Fractal Design North XL review and build guide

Fractal Design North XL review and build guide.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 - Review
11:16 - Timelapse build
AFFILIATE LINKS / FEATURED PRODUCTS
Fractal Design North XL - geni.us/jz0i
I7-14700K - geni.us/t58Z
Asus Z790-E Gaming WiFi - geni.us/wFD6ml
RTX 4090 FE - geni.us/V2HPvG
Corsair Vengeance DDR5 - geni.us/qTo4
Corsair RM1000x - geni.us/6UfV
Noctua NF-A12 - geni.us/Kc1O10X
CableMod Cables - store.cablemod.com/?ref=58069
EK Velocity2 LGA1700
EK Vector2 FE RTX 4090 Nickel + Plexi
EK P360M black edition
EK S360M black edition
EK HDC 14mm fittings, black
EK Acrylic 14mm OD tubing
EK Kinetic TBE 200 D5 PWM
EK RES X3 TUBE 110
EK UNI Pump bracket vertical (120mm)
EK Torque micro plug, black
EK Torque rotary 90 degree fitting, black
EK Torque extender static MF 28, black
EK Torque drain valve, black
Titan Rig - www.titanrig.com/
GGF Events - / @ggfevents
MY GEAR
Nikon Z6ii - geni.us/4WHytD
Nikkor Z 35mm lens - geni.us/D2iBF5
Nikkor Z 85mm lens - geni.us/gHjPh
Deity D3 Pro mic - geni.us/tIRt
GVM Camera slider - geni.us/q170
Manfrotto video tripod - geni.us/uBZ5L
CONTACT
Website: www.haurjie.com/
X/Twitter: / haurjie
Instagram: / haurjie
Threads: www.threads.net/@haurjie

[@haurjie]

Disclaimer here. The EKWB dual P360M rads I tested top + front mount didn't work because they are a bit larger in dimensions than some other brands. So I just recommend checking the length on your hardware if you're trying it. I will also want to add that EKWB is a very popular watercooling hardware brand to begin with, so this going back to the statement I made about the North XL should've been a tad bit larger anyways... would have been able to cover a larger range of hardware, especially popular ones.

[@robmasters3569]

this is also the first time ever I have seen somebody make this colour scheme of Noctua fans look good. They actually match really well with everything although they return to looking nasty when the beautiful wood front panel is fitted back on. Personally I would have used the black/grey Noctuas if I wanted those fans but regardless I still love this but your work always is outstanding.

[@haurjie]

Thank you! Yea actually you can go either way with the classic brown fans or the black chromax. I've tried both and they work. I decided to go brown this time because I've overused chromax in my other projects haha.

[@dylanmcclung9106]

This is the aesthetic and water cooling setup I wanted for my next build. Beautiful, thank you!

[@haurjie]

You going for a whole wood theme setup?

[@dylanmcclung9106]

@@haurjie Yes definitely, where did you get the cream colored hard tubing?

[@haurjie]

@@dylanmcclung9106 it's just acrylic, I had to paint that with Rust-Oleum ivory/creme color

[@robmasters3569]

I love GGF Events and I'm a massive fan of all Stuart's work so it's nice to hear you give him a mention

[@haurjie]

Stuart is daddy ❤️

[@johnnywoolen1453]

I'm considering a water cooled build in this chassis. I love the way you planned the loop. Very clean! I'm definitely gonna draw some inspiration from your build.

[@haurjie]

Sweet, thank you!

[@FPSWizard]

So clean. Nice vid! I want in white!

[@haurjie]

If I did a white build, I probably would've taken apart every panel and painted the interior white haha.

[@JustCarnivorousCupcake]

Very detailed and informative video, thank you. Whilst I just build my first pc with aio in the standard north and won't be building another one any time soon, let alone with custom loop, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. If I'd go for a custom loop right now however, I'd probably go for the white version, specifically in combination with the asrock taichi carrara mobo, cuz I think it would look stunning if you then pair it with a custom marble paint job on the tubes :)

[@vanveenmatt]

That is a super sick rig. I am just slightly jealous.

[@ybd.]

Great video!

[@haurjie]

The man!

[@grafzerkpisser]

how did you get the white tube coloring? It's it painted, since the EK Acrylic 14mm OD tubing is transparant if I am not mistaken.

