Final Thoughts on the Fractal Design Mood
It really seems like Fractal Design is carving out this niche in the case market where they have these really unique and interesting cases that really go against the norm. Like I said in the beginning of this review we see these super-flashy RGB-filled cases that have flooded the market. While many people (myself included) love those cases, a lot of people want something more subdued that will look great sitting on their desk. Something that gives off a sleek and sophisticated look, not the gamer look. I think that they have accomplished that with Mood.
As I’ve said multiple times in this review, Mood looks like a high-end speaker. This is because Fractal Design has wrapped the outside of the case in textured double-layered fabric. This not only looks great, but also allows for airflow to go in and out of the case. Talking about size being only 453mm tall and 20.4L in volume the case is quite small. This will allow it to be put on a much smaller desk than something like a normal mid-tower.
Even being small you still have room inside for larger graphics cards and even all-in-one liquid cooling solutions. I was able to use my RTX 4070 Ti Super card in this case no problem. There are some sacrifices to be made though, any graphics card that is over 2.7 slots will not fit in this case, so obviously something to keep in mind. When it comes to mini-ITX cases installation is always something to consider, but in Mood it couldn’t be easier. With all the panels removed you can easily install all of your hardware and you have quite a lot of room to work with. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is Fractal use the standard mini-ITX header connector, instead they used single connectors. Which was fine, but they are harder to connect and I had to look up what headers were what on my motherboard.
With any system cooling is important. The single 180mm fan does do a good job at cooling, but if I was going to run a system in here full time I would either add two fans or a all-in-one liquid CPU cooler. Since your graphics card is separated from the rest of your system it remains relatively cool, and you can even remove the filter on the back for better cooling performance.
Once again Fractal Design impresses us with another case. Mood launches today in both Black and Light Grey colors for $149.99. I would love to see more colors come out, but only time will tell. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Fractal Design Mood a 9 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award!
Pros:
– Unique design
– Small and compact
– Room inside for 2.7 slot graphics cards up to 325mm in length
– Panels come off easily
– Easy to build in
– Supports 3 hard drives out of the box
Cons:
– Does not use standard front panel header connector block
