Fractal Design Mood
The Fractal Design Mood case, unveiled at Computex 2024, is already in our testlab. And while we won’t look at the cooling results just yet, let’s take a look at the key design elements. Based on these, you’ll get an idea of the broad features of the case, which is designed for Mini-ITX motherboards. This then leads to a focus on maximizing space savings on a desk or elsewhere.
Disclaimer: This article does not contain any tests, but we are preparing for them and they will come.
The vertically oriented Fractal Design Mood, including the stand/feet, is 453 mm in the dominant axis (i.e. in height). In depth and width it is 212 mm.
The dimensions allow for the smallest possible footprint while allowing for a relatively larger space in height. This means that, on the one hand, there is a considerable saving of space where the case is placed, but it can be restricted from above by, for example, a shelf that is too low. And it shouldn’t be too cramped either, because the exhaust of the case is on the ceiling. There should be some headroom at the top, at least several centimetres, to prevent the warm air from coming back in.
On top of the case there is a perforated mesh screen through which the air is dynamically pushed by a fan. The holes in the cover are relatively small (approx. ø 1.4 mm) considering that it is not a typical dust filter. Although yes, for catching free-falling dust when the PC is switched off, the denser structure of the screen is useful.
The dust filter, which is supposed to counteract dust sucked in, is only at the back of the case, behind which the graphics card can be installed vertically. It has a slightly finer sieve (approx. ø 1.1 mm), which can still be described as quite loose. It is not a nylon filter, but holes in a plastic plate. The latter is still decorated from the front with a cover with large circular holes on an approx. 0,85 mm (together with the paint) thick plate. The plate is quite strong, also thanks to the folds around its perimeter.
Perhaps the central element of the exterior is the textile lining. It too partially fills the role of a dust filter – from the front of the case, which is perforated through-and-through. On the remaining two sides (with full metal sheets) it has only a decorative purpose. The fabric here is dense and unless you put it against a light, it is not transparent.
You can get inside the case by removing the back panel. This is held in place from the bottom of the case by two push-pins and from the top, across the width of the shorter side, the panel is held in a trough. Disassembly is simple – you pull the push-pins (from the bottom) out with a tug and you’re done. The top cover behind the fan can be “got rid of” in a similar way.
The fan here is really worth paying attention to. In proportion to the rest of the case, it looks huge. And that’s what the 180mm Dynamic X2 GP-18 actually is. Not only in terms of cross-section, but also in profile. It is as thick as 38 mm. The airflow should be high enough for efficient system cooling even at low/quiet speeds. But this will only be revealed later in the tests.
Before installing the components, the side panels, or one-piece fabric-covered tunnel, must be removed from the case. To do this, you have to remove it from the bottom by removing a pair of screws. After that, the “U” tunnel can be conveniently slid out and you can pop off wiht the components.
We started by installing the motherboard, which also had a Noctua NH-L12Sx77 cooler pre-installed. However, its fan had to be moved up from the bottom, because in its default position (under the fins) it already collides with the PSU cables, which need some space. The position for the PSU (SFX) is close to the 24-pin (ATX) connector.
In height, a cooler can be a maximum of 114 mm, unless you use a liquid cooler (with a radiator up to 280 mm, i.e., possibly 240/140/120 mm). This is also a possibility. But mutually exclusive with installing an adapter for inch format storage.
A PCI Express ×16 (4.0) riser routed underneath the motherboard reaches the slot (PCIe ×16), but it is also nice and convenient to mount the graphics card, which is “in the next chamber”, parallel to the PCB of the motherboard. However, beware of the maximum length of the graphics card (up to 325 mm) and also its thickness, which must not exceed 56 mm.
If you follow the Fractal Design manual, you install the PSU so that it draws heated air from the graphics card cooler. It is actually pushed into the PSU quite aggressively by it (the cooler). And it is worth considering whether to turn the PSU in the opposite direction for the sake of the longest possible lifetime, so that it does not heat up more than is appropriate.
You have to connect the wall power supply to the case first – internally – and then you go from the socket to the bottom of the case. It’s implemented through… a kind of a little extension cord.
And we can also take a look at the connector panel, which includes the power button. All connectors (both USB and 3-pole 3.5 mm headphone jack with microphone) are on the front. This will please those users who are bothered by dust falling into the connectors, which tend to be on the top of cases. In this case, however, there is less to worry about.
Later, the Fractal Design Mood will also appear in tests. But first we have to finish the work on the upcoming test methodology. Hopefully, we will also publish an article with an in-progress draft at the end of the month, which you will be able to revise, and join the debate around what would be appropriate to add to the tests.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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- Fractal Design Mood
make it half the height and we have perfect dimensions, internals may need some rearrangements to make it possible to use proper CPU coolers like U12A but that’s still achievable
To reduce the height without affecting components compatibility, they can remove the top 38 mm thick fan, or replace with a much smaller one (140 mm at most) so it “sinks” into the PSU area. That would shave off 38 mm.
Then, they can shave off another 30 mm or so by adopting the Meshlicious layout (I/O at the back) and by including 90 degree cable(s) for the GPU.
Both these together would reduce the total height by ~70 mm, from 453 to 383. Halfing the height isn’t feasible at all: it would limit you to ITX length GPUs and there would be no place for the PSU.
I do agree that they should go for a riseless layout instead. For a case with 212 mm outer dimensions and bottom I/O, sandwich layout doesn’t make sense at all. With those dimensions, it can easily support >172 mm air coolers and still support AIOs. SFF time MNLT is a good example of such a layout: it has similar or better GPU compatibility (3 slots 315 mm w/top 200×30 mm fan), 182 mm air cooler support, all while being 1 L smaller.