[@marc-antoinevanheerswinghe18]

Nice work

[@purplasmo]

tastefully done.

[@vividowlmedia]

@haurjie love the setup! Did you custom build that back plate to the right of the motherboard? I’m looking for something similar. Any more info on it?

[@haurjie]

The black plate is just an acrylic sheet from Amazon, here's my link amzn.to/49wEUjp Just measured the dimensions of that motherboard tray of where you want it to cover, cut it with a jigsaw, double sided tape was all it took to hold it in place. Cut out the spot for the 24-pin cables.

[@vividowlmedia]

My man. Thank you so much for responding and providing a link! 🙌🏻

[@ijn_taiho232]

Quick question!If I decide to go for 2 slim 360mm radiators from EK do I have clearance to get tubes on the front side of the top radiator cause I d like to put a 140 ek distro plate on the back side mount of the case.Thanks in advance!!!

[@haurjie]

Yeah two slims should be able to let you do tubes on the front side of the top rad. My intuition also tells me you may want to then flip the front rad where the tubes are on the bottom instead. Are you doing hard tube or soft tube?

[@ijn_taiho232]

@@haurjie Hard tubing and yes I intend to flip the front radiator for ports facing down on the shroud and from there go back up into the GPU

[@laejn]

Very nice video! Regarding the front 360x60 combined with top 360x45 support, the P360M tested in the video have unusually long end tanks thanks to the thick decorative covers, pushing it to 405 mm in length. Something like the Corsair XR7 360 or HWL LX360 with a more standard 395 to 398 mm in length should fit fine. The 360's illustrated in the manual measure 398 mm.

[@haurjie]

Yeah you're right, the length of the radiators will vary by brand.

[@zero-jm7ok]

How did you get the wooden side panel with the circle and H in the middle? I don't see that model anywhere. I'm guessing that's custom?

[@haurjie]

Yes it's just vinyl wrap, custom cut

[@brianhow2735]

Nice build! Im building on a Fractal North XL myself. I was wondering what the black "plate" you used to cover the extra grommets at the start of the Timelapse build was? Like what is it made out of? Is it 3D printed or did you cut it out by hand?

[@brianhow2735]

The timestamp on the video is 11:25 for the "plate" I'm referring to.

[@haurjie]

The black plate is just an acrylic sheet from Amazon, here's my link amzn.to/49wEUjp Just measured the dimensions of that motherboard tray of where you want it to cover, cut it with a jigsaw, double sided tape was all it took to hold it in place. Cut out the spot for the 24-pin cables.

[@brianhow2735]

@@haurjie Wow thank you so so much!

[@jonsnow747]

I'm thinking of upgrading the case to Fractal North XL, will I fit a 420 30mm rad in the front and a 360 rad on the top?

[@haurjie]

You might be able to depending on the brand of your hardware because different companies have varying dimensions to their rads. If you do, the front rad needs to have ports at the bottom otherwise you won't be able to access your fittings on the top.

[@DQFG]

Great build, love the use of noctua fans. What is the music called?

[@haurjie]

I used two songs. Arcaders by Ben Elson and Another Night, New Town by Vanity Street

[@dylancnguyen]

Where did you get that walnut PSU shroud cover? It looks great!

[@haurjie]

Just a simple vinyl wrap from Amazon haha. You can do an actual wood panel up front too if you wanted to pretty easily. Just has to be thin.

[@2660MHz]

I love the design, but I am concerned about the lack of a dust filter in the rear part, that is mostly meshed: when you shut off the PC for some time, dust can enter from there.

[@T0rdal]

What size cable mod dit you use on the xl ?

[@haurjie]

You mean the length of the cables? I maxed out the length on the cable configurator on cablemod website, not because you need to for this build, but because I reuse my custom cables in many builds, and I never know how big a case can get which is why I buy the longest possible lengths for each cable.

[@T0rdal]

@@haurjie oh okay thanks for the reply 👍

[@N3xusSolo]

Nice review! What have you done with the PSU shroud and how? It looks gorgeous with the "wood" side (it's not wood I guess) :). How is it done?

[@haurjie]

It's just vinyl wrap from Amazon haha

[@N3xusSolo]

@@haurjie Aha! Clever. By the way, what do you think about the noise level from the North XL? I hear that the wood front cause a lot of turbulence. I really want this case but if the design of the front causes more noise than "usual" I might choose another one.

