Fractal Design Era 2 review

ITX cases are inherently a challenge. Not only from a PC building perspective, where their intricate internal layouts make them incredibly frustrating yet satisfying to work with, but also from a manufacturing standpoint. You have to finely balance so many variables when designing a solid ITX offering. Build quality, hardware compatibility, style, features, and ease-of-use all play a major part in that process. But the big one is overall footprint; that is what makes or breaks a great ITX case.

For many in the SFF (small form factor) enthusiast space, the majority of modern ITX cases just aren't small enough. Most are big, bulky juggernauts that fall more on the side of a being Micro-ATX setup, or some weird Frankenstein mid-tower, complete with dual rad support and GPU space larger than most keyboards.

Fractal Design has proven in the last few years that it very much adheres to that old-school way of thinking about SFF chassis. And, with the likes of its ridiculously small Terra, Mood, and Ridge cases, it has re-defined exactly what it is you can do with a chassis that has such a small footprint.

The Era 2 is a direct refinement of its initial Era ITX case, which launched way back in 2020. Aesthetically, Fractal has abided by an incredibly similar design language with it. It's got that curved anodized aluminum external housing, walnut panel lining the roof (albeit this time with ventilation), and intriguing perforated side panels, complete with an almost identical overall footprint. Yet, it's the internal layout that's had the biggest overhaul, by contrast. In fact, compare the two side-by-side, and what you're looking at are two incredibly different cases. It's this change which radically alters the build experience, and absolutely for the better.

Design shenanigans aside, it's not a particularly cheap chassis; the Era 2 clocks in at $200 US and £195 UK at launch, putting it in the more premium bracket for wee metal boxes of this caliber. It's got a lot to live up to with that kinda price tag attached, and honestly, it does a fine job of justifying that cost.

If you look directly at the internal layouts of both the Era and the Era 2, the differences are astounding. Everything from motherboard position to cooler location, power supply mounting and support, and more have changed. Mostly for the better.

Although the aesthetic and general design ethos certainly follow that of the Era ITX, its internal layout actually closely mimics that of Fractal Design's more recent SFF chassis, the less-costly Terra. Albeit with some slight tweaks and improvements here and there. Motherboard mounting, power supply location, and GPU solution are almost entirely identical, bar some minor tweaks that are mostly possible only due to the increased height.

The largest difference between them lies in the fact that the Era 2 supports AIO coolers. You can technically fit up to a 280 mm radiator in the roof, although admittedly even Fractal recommends you stick with a 240 mm there. You know, just for your own sanity, and I'm inclined to agree.

There's also been some additional changes to how the GPU is installed (the removable setup is gone). Plus, the PSU now mounts with a sliding bracket rather than the latch system the Terra uses. The adjustable internal backbone/motherboard tray design—which allows you to shift the entire internal layout backwards and forwards to give you more space on the CPU or GPU side—remains and is a welcome addition, albeit with some caveats.

From a glance, the Era 2 is just stunning. Its satin metallic finish on that anodized aluminum panel is outstanding to look at, particularly with the blue review sample I've got to hand. Combine that with the walnut top plate and the subtle Fractal Design logos etched here and there, and it definitely feels like a premium chassis; it feels like it's worthy of that $200 price tag.

The real challenge for any ITX case though, is the build process, and let me be clear: this is a true ITX case; it's not for the faint of heart. Going into it, component selection is going to be critical to your success. Although the Era 2 does support 'full-size' SFX-L PSUs, I'd highly recommend sticking with the shorter SFX design. Doing that gives you a lot more cable management room to play with. Although that is basically just an additional inch of space, it's an inch that seriously counts.

Similarly, you need to pay close attention to your power lead port location on the PSU you're using, as the passthrough cable Fractal has included is right-angled in one orientation. With my be quiet! SFX-L 600W PSU, it directly conflicted with the side of the case's shell.

You'd think, given you can move the entire internal mounting frame in the Era 2 back and forth, that would eliminate such a problem. However, the PSU mounting solution is on rails and secures to the case via a single screw and metal tab attached to the side of the entire frame. You can move the frame, but the PSU stays where it is. There is a workaround to bypass that metal tab, but to do it, you have to disassemble the entire front of the chassis, remove part of the plastic sledge rails, and jimmy the PSU into position. Something I did during my build, to get everything, including the AIO and its tubing, to fit.

The optimal build process in an ideal world goes like this: Tear the chassis down—removing as many panels as possible—then immediately install your power supply, getting as many cables routed and tied down as you can ahead of time. Once that's done install your motherboard with everything but the RAM in. Then plug in as many cables as possible, thinking hard about cable management as you do it, and where your GPU and cooler are going to sit. After that, install your RAM, then move on to your graphics card, and finally your AIO after that.

Opting for an air-cooler—something like Noctua's NH-L9 series—makes this build far simpler to produce and honestly is a setup I'd recommend, particularly if you're running a Ryzen 5 or an Intel Core Ultra 5, especially given how potent some of those low-profile cooler units are. That way, not only do you get more cable-management space back, but you can then install two 140 mm fans in the roof to help with exhaust. Combine that with the two included 120 mm fans in the floor, and you'll have a seriously potent cooling setup that takes advantage of convection quite nicely (it's worth pointing out you do still have this with an AIO, but the radiator does add additional air resistance into the mix).

Because of its limited form factor, you really do need to be on top of cabling. Take your time with it; you've got very limited space between the GPU and the motherboard tray, and there are cutouts there that you can run front I/O cables through, but they're quite narrow, and if you put too many here that are too thick, it's not possible to fully install the GPU, without potentially damaging the graphics card.

This is actually one area where the Terra has the advantage over the Era 2, as the GPU was installed via a removable bracket, which did allow you to compress some of that cabling if you ran it behind the graphics card, making it far easier to install.

Similarly, when you're installing your AIO, you need to be mindful about where you place its fans. I initially tried to install it with the fans on the bottom of the radiator acting as push, with the rad mounted to the removable bracket, but immediately came into contact with my armada of cables from the SFX-L PSU, stopping the fans from spinning. Swapping it around, so the AIO fans were acting as pull rather than push, proved a better solution, although it was still a tight fit.

That might sound like I had a hell of a time building in the Era 2, and to be frank, I did, but that's all part and parcel of working in a proper ITX form factor. What Fractal's managed to do here however is impressive. This is a remarkably small case with a ridiculously tiny footprint, and yet, I've got a full 240mm AIO in here, a healthy-sized graphics card, along with a fairly high-end CPU setup as well.

All running super smooth and seriously quiet in a stupendously good-looking case. With a bit of luck and the right GPU, if you had an SFX-L PSU, you could even potentially fit an RTX 4080 Super in here as well (MSI's Gaming X Slim series should technically fit according to the specs).

Is this one of the best cases of all time? The best ITX chassis out there today? Well, that still very much depends on your perspective. If you're looking for a super easy, done in an hour build with plenty of room to work in as you do it, this isn't for you. This is a challenging case, and at times frustrating, but that's purely down to how small a footprint this thing has. There's a lot to love here, and a lot of engineering prowess that Fractal's leveraged into it, but we'd probably stick with the Terra as the best ITX of all. For those looking for a nice sleek metal box for their latest rig that takes up minimal desk space, looks incredible, and still supports all the hardware they want, with a bit of a challenge built-in to it as well, the Era 2 is still by far one of the most impressive ITX offerings out there today.