It would seem to me that Fractal doesn’t really understand the advantage of sandwich layouts (smaller width) and just throw it in without much thought.
halving the height would be possible with more-than-ITX graphic cards but relying on SFX-L or smaller PSU to achieve that
probably the smallest readily available are Metis, clones and relatives, and if you don’t care about aesthetics as much and are willing to mod a bit in SG-06 and SG-13 you can move the PSU to the front like in Metis to squeeze in a bigger CPU cooler, overall they are smaller than Metis but the biggest dimension is bigger
I’d really love to see something as small as possible handling the same components Metis does, there’s still some space left in mine with U12A inside, with P1 it was much worse and ATX PSU simply didn’t fit at all, but with powers required for such a case even pico should be fine
Problem with your example cases are that none of them are of a vertical layout: they have a larger footprint, their GPUs aren’t going height-wise and are much more limited in length, and there’s no need for a 5-6 cm space at the bottom reserved for cables. They’re very different cases from the Mood. Vertical cases are optimized for footprint, and horizontal ones for overall volume.
There unfortunately aren’t too many small (<15L) cases with excellent (≥158 mm) CPU cooler support (though it's understandable as it means worse GPU support). Aside from your listed cases, there's Sugo 16, and pretty much nothing more among mainstream options. That said, I think Sugo 16 is a pretty good option and is very similar in size to the Metis. If you front mount an SFX PSU, you can even get the D15 to fit, which leaves very little unused space.
all of them could be still shortened
sure, the footprint may still be a bit bigger, but whether mobo lays flat or is installed as usual that would allow them to be smaller than this tower
there’s a lot of room for different designs but I just never see anyone even trying to support a decent air cooler and not a huge graphic card
optimally I wouldn’t use dGPU at all, but that still has to wait 2-3 generations, for now A2000 with Accelero S3 is what it is, in Metis there’s enough space to put a fan above it to assist it a bit but that shouldn’t be necessary if everything is installed properly
I have personal experiences with Sugo 14 (which is smaller than 16, and the same as 15 but cheaper and no aluminum). I must say, it was very pleasant experience to build in it. Accessible from all sides, sturdy construction and my old NH-U14S fit right there :-P… and it can accommodate 3 slot Graphic card and standard ATX PSU (max 150mm iirc …. I have 140mm Seasonic in it ).
The close up shots of the “dust filter” and the fabric shows how restrictive those are. Based on Machines and More’s test, the case performs very poorly because of these highly restrictive vents. It’s a shame, because theoretically it could be excellent thermally, but the vent design killed everything.
P.S. I’ve seen opinions saying that the other two walls should have been vented as well, but I think Fractal made the right choice here, encouraging airflow through the sides that actually matter. If those two walls are vented, I’d expect a further reduction in performance.
Only two of the four high walls of the case are perforated. Both the back (on the graphics card side) and the front (on the motherboard/CPU cooler side). Although you can’t see it on the latter at first glance from the outside, behind the fabric is a sheet of metal with the same circular pattern as the back of the case. The structure of the fabric itself is then reinforced with multiple layers. To give you a better idea, below is a close-up photo. This is what the front panel looks like from the inside for the vast majority of its surface area, top to bottom.
If you were to tell me that the photo shows a kind of cloth designed to block wind, I would believe you.
Well, while the plastic dust filter is the most restrictive obstacle (according to Lubo’s data)…maybe this fabric won’t be too far off.
Lubooo, I know you don’t have any time spare, but if you could take two more measurements (in the next fan test) with these two panels to quantify the power of their respective restraints, we would be very thankful and eager to know 😛
I’d say the front panel fabric will be considerably more restrictive than a plastic filter in the front. Remember the tests where we tested a DIY solution made of ladies’ nylon tights with different fibre densities compared to other filter types.
Well, the fabric seems to me to be of organic origin (some kind of yarn or linen… do they write somewhere what it is?), i.e. a less regular shape… more different phases – less folding of the amplitude in the same direction…
you don’t measure, you don’t know… I know, it’s at least 14 more measurements, but for science 😀
I wonder what the impact on cooling performance would be if the front panel was without perforations. There would be no pressure loss at these points and the negative pressure could be more pronounced. But in the end it could probably lead to even worse results than those in the Machines and More tests you refer to above. And probably the difference (with and without perforation) in cooling results could be quite small, the structure of the fabric looks quite impermeable. 🙂
There will be more negative pressure, which means more air are drawn through the remaining vents (basically, the back side). I would expect better GPU temps, but even worse CPU temps because there are no other vents feeding the CPU cooler with air.
I think the vent positions are good, they just need to use nylon filters at the back, and a much more breathable fabric at the front.
Well, have you seen the last PC Case review on TechPowerUp, XPG Invader X?
The awarding badges has been weird at times, but this review put the crown on the weirdness (nicely said).
I do not know if I am missing something, but in the thermal stress test at full load, the case is in the last decile (CPU, GPU, M.2, Chipset), i.e. at least 90% of the tested cases are better in this regard.
In terms of noise, it is placed in the last quartile, i.e. at least 75% of cases are better.
The badge is “Highly recommended”.
I respect TPU for their work, but this way their badges become useless (it seems almost like XPG bought the badge, but I don’t want to accuse anyone … its just seems that way)
Am I missing something, can you correct me?
Thermals, airflow and noise were not mentioned once in their summary. Perhaps it just wasn’t the authors’ focus when reviewing cases.
In any case, why not go to TPU and raise the question there.