Fractal Era 2 Mini ITX Case Review

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The top fan/radiator bracket is removable, allowing for easier access to the rest of the frame, and it uses a really interesting tool-less design: just pull the two release triggers towards the right of the frame and the bracket releases. The bracket for the power supply is also an interesting design as it is mounted on rails, and releases with a single screw. I did find that this design allows for some play in the power supply once installed, but I don’t believe this would be a problem with the possible exception of shipping a complete system. Some expanding foam packing would probably be necessary in such a situation.

Unfortunately, that is not my only issue with the build process, and a lot of it is because of the PSU mounting. I’ll be honest, the Era 2 was one of the more difficult enclosures to build in that I’ve encountered. SFF systems are often challenging, but the design of the PSU bracket takes up a bit more space than I feel is needed, and in a system this small, every millimeter counts. There is a small portion of the bracket that bends towards the motherboard and on both motherboards I tested in the case, this obstructed the 24 pin connector. It was still possible to plug in, but it did make it more difficult.

The positioning of the PSU I feel was also too far towards the motherboard. This both limited cable space between the two, and made it difficult to mount the motherboard, especially if the motherboard has built in WiFi, as both the boards I mounted had issues with the antennae connections on the rear I/O causing interference with the frame while I was trying to install them. Again, this issue did not prevent mounting, but made the process more difficult.



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