Fractal De ne Nano S
More mini-ITX madness from the Swedish chassis manufacturer.
How on earth has Fractal managed to build such a goodlooking, featurerich chassis for such a low price? This tiny tower is available for less than an orange spraytan and a blonde toupee.
The chassis is not the gaudy, pointed, LED-littered affair of a gaming chassis. The sharp lines synonymous with Fractal’s minimalistic style work wonders on the Define Nano. For cooling, you’re graced with a choice of up to four 140mm or 120mm fans (two in the front, two in the roof), and a final 120mm in the rear. Thanks to the Nano’s barren interior layout, watercooling should be a dream.
Additional features aren’t exactly lacking, either. You can mount two 3.5/2.5-inch drives, there are some lovely rubber grommets, Fractal’s personalised Velcro straps for cable management, a very swanky magnetic sliding underside dust filter, a magnetic door latch dust filter in the front, a ModuVent cover on the top, to allow for more airflow and cooling options, and sound-dampening material embedded into that rear panel, plus pre-drilled holes for pump and reservoir mounting. The plastic front has the advantage of being fingerprint resistant. If you’re not keen on the window, you can opt for a version without.
One thing we do miss is the PSU cover, and the window feels as though it could have been a touch bigger. And it still has compatibility issues when it comes to motherboards.
In reality, mini-ITX boards are a nightmare, and unlike their ATX brothers, they’re not designed to mount vertically in a case.