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We used the ASUS TUF Gaming B550M-Plus Wi-Fi for a NAS build using TrueNAS SCALE. For the processor, we’re going all-out with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, the best of the 5000 AMD Ryzen processors, which should test the case thermals. 32GB of DDR4 RAM is used for maximum performance. As we can see both chambers can house 2x fans on the front and come with separate dust filters per chamber. Fractal Design did not cut any corners when it came to making sure the Node 804 offered optimal airflow and cooling features. On one side of the box, we can see the product specifications as well as some info about all of the cooling system options. On the other side is a nice image of the hard drive cages and their unique place in the case. The case comes with three excellent 120mm fans but can be upgraded with several additional fans if needed. Featuring plenty of options for placing water cooling components, tall heat sinks and hard drives. The flexibility of this case really gives the users the possibility to create their optimal system build. Specifications
When you’re looking to build a NAS, you really have to try and understand what your goals are first. Network-attached storage cases can have special features like hot-swappable bays, small form factors (mATX or ITX), or even tons of hard drive bays. We’ll focus on the best NAS cases to use in this article. Broadly speaking, the Fractal Node 804 is divided into two main side-by-side chambers, one for the motherboard and PCI-E cards and the other for the power supply and hard drives. Additional space for certain components is found behind the front panel itself. Compared to other PC cases, there’s little difference in the performance of this processor. The available fan mounts ensure ample airflow is achieved, even if the front panel is a little restricting. Fractal Design Node 804: Competition NZXT H7 Elite. (Source: NAS Master) Highly effective dual chamber case layout for best possible cooling. Minimalistic design with an elegant brushed aluminum front panel Three Fractal Design Silent Series R2 fans included All intakes feature removable dust filters providing a dust-free interior. Featuring a window side panel to show off your set up in style. Fan controller included. Five expansion slots that allows for multiple GPU setups. In terms of performance, I was surely not let down at all. The Node 804 comes with 3x fans pre-installed as standard which offer a decent amount of airflow to help and keeps thing inside cool. This is also where the dual chamber design comes into play a bit, having the PSU and hard drives in the second chamber not only relieves some of the heat from those components it also helps with the airflow as there is less in the way of the fans. With my test system installed airflow was not a problem at all and if it was, there is plenty enough room to mount a couple more fans to add a helping hand in bringing the temperature down a bit.
The side panel for the 2nd chamber is plain and has nothing going on. Towards the front though we can see the front IO which consists of 2x USB 3.0 ports, audio inputs, power button and space for a slimline optical drive. Taking a look at the Node 804 itself from the front and it features a nice brushed aluminium design, which goes over great with me. Users will also note the Fractal Design logo on the right-hand side and the nice big vented area across the bottom to make sure users are taking advantage of all the great cooling features. Rear: 1 - 120/140mm fan (included is a hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
The most common types of Motherboards are ATX, though Micro-ATX (mATX) and Mini-ITX (mITX) motherboards are extremely common as well. In rare cases, E-ATX Motherboards are used as well, but they’re generally less common than ATX, mATX, or mITX. The biggest downside of this case is the ITX motherboard that’s required (as they’re generally limited compared to ATX/mATX options), but if you want a small form factor case that actually looks like a traditional prebuilt NAS, this is the one. JONSBO N2 Review Unfortunately, Fractal doesn’t make cases like they used to anymore. Which, admittedly, is understandable since a bunch of HDDs in an “ordinary” PCs is a thing of yesteryear, with the overall DIY market strongly moving towards nvme. On the front of the main chamber is space for 2x fans, 1 of which comes pre-installed. Also removing the front panel will give access to the dust filter when it comes time to clean it. Having young kids and tech adventurism don’t really go together. I’ll add building a NAS to the list of things that I’ll get round to when the kids start to find me embarrassing and don’t want to hang around with me anymore. VMware server in the garage, mame cabinet, cat 6 the house etc etc. ReplyWith nothing against the 3 speed switch included by Fractal, my personal preference is that the motherboard would be in charge of the fan speed instead of a manually set fan controller. The JONSBO D500 is an ITX/mATX/ATX/E-ATX monster of a case. It supports ten total hard drives and even supports huge GPUs (in case you’d like to use a GPU for hardware transcoding, etc). It’s not the best case from a budget perspective, but it offers a ton in a relatively small form factor (for what it’s offering). JONSBO D500 Review
As you have previously seen the Node 804 comes down and can be stripped to pretty much just its frame. You can remove the front, top and both side panels and it also has 4x dust filters which are all individually removable for easy cleaning. Ultimately, it’s important to highlight that you can use any case you’d like and the cases below are not the only cases you can use. However, the options below are known to be some of the best options for DIY NAS builds. What Should You Look For in a Case? This is a single stimulus testing scenario, purely relative to the environment. Note that the build components were selected partially to create a challenging situation. Compute loads were also purely synthetic in nature and again, subject to the environment in how the system dealt with it. If you’re going to build a NAS, you might as well plan for the future, and that’s where the JONSBO D500 fits in well – don’t build a NAS thinking you need six hard drives and actually need ten – get the room for those hard drives up front! That’s where this case fits in. Having the hard drives and power supplies in the secondary chamber is a great plus in my mind, it makes it easier to get everything installed and just gives it a more overall clean look once finished. As this is designed for smaller motherboards there can be a bit of a learning curve if you have not installed an m-ITX or m-ATX board before but these are not so much down to the case as it is learning where things are on the motherboard and remembering that when it comes time to build with it.Maximum radiator configuration: 1x240mm, 1x280mm and 2x120mm radiators simultaneously. Front interface Three Fractal Design Silent Series R2 fans included with the case and space for an additional 7 fans. The side panels are easy to remove and Fractal Design provides ample space for installing a full-size ATX power supply, as well as up to 10 drives in the two removable drive trays. Once everything is installed and ready to go, making necessary changes to the internals is also a breeze, so long as some cable management is performed. Fractal Design Node 804: Performance Fractal Design Node 804. (Source: NAS Master)
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