The Node 605 may be considered the larger brother of the Node 304, but it is aimed at the HTPC user looking for an excellent case of similar dimensions for their home theater equipment - with the looks and the functionality of an HT system and a justifiable price tag to go with it.

The Fractal Design Node 605 is a chassis that has been designed for the home server and HTPC afficonado's in mind. As such is does cater to a rather specific audience. For these guys it however is a really solid product, it's decent in size, has great looks and it can function as a desktop PC, HTPC,...

Yes, the Node 605 is user specific to a very small category in cases, but the way Fractal Design went about it was that if you are going to try and enter the market, jump in with both feet and offer something sleek, sexy, cool, and sturdier than any other component of your HTPC setup.

This case review is going to be pretty easy to wrap up in a nice little bow. My experience with this case and installing components were very easy. All you need to do is remove the top panel, remove the cross-member and hard drive cages, and get to work.

Introducing the Fractal Design Node 605 Media center enclosures can be a very tricky business. 25 years ago, horizontally-oriented cases were the norm, but the ATX standard complicates things. We're also dealing with hotter components now than we were then.

Fractal is new to the HTPC arena, yet the Node 605 is a laudable first attempt. For anyone who still sees value in having a full-blown PC in the living room, the Node 605 will happily accept most existing ATX builds and it'll do so while looking sleek and stylish.

Overall we are in a bit of a quandary regarding the Fractal Design Node 605. It's a stylish chassis with a solid build. It does offer a lot of interior space, and a flexible lay-out. You can fit a full ATX motherboard, a full ATX power supply, and a fairly large graphics card.

Let's take a look at the first HTPC (Home Theater PC) case from Fractal Design, the Node 605.

Aluminum front panel; Dampening material on the top panel; Memory card reader supporting SF; SD; and microSD formats; Comes with two Fractal Design Silent Series R2 120 mm fans; which are very quiet; Two-speed fan controller; Air filter for the side and power supply fans; Anti-vibration rings for...

Optical drive can only be installed with microATX and Mini-ITX motherboards; More expensive than its competitors

This is the third time I am writing this because NewEgg insists on expiring logins within seconds, so I am going to be brief in hopes that I don't lose everything again. This is an excellent case, very beautiful. When you pull it out of the box you know that you have something special.

Beautiful - High quality materials - Room for a decent number of drives

- Can be tight to work in - Some very slight fitment issues with the optical drive not sitting flush with the front panel ( very minor) - Cable management can be difficult with a lot of drives/graphics card - I had a pretty glaring QC issue (see below

The Node 605 is quite a well designed HTPC case. While being on the large side of HTPC cases due to ATX support it has less depth than many competing ATX HTPC cases (such as the Silverstone GD07 and GD08) which allows it to fit on more entertainment centres.

Excellent build quality; sleek looks; good attention to design detail

Can be a bit cramped; fan filters not meant to be removable; only fits a slim optical drive (and a maximum of a mATX board is used)