[@haurjie]

@@N3xusSolo noise is more about what fans you have and their settings. It's a lot less about the case

[@N3xusSolo]

@@haurjie Yes, I know that. And I know how to handle custom fan curves. But the front has been said to cause turbulence. Do you think the North XL is worse than other cases?

[@haurjie]

@@N3xusSolo I don't have a bunch of cases to have tested specifically for airflow turbulence noise from the front panel during this video. I personally don't think this is a major issue at all, I ran my fans at 50-75-100 RPM tested, they sound just as good/bad as any other similar cases I've had in the past.

[@fl8ck34]

I very seldom make comments. Just wanted to say I love water cooled builds, and your work is excellent.

[@haurjie]

Thank you! I am honored to have received a comment from you :)

[@StatsGam4er]

Whoa dude. Dunno who you are, but I really like this video. Subbed. Love the build too btw ! Those bends are very very nice.

[@haurjie]

Thank you! I'm just another guy doing builds in the saturated tech category haha

[@StatsGam4er]

@@haurjie Definitely saturated, but you stood out. Kudos and keep it up.

[@racerhoch3]

Are 3 120 mm fans or 2 140mm fans on the top better?

[@haurjie]

With or without radiators?

[@racerhoch3]

@@haurjie Without radiators

[@haurjie]

@@racerhoch3 my philosophy is always less is more. If you can get the performance you want, go less. I'd try to see if I can do 140s first. But it also depends on how it looks, that's also important for me. If dual 140 leaves too much space up top, it'll look empty. But it depends on what radiator , fans, or distro, pump/res I have mounted in front or rear panel to fill

[@ijn_taiho232]

Which pump-res combo is that?I cant find an EKWB res that small unless its DDC and this doesnt look like a DDC.

[@haurjie]

It's the EK Kinetic TBE, you can buy the different size reservoir tube separately. The D5 pump base is the same

[@ijn_taiho232]

Could you please provide me with the one you used in your video?I just ordered my North XL and i intend to make my first loop in it and i am thinking to make it identical to yours with maybe a vertical mount instead.Thanks@@haurjie

[@haurjie]

@@ijn_taiho232 www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-res-x3-tube-110-64mm

[@robertbrown2889]

How would you feel about this case for a 3X GPU config - let's say 3 identical 2 slot EVGA 3090s? Enough room and radiator space? No overclocking, just stock CPU speeds for the i9 and GPUs. Thanks, and great video.

[@haurjie]

If you have a motherboard that supports 3 3090s, you also need to put 3090s on waterblocks otherwise physically they won't fit. But the thing with 3090s is they need to be cooled from the backplate too which also makes waterblocks thicker, so the fitment in general is a bit questionable. I don't have any 3090s to try. But I also think you'll need to run two thick 360 radiators with high fan speeds to keep cool. That's even assuming you can fit what you want in it, but I would personally do two 3090s MAX in this case.

[@robertbrown2889]

@@haurjie Thank you, I'm going to go with 2 3090s now, both with EK waterblocks and active cooling backplates. Both cards are EVGA XC3s so 2 slot cards with room on either side. Just looking at the case with one of them in there now, I can see room for the second card but not the 3rd. It would be too close to the bottom of the case without enough clearance for a 3rd card. After some additional research I also don't have the ability to power a system with 3 cards from a standard 120V outlet, so that kind of made the decision for me. EK has been responsive in my questions about watercooling so far, but their web configuration tool suggested pumps that are already discontinued. Your video was extremely helpful so far, thanks for taking the time to create it. Liked and subscribed! :)

[@haurjie]

@@robertbrown2889 I appreciate it! Also something to keep in mind, my experience with active backplates on GPUs isn't always the best. Because there were motherboards where the active backplate would conflict with the SSD heatsink, so you'll want to double check your motherboard of choice to make sure there is clearance, otherwise you won't be able to insert your GPU into the PCIe slot fully (if at all). Unfortunately, the 3090 specifically is a card that has memory on the back so it's the only GPU that actually benefits with active backplate.

[@robertbrown2889]

​@@haurjie Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for that when the backplates arrive. I do have an NVME drive with a heatsink on it next to the PCIE slot, but I also have an identical drive with a heat spreader. If I have to I'll either migrate data to the other drive or find another NVME slot. There are 3 choices on this motherboard.

