Gadgetory

what's up guys today I'm taking a look at the new Mini ITX case from fractal design that comes in at just 70 USD this is the Nano s no relation to the AMD r9 nano although they do both pride themselves for being great performers despite their small size which I can definitely relate to while the case is notably smaller that it's big ATX bro the define s the Nano beers on the larger side for a mini ITX chassis which opens up some possibilities for things like water cooling full-sized hardware support and hassle free cable management which will circle back to later cosmetically speaking the Nano s is pretty much a mini-me version of the define s staying true to fractals minimalistic design a plastic faux brushed aluminum finish lines the front panel with a blue power LED front and center I was kind of hoping that fractal would have finally made this LED white to match the fans inside the case but I guess if you start making everything white then people start asking questions we get that same old familiar side ventilation at the front for healthy intake and popping off the panel reveals sound dampening material lining the inside and a removable dust filter for an included GP 14 140 millimeter fan here you can also install a 240 or 280 millimeter radiator using the mounting strips for optimal positioning and clearance something to note here is the dust filter wouldn't fit back on properly once I installed the 240 read from my AIO turns out to the small washers that came with the cooler were interfering so I had to remove them in order to get the dust filter to stick for those who need it there's plenty of room underneath the front panel to house additional fans for push-pull configurations though you will have to cast aside that dust filter in doing so at the top of the case are your audio jacks power and reset buttons 2 USB 3 and fractals trademarked Maju vent cover that promotes quiet operation with the same sound deadening material we found at the front when removed with the small latches inside the case you have the option to mount a 240 red or 2 140 millimeter fans just be aware that if you plan on installing a radiator here that clearance will be limited based on the height of your RAM and vrm heat sinks so in the spirit of Chris Hansen always remember to count before you mount moving along to the back our fan strips that house and included gp120 with support for 120 millimeter radiator and two expansion slots for our mini the X board on the bottom are four shiny feet with rubber pads which surround a front-loading removable dust filter for the power supply an optional 120 millimeter fan both side panels feature captive thumb screws with the right side using Dada sound dampening material and the left sporting a generous window that shows off pretty much everything except a fair portion of your power supply which I really wish you could see more of said no one ever taking a look inside the sturdy metal frame we see a layout that's more akin to a typical ATX tower that lends itself greatly to the define s in both form and function surrounding the pre installed standoffs our five rubber grommets which I found to be well placed and well sized during my build having the grommets span along the edges of the motherboard really makes for tidy cable routing regardless of connector placement on your boards PCB and there's even a small cutout just below the board for things like HD audio or front panel connectors the grommet near the ATX power supply is plenty wide just so long as you don't have a lengthy PSU and while units up to 160 millimeters long are supported I would recommend going as short as possible to give your graphics card more breathing room as my MSI gaming GTX 960 was already a centimeter away from teabagging the power supply while it's still a better love story than Twilight there's a chance that the PSU is close proximity could mean higher temps for typical GPU coolers with two or three fans as a result blower style cards AIO GPUs and custom water-cooled cards are probably ideal candidates for the note s I mentioned earlier the cases support for full-sized hardware and the Nano certainly delivers in this arena accommodating CPU coolers up to 160 millimeters tall and graphics cards up to 315 millimeters long with the front fans installed your GPU clearance may be cut down of course if you choose to add a radiator water cooling pump or reservoir to the mix like the define s the nano features what I've so cleverly dubbed the reservoir with vertical strips and an included bracket for mounting almost any reservoir or pump rest combo as a proud owner of the define s I can confidently say this feature is simple and effective and makes custom water cooling noobs like myself look almost competent at the floor of the case is a modular bracket that can be used to mount a multitude of things like D D C and D 5 pumps one two and a half inch or one three and a half inch drive by loosening its four screws beneath the case the bracket can slide along a pair of mounting rails for flexible position this is also where you can mount that after mentioned 120 millimeter fan though both can't be installed concurrently to the right of the reservoir you get a couple small cutouts for routing fan cables through keeping them out of sight and out of mind and taking a look at my finished build here you can see that the tubes on my AIO are a bit long for this case cozying right up to the side panel window like the baby from that creepy Windows 10 ad on the flip side we see the rest of our drive mounts in the form of two removable mounting brackets each held in place by a single captive thumb screw for easy installation the first mounting plate behind the reservoir sports four rubber pads and can house either a two and a half inch or three and a half inch drive using the included mounting screws covering the large CPU cooler cutout is a dual SSD tray giving us support for a total of four drives in the Nano s cable management in the Nano was an absolute delight as you get anywhere from 17 to 35 millimetres of space behind the motherboard tray with three velcro straps and plenty of tie down points along the edges of the case providing enough room and anchors here to save even the worst cable managers in fact there's so much unused space below the hard drive plate in particular that fractal probably could have squeezed in the PWM fan hub here this would have made sense given the cases numerous fan mounts and the limited number of fan headers typically found on mini ATX boards surely this was a way to keep the MSRP of the case to a minimum because I'm sure fractal knows the only thing cheaper than the included three pin fan splitter is all of us all things considered and to sum up this review quite frankly the Nano s is a welcome addition to the mini ITX family fractal has managed to take many of the things that work for the define s and incorporate them into a case a fraction of the size without making too many compromises well it does have its shortcomings the amount of custom water cooling and hardware support here is pretty impressive for a small form-factor and I think most folks will find building in the Nano to be much like building in an ATX tower with that familiar sense of spaciousness at the Super Value price of just 70 bucks the Nano s is definitely a strong contender in the rapidly growing market of enthusiasts small form-factor chassis but let me know what you guys think of this case in the comments below and don't forget to toss me a like on this video if you enjoyed it before you go check the description for awesomesauce suits like this one and feel free to bookmark my Amazon affiliate link use when you buy stuff mm-hmm as always I'm Kyle with awesomesauce Network thank you guys for watching subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and I'll see y'all in the next video