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Terra is a PC case designed and engineered to reshape the small form factor gaming experience. Inspired by the homes of modern gamers, Terra incorporates boutique design features such as thick panels cut from anodized aluminum, CNC-milled details and FSC-certified solid walnut. Inside, it includes a PCIe 4.0 riser cable and features a stepless slidable central wall for build flexibility, providing space for a powerful GPU up to 322 mm in length. This might be a good idea if you're mounting a 120mm fan in its one available spot below the power supply. But even with my modular SFX PSU, I needed the majority of that space to sore cable slack.
Computers options - 6 groups of items - 35 total selections
But unlike the mind-tower North, Fractal Design's $179 Terra is a surprisingly small, 10.4-liter Mini-ITX case. It looks great in your choice of three colors and takes up a small amount of space, but its 8.58 x 6.02 x 13.5-inch frame means you'll have to choose your components very carefully. Free assistance is available for the first 60 days on new purchases, excluding internal hardware installations or networking support.
[Build Ready] Fractal Terra ITX 4070 TI
If you have 2.5-inch drives, you can mount one on the bottom below the PSU (but not if you install a fan there) and in the slim gap between the left side of the PSU and the front of the case. For my test build, I stuck with just a single M.2 drive on the motherboard. Looking at it in its built-out form, the Fractal Design Terra is indeed a pretty case with its wood trim up front. But in the quest for minimal Nordic design, you'll notice that connectivity is limited to a single USB-A 3.1 (5Gbps) port and a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) port, alongside the power button. Inspired by the homes of modern gamers, Terra has been crafted to lift the desk environment and harmonize powerful gaming technology into their living space. To achieve this, it incorporates boutique design features such as panels cut from anodized aluminum, including an 8 mm-thick aluminum front and a panel made from FSC-certified solid walnut.
Gaming & Software options - 10 groups of items - 37 total selections
Digital DownloadsAll Digital Download sales are final and are not eligible for return or refund under the Micro Center Return Policy. VR Headsets and Headphones (including AirPods, Earbuds, and Over-the-Ear products) are only eligible for return if deemed defective.
Networking options - 6 groups of items - 27 total selections
This "sandwich style" setup offers extra diversity in terms of what components you can install, but at the same time, the wiggle room is pretty limited. You can move the spine about 1.5 inches one way or the other, even with parts attached and, again, the case's total width is just over 6 inches. I have to wonder why, particularly in today's world of three-slot-plus GPUs, Fractal didn't just make the case a couple of inches wider – and maybe one or two taller – to accommodate more fan mounting options and better CPU cooling. The Fractal Design Terra is a small form factor Mini-ITX case with style and capability. Its anodized aluminum and solid walnut structure echo modern gamer living spaces.
Laptop Batteries options - 2 groups of items - 9 total selections
The Refreshing Simplicity of Fractal Design's Modernist PCs - Design Milk
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Posted: Mon, 03 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
I'd say in most instances, you should expect to fit most 4070-class cards in this case – as long as it's not one of the crazy thick overbuild models. Higher-end Nvida FE cards should also fit, but then you're going to need a larger SFX-L power supply, and I don't feel great about all that heat-generating hardware going into a cramped case with, at best, a single intake fan. Again, Fractal could have made this case just a little bigger to accommodate more powerful cards. But as it is, it's probably good that you can't quite fit the most powerful, most overclocked cards in this case, no matter how vented all the panels are. More specifically, it supports SFX and SFX-L power supplies and graphics cards up to 12.68 inches long and a maximum of 2.83 inches wide.
PC Parts options - 10 groups of items - 50 total selections
Cable management was pretty easy really, but putting a standard fun under the PSU required some cable ties to (just about) hold the cables out of the fan blades. Used a AXP90-X47 Full Copper and replaced the fan with a taller Noctua 92x92x25mm (instead of the stock 15mm tall). The clearance with the 4090 means there is EXACTLY 57mm, a single millimetre more will prevent the side panel from closing. There is some turbulence when under load (after about 65% fan speed) so I will also be testing a 15mm Noctua fan next week with some fan ducts and see how that performs. As you've probably noticed in the photos, the side panels flip up gull-wing style, and the rear of the frame is spring-mounted, so if you push back on the hinges, you can remove the side doors completely.
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All in all, the Fractal Terra is a striking and mostly well-thought-out Mini-ITX case. I doubt it will have as wide an appeal as its larger North cousin since component and airflow options are far more limiting here. Once the motherboard is in you can wedge the connector for the pre-installed Gen 4 GPU riser cable into the slot on the motherboard, which is at the top here. Since the motherboard installs on what traditionally would be the rear side of a PC case, it's rotated 180 degrees from the typical orientation. If you are using the same mobo+cooler combo, the stock back plate works fine using the smaller stand-off screws, however there is barely enough thread left to tighten, but to my eyes and experience there was enough.
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Support for Micro Center purchases
Inspired by the homes of modern gamers, Terra is a small form factor case crafted to lift the desk environment. And it's making me feel very much okay about not loving the RGB-bathed monstrosities still dominating the PC gaming space. More PC cases should be designed with the Scandi aesthetic in mind, if you ask me. 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. /r/buildapc is a community-driven subreddit dedicated to custom PC assembly.
She can be found admiring AI advancements, scrambling for scintillating Raspberry Pi projects, preaching cybersecurity awareness, sighing over semiconductors, and gawping at the latest GPU upgrades. She's been heading the PCG Steam Deck content hike, while waiting patiently for her chance to upload her consciousness into the cloud. "We have a different take on it," Fractal Design's, Susana Hernando tells me about the company's thoughts on the prevailing RGB LED aesthetic. "This is kind of Scandinavian, and builds on the Aurora Borealis, that's the idea behind this."
From building through to daily use, Terra was designed with user interaction in mind. Whether someone rotates open the aluminum side panels, slides open the top with the integrated tab or presses the laser-engraved aluminum power button — every interaction with Terra is designed to feel smooth and enjoyable. Would like a sanity check for the CPU cooler, and the motherboard and GPU combination. It should all fit in for sizes from the other builds I've been checking out on this case, but if I made some big mistake would absolutely love to be saved from my own incompetence. I think it should be quiet enough here as well, but please let me know if I accidentally built a jet engine. I was looking at the GN case review and I don't think I'll run into that with the CPU cooler clearance I have.
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