Final Thoughts
Fractal Design definitely went against the grain when they initially released the North back at the end of 2022. With the PC case market being dominated by the aquarium-style cases it was nice to see something different and that was not all about RGB. The North was inspired by Scandinavian interior design and has this just elegant and modern look to it. I reviewed the original North and really enjoyed it, but with graphics cards getting larger and CPU’s requiring more cooling it only makes sense for Fractal to come out with a larger version of the case that offers more support for these type of components.
The original North only had support for a 360mm radiator in the front and a 240mm in the top. Now you have support for a 420mm in the front and a 360mm in the top. If watercooling is not your thing you now have support for up to three 140mm fans in the front of the case and three 120mm fans in the top. Fractal does include three of their own Aspect 140mm fans, which do come pre-wired to the included fan hub. With the larger case you also have more room inside with support for E-ATX motherboards, graphics cards as long as 413mm, CPU coolers as tall as 185mm, and power supplies as long as 175mm. So it is safe to say there is not much you can’t install in this case.
Just like the original North you have support for six hard drives out of the box (4 x 2.5″, 2x 3.5″) and both the top and front panels are extremely easy to remove. Installation went off with out any issues and all of the velcro ties and tie-down points make organizing and routing your cables a breeze. When you are all done building you should have a clean build.
If I have one gripe about this case it would be that the small panel on the main sided has four cut-outs in it. These are for the side ventilation mounts that come with the mesh version of the case, but are not needed in the tempered glass version of the case. So if you are looking at the case from the side they just look odd and sort of distract you.
Fractal Design will be selling this case for $179.99, which I think is a pretty fair price. Although the original North launched for $129.99, that price was raised to $139.99. So you are paying a $40 premium for a larger case with three included 140mm fans. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Fractal Design North XL a 9 out of 10 score and our Recommended Award!
Pros:
– Support for 420mm and 360mm radiators
– Real wood on the front panel
– Three included 140mm fans and fan hub
– Support for the largest hardware
– Lots of room and easy installation
Cons:
– Small side panel cut-outs look weird on the TG version
