Fractal Design Node 202 mini-ITX Chassis Review

Peter Donnell / 8 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Fractal Design Node 202 Mini-ITX HTPC Case + Integra 450W SFX PSU combe is avialable from Overclockers UK for a very reasonable £119.99. You can also pick it up without the pre-installed PSU for £69.99, but in our opinion, you’re going to need and SFX PSU and this is a very good one for just £50. It retails on its own for around £60, so there is some saving there, but even a comparable SFX PSU from Silverstone would set you back closer to £90, showing just how affordable this unit can be.

Overview

The SFF market is booming recently, with many system builders looking to fit incredibly powerful systems into increasingly smaller chassis designs. While it can be a little wide and deep compared to say, an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, it’s just as easy to slot into your AV setup as any other set-top box style unit. Yet despite its low sitting design, the use of a graphics riser adaptor means that you don’t have to make a sacrifice on gaming performance, allowing you to fit virtually any of today’s high-end air-cooled graphics cards with relative ease.

SFX power supplies continue to get better and better, and with 450W @ 80 Plus Gold rating, the Integra M has got all the juice you’ll ever need. There’s not a CPU and GPU combo on the market that will max that out, even if you’re pushing some decent overclocks. This means you’re not going to be held back by power limitations, and you’ll be able to invest in good hardware to build a high-end gaming system if you wanted to.

For an HTPC, this case certainly has the right look, and little details like that clean front panel and the black coloured USB 3.0 ports really help complete the overall design, as does the option to mount it horizontally or vertically. Cable routing can be tricky on the interior, but far from impossible and once everything is installed, it’s unlikely you’ll be opening it up often to take a look and the placement of the air vents means you can’t really see inside from the front of the chassis either.

If I was to build a new HTPC style gaming system today, there’s no doubt about it, the Node 202 would be the first thing I go out and buy. It looks great, has all the features you’re likely to need and comes with a competitive price and a PSU combo deal that’s too hard to ignore.

Pros

Great build quality
Stylish matte finish exterior
Black coloured USB 3 ports on front panel
Pre-installed SFX PSU (optional)
Support for a large graphics card
Good airflow
Dust filters
Competitive price

Cons

Thick USB 3 cable on interior can be troublesome to route
Some of the dust filters can be hard to access to clean

Neutral

No optical bay, I don’t use one, but others may desire one for HTPC type builds

“The Fractal Design 202 is the perfect solution for a compact and stylish HTPC or gaming system. With great build quality, support for a high-end graphics card and more, it’s going to make a welcome addition to your AV or desktop setup.”