Adding wood material has become a new trend in computer cases this year. Fractal Design’s first-generation Era case had a novel design but mediocre assembly and heat dissipation performance. I was worried that it would “break the line” from now on. Fortunately, the manufacturer launched Era 2, this second-generation ITX “wooden” cover case from the inside The exterior has been comprehensively improved, and the assembly experience is excellent.
Computer case materials are made of aluminum, steel, black, silver and other colors that feel too “cold”. Fractal Design launched the first generation Era and added a wood top cover design, which created a “little fresh” feeling. This year, more manufacturers have launched wooden models. Style of top cover or panel. Of course, Fractal Design also has a new generation Era 2. Its appearance is close to the original design, with a black/gray/blue anodized aluminum shell, and there is still a solid wood cover on the top. However, it has absorbed the negative comments about the lack of openings in the previous generation. This time the board has more openings to retain the heat dissipation capacity, and the bottom has The metal frame is fixed with magnetic suction, so no additional MASH grille top cover is provided. The air holes on both sides of the fuselage have also been increased, and the panel power supply and USB ports have been moved to the lower part, so the chassis is more suitable for use at desktop height.
The Fractal Design Era 2 case is not CNC-cut from a single piece. It is pre-fixed on four sides with a frame. As long as the dust filter is pulled out at the bottom of the back of the machine, the entire case can be pulled up in a single step. Its internal structure has been redesigned, and the cloth is replaced with the more popular “sandwich” style mezzanine, which requires the use of a PCI-E riser card. The advantage is that the GPU and CPU areas are separated on the left and right to allow heat to dissipate upwards, and a slide rail design is introduced, which can be used for 3 Slot GPU or 70mm high CPU radiator can be adjusted to improve installation flexibility.
Fractal Design Era 2 is compact inside, but still leaves a certain amount of space. It uses a vertical air duct design, with 2 12cm fans pre-installed on the bottom, and 2 12 or 14cm fans optionally installed on the top. It supports AIO water cooling up to 280mm, and the radiator is connected with a fan. The safe thickness is approximately within 60mm. I believe that only Arctic Liquid Freezer III users should pay attention to it at this time. The top fan rack can be completely removed, making it easier to install the motherboard, graphics card, water cooling, etc.
Fractal Design Era 2 can only use SFX or SFX-L power supplies, and frees up to four 2.5″ installation spaces in the middle of the power supply bracket and under the GPU, where four SSDs or hard drives can be installed, all with airflow.
Era 2 implementation experience
A typical combination for the trial installation: 2-slot GPU (235W) with 65W TDP Intel processor and original air cooling, two TUF GAMING TR120 fans on the top cover with automatic speed control. The assembly experience of using the purely air-cooled Era 2 is very good because the chassis has ample height and the top and bottom fans are easy to install. The GPU used is 322 x 134 x 50mm long and can still be installed smoothly, which is very close to the manufacturer’s upper limit of 326 x 137 x 63mm.
test platform
- Processor: Intel Core i9-12900K (intel Default-performance / PL1/PL2 65W)
- Motherboard: ASUS STRIX Z790-I
- Memory: KLEVV BOLT V 6000
- Graphics Card: PowerColor Hellhound RX 7700 XT
- Radiator: Intel Stock(i5-12400), VK A240 RGB
- Power supply: Fractal Design ION SFX 650G
When running “Cyberpunk 2077”, the full load GPU is only about 53 degrees. The Intel Core i9-12900K processor, which has limited PL1/PL2 to 65W, uses the low-end air cooling included with the same manufacturer’s i5-12400 and has reached 75 degrees, which is The radiator itself is inadequate.
If VK 240 AIO is used instead, there is still a certain space for wiring with the mezzanine area. As for the water pump pipe, which is slightly soft, it will be easier to twist. There is also a slight arc on the inside of the casing. There is no problem with the water pipe being slightly arched. When it is put back, it will be slightly Just tidy it up. UEFI is set to “Intel Default Performance” mode, and the 75W level is about 61 degrees under game load. Under burst load and shader compilation, the processor 161W saw about 85 degrees. It is fully sufficient for general Core i7/Ryzen 7 systems.
Specification
- Dimensions: 366 x 165 x 314 mm
- Net weight: 4.64kg
- Motherboard: ITX
- PCIE backplane holes: 2
- Storage: 4 x 2.5″ (2 Tray + 2 MB Wall mount)
- GPU limitations: 326mm wide (2-3 Slots), 137mm high, 63mm thick
- CPU radiator height limit: 55-70mm
- Power supply: SFX/SFX-L
- Fan support:
- Bottom 2 x 120mm (standard)
- Top 2 x 120mm / 2 x 140mm
- Water cooling support: 240mm / 280mm (307 x 140mm)
- Panel functions: 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB-C 20Gbps, 3.5mm Audio, power button
Price: HK$1570
Inquiries: QC Supplies (3853 5353)
