Fractal Fumbles: Mood Case Review, Thermals, & Design Oversights

Video Description

Sponsor: NZXT C1500 Platinum PSU on Amazon https://geni.us/KvKlUi The Fractal Mood Mini-ITX tower case was disappointing for us. When the Fractal Mood and its specs were first announced, using the fabric outer shell, we were excited about the mechanics of the case and the (if it worked) clever airflow design. Unfortunately, too many other details are missed in the design, leading to poor thermal balancing between the CPU and GPU chambers, annoying accoustical humming when using our liquid cooler with side-mounted fans, and problems with SSD sled design sometimes blocking exhaust. The Fractal Mood competes somewhat with the Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX as an alternative, with the main differentiator being that Cooler Master forces a cooler and power supply combination. The best way to support our work is through our store: https://store.gamersnexus.net/ Like our content? Please consider becoming our Patron to support us: http://www.patreon.com/gamersnexus RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links] Fractal Mood on Newegg: https://howl.me/cmCujf1besR Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX on Amazon: https://geni.us/GL7u5l Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX on Newegg: https://howl.me/cmCuj8UzpMP Fractal Terra on Amazon: https://geni.us/iahM Fractal Terra on Newegg: https://howl.me/cmCujInYADR Lian Li x DAN A4-H2O on Newegg: https://howl.me/cmCuma3sjWC TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Fractal Mood ITX Case Review & Benchmarks 01:18 - Specs & Attention to Detail 05:49 - Flow Restrictions 07:15 - Alternative to the Fractal Mood 08:25 - Build Layout & Cooler Clearance 12:18 - Oversights & Cooling Problem 13:03 - Test Setup & Methodology 13:59 - Thermals: CPU Full Load 15:42 - Thermals: GPU Full Load 17:56 - Thermals: RAM & VRM 18:18 - Acoustic Test Methodology 18:54 - Noise: Frequency Spectrum 19:51 - Noise Sample 20:17 - Conclusion: It's Critical ** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! ** Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage. Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates: t: http://www.twitter.com/gamersnexus f: http://www.facebook.com/gamersnexus w: http://www.gamersnexus.net/ Steve Burke: Host, Test Lead, Additional Writing Jeremy Clayton: Writing, Testing Vitalii Makhnovets: Camera, Editing Tim Phetdara: Camera Andrew Coleman: Camera