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Fractal Design's new North and North XL Momentum Edition cases sport stealthy black wood slats, promise quieter fans – XL model also supports back-connector motherboards
Fractal's North PC case has spent the last few years on our Best PC cases for its combination of high airflow and mid-century modern design – wood-slatted front and all. But not everyone loves that warm wood look, and our chief complaint about the case in our review was that it was noisy. Now the company is ready to address both those issues, with a new North Momentum Edition variant with new fans that the company says are quieter and a stealth black look that, while it doesn't ditch the wood slats, makes them stand out a whole lot less.
Apart from including the company's new Momentum fans and a blacked-out aesthetic (the slats are now black oak, with the grain still visible up close), these Momentum Edition cases are largely the same as the originals. The larger XL model now supports rear-connector motherboards, like MSI's Project Zero options, for a cleaner-looking interior.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
The non-XL Momentum Edition also now includes three smaller 120mm Momentum 12 fans in the front of the case, rather than the pair of larger 140mm Aspect fans in the original. If, like me, you assumed that three smaller fans would be a downgrade compared to two larger models, Fractal claims there's no need to worry.
In its internal testing, Fractal says the Momentum Edition case (below, left) with its three 120 mm fans is about 4 dBA quieter (42.4 dBA) than the original North (below, right) and its 140 mm spinners (46.1 dBA), with both at max fan speed. And the new 120mm fans can ramp up to 2,050 RPM, while the older 140 mm models maxed out at 1,650 RPM. Average temps were also 2 degrees Celsius lower, with most of the difference coming from lower GPU temperatures. This makes sense, given the new fan layout means there's more intake in the lower portion of the case front.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
We didn't have the time to throw a system inside the North Momentum Edition, but we will be testing the company's Momentum fans on their own, so stay tuned. Still, we're tentatively glad to hear this new model should be quieter and cooler. That said, I've been using the original North as the case for my main system since 2023. It sits under my desk, about 15 inches from my knee as I write this, and it has handled my Ryzen 9 7950X / RTX 4090 build without giving me any major complaints on the noise front. But I might feel differently if the case were on top of my desk, rather than below it.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
There's also a promise of improved cable routing, but that only applies to the North Momentum XL, not the smaller model shown above. Since the larger case now supports rear-connect motherboards, the space between the back of the case and the door has been widened from 29 to 37 mm. That's good, considering the primary complaint I've had about most back-connect cases is that they don't have enough room for all the cables behind the board.
One change I'd love to see is the addition of a second USB Type-C port on the top panel, given the proliferation of USB-C devices. But since this is a minor refresh (at least when it comes to design), I'm not surprised to see the same IO, with two USB-A and a USB-C port, alongside separate mic and headphone jacks.
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Fractal says the North Momentum Edition will sell for $179, with the Momentum Edition XL selling for $209. That's a $15-$25 difference over typical prices for the original North cases, but that's not including sales. When I wrote this, the North XL was just $127 at Micro Center, and we've seen the original North as low as $109.
Hopefully, these new variants stick reasonably close to their older siblings on price as they settle into the market. Because as much as I like the black-on-black look and the idea of quieter, better-performing fans, I'm not sure I'd pay $70-$80 extra for these upgrades over what was already one of my favorite cases of the last decade.
After a rough start with the Mattel Aquarius as a child, Matt built his first PC in the late 1990s and ventured into mild PC modding in the early 2000s. He’s spent the last 15 years covering emerging technology for Smithsonian, Popular Science, and Consumer Reports, while testing components and PCs for Computer Shopper, PCMag and Digital Trends.