[@JiNXs_gaming]

where did you get this power supply walnut cover? 👍🏼👌🏼

[@haurjie]

It's just a vinyl wrap from Amazon. amzn.to/3PUKghM

[@Edward135i]

Wood PC's that look like they're from the 1970s become popular Noctua: Finally...

[@ryanlowery9081]

That hole on top is to run quick disconnect fittings to a Heatkiller Mo-RA or external rad placed on top of the case, then you can run tubing through the ceiling into the other rads and such. I dont think they intended to use that as a pass through hole to bite with a fitting.

[@haurjie]

Hmm... that's interesting, didn't know that. I think they probably should have mentioned that specifically. The manual actually just says "Adding a water cooling fillport", and nothing else. So I took that as they planned for a generic fillport. Well, now that I know this, I think they should've gone with a generic fillport size though, my intuition tells me there are probably less people who are going to plan for a Mo-RA. I could be wrong though.

[@emilpopovic9742]

​@haurjie Mora is expensive as hell. You need Mora, dual P5 pump, 9 fans and a reservoir. If you have all that, you don't need big case anymore! You can easily fit the rest into very small case.

[@laejn]

No, the hole on top is designed for the specific EK-AF fill port shown in the video.

[@coreysteele308]

Awsome build mate and such a good watch. Do you have a parts list of what you used in this build? Or do you not share that sort of thing. Cheers

[@haurjie]

I just added the parts list to the description. I only add the core components I used usually because the custom water cooling hardware loop is just a much longer list. No time for that lol. If you have a specific question about that part I would happy to answer though

[@coreysteele308]

Awsome mate thanks for that, was just interested to see what you got to fit before I go about mine. Haha I can understand that, that list would not be worth the time 😂. Main question I have is did you end up going two 30mm rads top and front or did you get it too fit with a 44mm rad up front and a 30mm rad up top? Thanks

[@haurjie]

@@coreysteele308 Slim 30mm top and 44mm front. SO actually, someone did point out to me that the EK radiators are a bit longer which is why 45 and 45mm 360s didn't work in my test. However, other brands like Corsair, Heatkiller etc... they might actually fit what the manual stated because shorter length. I also pinned my own disclaimer comment in the video here at the top just in case :)

[@haurjie]

@@coreysteele308 So seems like more people asked for the watercooling harware list, I just sucked it up and went ahead to adding that list to the description. Check it out if you want :)

[@coreysteele308]

Yeah I thought that may have been the case, was just hard to tell from the video. I did notice the ek was about 15mm longer than the corsair from memory. Haha the masses have forced your hand. I will definatley check it out, thank you mate appreciate it.

[@ThePrimaFacie]

04:03 The press fit of the GPU without a bracket or support gives me the Heebie-jeebies. For my Torrent (slightly bigger then the North XL strangely enough) with an Arctic Freezer Aio I had to cut my GPU bracket and even tho its bolted and secure I still feel like I should do more.

[@user-cv7up5zu6y]

❤

[@GreatIntellect13]

Nice zero rgb build. This is my kind of build.

[@haurjie]

Anti-RGB army 🫡

[@fl8ck34]

Those new ek rads are wider than regular rads try a different brand it should fit.

[@haurjie]

Yea different brands will have varying dimensions. I unfortunately didn't have access to every hardware though. Good point made though

[@keegansteele4689]

id love to build mine very similar to this, do you think you could send me the water cooling parts through message or on here? awesome build! love it

[@haurjie]

I've added it to the description

[@keegansteele4689]

@@haurjie thanks mate! do you have a link to the wood vinyl you used?

[@haurjie]

@@keegansteele4689 from Amazon amzn.to/3PUKghM

[@toonnut1]

Not enough hard drive bays for me but I own more than 10 drives 😂

[@haurjie]

Haha you'll need a NAS or a super tower.

[@sleazymedia6967]

Can you post a link to the walnut psu shroud vinyl?

[@haurjie]

Here is my amazon affiliate link to it amzn.to/3PUKghM

[@pissboybaby]

not even related to the video at all but its a very good video, i think you would look good bald

[@haurjie]

I have contemplated about this. If it's ok with you I wanna share this comment, I think it's hilarious 😂. Also thank you!