Corsair, and Cooler Grasp even providing a 1,300W mannequin.
I used to be additionally comfortable to see the case’s entrance ports being genuinely mounted on the entrance, reasonably than the highest, which is the place you need them on a PC that’s going to be sat in your desk. What’s extra, one in all them is a full-fat USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 port with a full 20Gbps of bandwidth, which is nice if you wish to plug a speedy exterior SSD into your rig.
Constructing a PC within the Period 2 seems to be like fairly a fiddly and concerned affair, however Fractal has made it as straightforward as doable by offering easy accessibility to the inside. You pop off the highest walnut panel, flip a swap, after which carry off the 4 predominant partitions (constituted of aluminum) in a single go.
All in all, this seems to be like an incredible piece of mini-ITX case design to me, however I’ll reserve my ultimate judgment for once I’ve examined it for myself. Within the meantime, try our information to one of the best mini gaming PC, the place we run you thru all our favourite SFF and compact rigs proper now.
