Fractal Design North Mesh: Case like a piece of furniture

Test methodology

North: a case that is designed to be closer to the modern home. In some places, Fractal Design has replaced plastic and metal with wood and faux leather. The tested variant of the North case, with the additional Mesh designation, not only has a perforated front, but also the side panel, which makes new cooling options available. In addition to the factory configuration, we will also test the case with fans in non-traditional positions.

Test methodology

Two 140mm Aspect 14 PWM fans are mounted in the case. Those in the 120mm format came out quite well in detailed tests. But how do they handle the cooling when they are only located on the front intake from the factory? The Mesh version also offers a less traditional fan placement, directly behind the left perforated side panel. We will test this position with the fans as well. Also with both “intake” and “exhaust” orientation, for comparison with the original setup. The holder with fans is located directly above the tunnel.

Testing is done in a home environment where I strive for the most accurate results possible. In the room during testing, the air temperature in front of the case is 23 degrees Celsius and the minimum noise level I can measure with the Voltcraft SL-100 noise meter is 32.4 dBA. The sensor of the noise meter is aligned to the center of the top of the case at a distance of 10 cm, for the best measurement of the speed difference of the fans, which I change using the motherboard. For easy comparison to other cases, they are always regulated to fixed noise levels.

Individual components are heated for 10 minutes in FurMark synthetic stress tests and with Prime95 (custom settings) at the same time. This time is long enough to allow all components to warm up sufficiently. There are then 15-minute cooling breaks between tests, during which the component temperatures (and the case air temperature as well) are brought back to default.

Noise mode levels:

• 36 dBA
• 38 dBA
• 39 dBA

• Contents
• Exterior
• Interior
• Test methodology
• CPU and GPU cooling tests
• Motherboard cooling tests
• SSD cooling tests and under-ceiling temperature
• Conclusion