Swedish manufacturer Fractal Design will soon ship out its Node 202, a 10.2 liter slimline PC case that looks ideal for an HTPC build. While it doesn’t ship with a motherboard, water cooler, and power supply like Corsair’s comparable, one can’t deny that Fractal’s will look much better beside a TV in an expensive home theater setup.
The Node 202 will readily swallow a mini-ITX motherboard, a 310mm-long dual-slot graphics card (using a bundled riser card), and one of those new 120mm fan-toting SFX-L PSUs. 56mm-tall CPU coolers and up to two 2.5" drives will also find room. A capable game console-replacement build looks very possible with the Node 202.
Fractal separately chambers the motherboard and GPU, claiming that a build will "run cool" in the Node 202 without any extra fans. Nevertheless, two 120mm spinners can be installed beneath the GPU, atop a subset of all that venting (complete with dust filters!) in place on the 202’s belly.
Meanwhile, a pair each of USB 3.0 ports and audio jacks dot the Node 202’s front panel; and Fractal Design includes a stand in-box to mount the whole thing on its side. Like the aforementioned Corsair Bulldog, the Node 202 lacks any bays for optical drives, perhaps in favor of web streaming services.
All in all, Fractal Design looks to sell you the Node 202 for $79.99 USD, or bundled with a 450w power supply for $139.99. It shouldn’t be too long now before the usual retailers (Amazon et al) get stock.
