Fractal Design Unveils Lots Of Great Kit At Computex

Fractal Design has had much to show at Computex so far. Not only are there new PC chassis making their formal bows in Taipei, there is also a revamp to the lineup of Kelvin series of AIO coolers as well.

Let’s tackle the new chassis first.

In the lead-off spot is the Node 202. Fractal Design describes this mini-ITX chassis as a “sleek and elegant design,” and I can’t help but agree. It can be oriented either vertically or horizontally, and it’s styled to look just as at home in the living room as it does in the office. Its interior is arranged so that your system’s hottest bits are all separated from each other, with close proximity to an unimpeded air flow for optimum cooling. It can even support graphics cards as long as 310mm. Fractal Design says the Node 202 will cost $79.99 when released.

The company also announced a Node 202 that comes with a 450W Integra SFX power supply unit. The chassis itself is identical to the one described above; the Integra SFX PSU, meanwhile, is 80PLUS Bronze certified. This miniature PSU might be small in stature, but it puts out an impressive 450 watts of power. It features an 80mm cooling fan, a maximum operating temperature at full load of 50°C, Taiwanese capacitors, full compliance with Intel Haswell C6/C7 states, OPP/OVP/UVP/SCP/OCP protection, and a three-year warranty. Fractal Design also states that the Intera SFX’s MTBF life expectancy is 100,000 hours. As appropriate with SFF systems, the Integra SFX PSU features a pair of 6+2 (8-pin) VGA connectors, two SATA connectors, as well as the 24-pin motherboard power connector and 8-pin CPU power connector. The Node 202 + 450W Integra SFX PSU package will be priced at $139.99.

Rounding out the Fractal Design chassis news is the Core 500. Bigger than the Node 202, it can accommodate mini-ITX systems powered by ATX PSUs and cooled by tower CPU coolers up to 170mm tall. The Core 500 also fits three 3.5″ HDDs and three 2.5″ drives simultaneously, so it definitely makes no compromises in terms of storage capacity. Finally, believe it or not, there is still room to install as many as two radiators – up to 280mm up on the roof, and a 120mm one on the rear exhaust position. MSRP is $59.99.

Moving on to AIO coolers, Fractal Design also announced that its Kelvin series has been revamped. The company’s new Dynamic GP-12 PWM fans, which are quieter and more powerful than the ones previously used with the older Kelvins, are now paired with the AIO coolers. The new GP-12 fans feature a wide 500-2000RPM PWM speed range. Also new is a 9V speed adapter for the water pump, which further improves the Kelvins’ speed and noise control characteristics. The radiator screws have also been changed to PH2 heads, thereby improving user-friendliness. The revamped Kelvins – the 360mm S36, the 240mm S24, and the 120mm T12 – are all expandable systems as well, which is unique in the world of AIO coolers as far as I’m aware. No pricing information on the new Kelvin AIO coolers has been announced at this time, though.

Fractal Design has not announced when these new additions to its product lineup will be available, so stay tuned.