Fractal's Excellent Era 2 Case: Review, Thermal Benchmarks, Cable Management, & Quality

Video Description

Sponsor: Get 10% off Squarespace purchases (https://geni.us/BqEpf) Our review of the Fractal Era 2 mini-ITX case is in. In these Era 2 benchmarks, we're testing it for build quality, ease-of-installation, cable management, some thermals and acoustics, and overall execution. The Fractal Era 2 follows Fractal's Mood, which we didn't recommend, and other case launches like the Lian Li A3-mATX, NCASE M1EVO, and Cooler Master's NCORE 100 MAX tower. The Era 2 is closest to the A4-H2O of the cases we've reviewed lately, but is distinct in several key areas. It ends up a relatively tall ITX case by dimensions, but still compact. The wood top panel on the case also moves wood from the (now typical) front location to a different area. Mechanical complexity is also overall interesting and tooling is good, but execution struggles in some areas: We had a cracked wood panel and misaligned aluminum panels, contributing two of the only marks against it in our testing -- the last being price. If you're looking at doing a mini-ITX PC build, the Fractal Era 2 may be on your list for a gaming PC or home media center. This testing will help you determine if the Era 2 is worth it. Watch our Lian Li A3-mATX case review (we liked this one also): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r9yukG_9EQ And our Antec Flux Pro ATX case review for a new chart-topper in thermals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqLyqUdQNcg The best way to support our work is through our store: https://store.gamersnexus.net/ Grab our PC building anti-static modmat! https://store.gamersnexus.net/products/large-modmat-gn15-anniversary Like our content? Please consider becoming our Patron to support us: http://www.patreon.com/gamersnexus RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links] Fractal Era 2 on Amazon (when it lists): https://geni.us/7aTBlq8 Fractal Era 2 on Newegg (when it lists): https://howl.me/cm7qSg4Xzwi Lian Li A3-mATX-WD on Amazon: https://geni.us/AEO6S Lian Li A3-mATX Wood on Newegg: https://howl.me/cm7qU2LlTii Lian Li A3-mATX non-wood on Amazon: https://geni.us/fjMd Fractal Terra on Amazon: https://geni.us/iahM Fractal Terra on Newegg: https://howl.me/cm7qTi2iwot Cooler Master NCORE 100 Max tower on Amazon: https://geni.us/w2nN Cooler Master NCORE 100 MAX tower on Newegg: https://howl.me/cm7qWcIUSi5 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Fractal Era 2 Case Review 02:50 - Basics & Competing Alternatives 06:08 - Dimensions & Cooler Compatibility 09:31 - Positives of the Era 2 12:24 - Negatives of the Era 2 15:05 - Airflow Animation 17:27 - Thermal Testing 18:41 - CPU Thermals 19:54 - GPU Thermals 20:44 - VRM & RAM Thermals 21:19 - Conclusion ** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! ** Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage. Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates: t: http://www.twitter.com/gamersnexus f: http://www.facebook.com/gamersnexus w: http://www.gamersnexus.net/ Steve Burke: Host, Test Lead, Additional Writing Jeremy Clayton: Writing, Testing Vitalii Makhnovets: Camera, Editing Tim Phetdara: Camera Andrew Coleman: 3D Animation