Fractal North XL Case Review & Benchmarks: Wood Panels & Mesh

OUR NEW ATX CASE TEST SUITE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS! We are fine-tuning some testing and will launch a full methodology piece as soon as it is fully concrete and permanent! But this is the first one in a year, so enjoy!

Fractal today released its Fractal Design North XL case, following-up the hugely successful Fractal North that it launched last year. The North became famous for its wood front panel with a slat design and joins the Fractal Torrent in being one of the company's more successful cases. The North XL is a bigger version of the North, and in our first ATX case review in more than a year, we're back to analyze it with a new testing methodology and approach. Our full test methodology details will be published in the next month or so as we continue to refine and finalize a few details. For the tests shown today, things are mostly final.

The Fractal North XL joins a fierce market for cases right now, which is exactly why we're bringing back the case reviews today -- and working toward a new Best Cases of 2024 round-up! The Hyte Y60, Y70, Corsair 5000D, Lian Li's O11 Evo XL, the Montech King 95, and plenty more are worth considering.

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - WE'RE BACK!
03:47 - Fractal North XL Specs & Price vs. North
05:36 - Build Quality: Aesthetics, Fitment, & Clearance
08:15 - Clever Fan Support, Ventilation, & Radiators
10:23 - Cable Management, Fan Hub
13:02 - Small Fit & Finish, SSI-EEB Motherboards
14:27 - Thermal Test Methodology Brief Notes
17:27 - Full Load, Noise Normalized CPU Thermals
20:22 - Full Load, Noise Normalized GPU Thermals
21:37 - VRM & SPD Hub Thermals (Noise Normalized)
22:57 - CPU Only Load, Noise Normalized CPU Thermals
23:24 - Full Load, 100% Speed GPU Thermals
24:27 - Conclusion

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Steve Burke: Host, Test Lead
Patrick Lathan: Testing, Writing, Host
Vitalii Makhnovets: Video Editing, Camera

[GamersNexus]

Great to be back with cases! Which ones do you want us to look at next? There are a TON on the market now so we could use help narrowing it down. What's the interest in the new Corsair cases? Tons of cool stuff coming up. We're adding some more tests and will also be adding some noise profiling charts (similar to our handheld reviews) soon!

[Fallen]

Bought my Fractal Torrent after your glowing review. Thanks for helping me decide with such high quality reviews.

[crescentsheath]

Happy to see the case reviews is back. To be honest, your channel is my go to when looking for cases.

[iamflip]

"It can fit a 16 inch pizza, but we decided not to film that because that would be gross" Someone is gonna hear this and think this is a challenge lol

[ventilate]

Thermalright earning a spot in the new Case testing build is basically the highest praise they can get. Going to miss that odd MSI cooler i never knew existed though 😂

[markrateh]

One thing that would be cool for the new testing methodology is to take the top ten cases of the old methodology and see how the cases hold up in the new methodology.

[Wokiis]

Me: Buys a North case.
Next week: Here we are.

[upforellie]

I’m really glad PC cases have kept up with my style overtime. In 2008 cargo shorts and a lot of black were the norm in my life. Now I exclusively shop at anthropology and everything in my life is covered in ornate wood- I’m glad fractal could keep up with my hero’s journey and match my asinine pretentiousness

[davyrando]

I bought the OG North after your review. It was my first ever PC build, and on top of looking awesome it was also extremely easy to build in.

[Krgo]

I like the idea that they would have to come up with an obscure name for an even larger variation like "The Giga North" or "North Enormous". Im gonna shy away from the fact that they already solved this issue in the clothing department and just keeps adding another "X" as the sizes increase.

[evlkenevl]

Lol, I just can't get over how it looks like a swamp cooler from the 70s. I know others don't see it, but I can't unsee it.

[disco]

Bought my Torrent after watching the review and its been perfect. One of my all time fav cases

[Raderg]

I have the north in black with the mesh side panel. Setting the RGB inside to cycle randomly between reds, oranges and yellows makes it look like a fireplace. It's gorgeous.

[kurgo_]

You know it's going to be a good video when Steve basically smiles the whole time, that kind of enthusiasm is unironically contagious, it's been a long time coming (back), glad to see more ATX reviews.

And whenever Steve would put his hands on the table and make either north case bobble a bit I was always anxiously looking at them, afraid they'd fall down at any moment lol.

Also 12:28 "3 centimetres is acceptable" thanks, finally some validation here, much appreciated.

[PlantainSupernova]

Can't wait to watch the methodology piece. Loving the parts chosen for this new slate. We are so back! Thanks to you guys I chose a case and cpu for my first system back in 21. Happened to go with a cooler that y'all reviewed positively later down the line as well.

[MrWonderstuff]

Oh look there's my Torrent. Lovely case which is really quiet and cool with low rpm and massive air throughput.

[Darknyte]

Case reviews! This is how I discovered Gamers Nexus so many years ago. Thanks!

[RenegadePandaZ]

I love my North, it's been a fantastic case for my first mid/high build. I appreciate how many individual panels can be removed independently, it makes it really easy to maintain and clean.

[horizon]

Thank goodness. I love your other videos too, but the reason why I even started and kept watching your videos was due to your very in-depth case reviews.
The case market has gotten so insanely good at this point, that there are tons of options to choose from.

[lefthornet]

Great Video as usual, happy to se the case reviews are back. Will be great to see the CTE desing of Thermaltake lineup (or one of them like the C750), since they launched in the mean time of the reviews and are really focused of airflow. (Also since in some countries ouside the North American market the prices vary a lot with all the brands, since it usually depends in the existence of a official distribution or not).