Fractal Design returns with a new version of its now-classic North PC case. (The original birthed a wave of cases with wooden highlights.) The new chassis looks familiar at first glance but makes a few key changes. The $179.99 North Momentum Edition swaps the original model’s pair of 140mm fans for three of the company’s Momentum 12 (120mm) fans, while also adopting a darker overall aesthetic. Beyond those obvious tweaks, the rest of the story lies in the details. This isn’t a dramatic overhaul, but the updates feel smart and intentional. The result is a more subdued take on the North that improves in some areas while holding steady in others.

Design: A Darker Visage

Where the original North offered walnut-on-black or oak-on-white finishes, the North Momentum Edition goes all-in on a darker look. Its wooden front-panel accents—10 semi-floating slats—are stained black in a tone Fractal Design calls “Black Oak,” giving the case a more subdued, monochromatic appearance. The company also offers a North XL Momentum Edition, slightly larger and more expensive at $209.99, and equipped with Momentum 14 fans.

That darker theme extends throughout. Gold trim from the original model is replaced with black, while the overall chassis design remains mechanically unchanged. Up front, you still get separate headphone and microphone jacks, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (labeled USB 3.0), and a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port.

One notable change: Fractal has dropped the vented side-panel option. The Momentum Edition comes only with a 3mm tempered-glass side panel, which we didn’t evaluate with the original North.

Keeping with the darker theme, the North Momentum replaces its predecessor’s gold trim with black. The components are mechanically unchanged, so that we still get the classic separate headphone and microphone jacks, along with two USB 3.2 Gen1 ports that are labeled 3.0 and one Gen2 (x2) port that’s labeled Type-C. FYI, Type-C (external) and Type-E (internal) headers are both Gen 2x2.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Around back, little has changed. The rear panel still supports a vertically adjustable 120mm fan, retains seven expansion slots without separator bars between them, and uses a removable power supply mounting plate.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

The same goes for filtration. The bottom dust filter and front filter design appear unchanged, with the front filter snapping into a removable inner panel that hooks at the top and clicks into place at the bottom.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Access to the case’s interior is straightforward. The tempered-glass side panel pops free from the top and hooks into the bottom of the frame, while the narrow front-side strip can be removed via a knurled screw. That secondary panel exposes a cutout at the front of the PSU shroud, a gap that makes it easier to install a 360mm front radiator.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Cooling and Layout: Standard Size, or XL?

Up top, clearance is tight. While the case supports two 140mm fans, it doesn’t comfortably accommodate a 280mm radiator due to limited vertical and horizontal space near the motherboard’s I/O area. In practice, your viable options are two 140mm fans, two 120mm fans, or a 240mm radiator with fans. Just around 35mm separates the top panel from the motherboard’s top edge, so that fitting even a 240mm-format cooler will rely upon the 44mm of horizontal space that separates the inner-facing portion of the fan frames from motherboard standoffs (more on that in our build section).

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Front radiator support is far more generous, with space for units over 400mm long depending on drive tray placement. 

Speaking of drive tray placement, those two trapezoidal holes visible below, near the outside of the power supply shroud and by the glass, are designed to engage one of the two drive trays that’s included in another part of the case.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Motherboard sizing requires attention. The inward step at the front of the motherboard tray limits motherboard length to approximately 11 inches, which means that a bunch of enthusiast-class “EATX” motherboards will fit, but a bunch of workstation and server boards that are also labeled EATX…won’t. If you like the case and you have a big board, do your measurements.

Also, the North Momentum Edition’s motherboard tray is not designed to work with motherboards with rear-facing connectors, such as those of Asus BTF and MSI Project Zero. (The North XL Momentum version does support rear-connector boards, though.) It doesn’t even have most of the holes at the top of the board that we typically rely on to access fan headers. The one hole at the top of the motherboard tray is barely large enough to pass an 8-pin EPS12V connector, and today’s build will attempt to fit all of the various cables that reach the top of our board through that gap.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Storage options remain flexible. A dual 2.5-inch drive tray sits behind the motherboard tray, while a pair of 3.5-inch drive trays sit beneath it. The rear 3.5-inch tray can limit your power supply length to a measured 165mm (Fractal Design says 155mm), but as we mentioned above, that tray can be moved backward a bit by mounting it to the underside of the power supply shroud.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Each 3.5-inch tray supports either 3.5-inch drives with vibration-damping grommets or 2.5-inch drives mounted from below.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Building With the Fractal Design North Momentum

As indicated on its accessory box, the North Momentum includes 16 M3 screws for attaching up to four 2.5-inch drives, eight screws for attaching the motherboard to factory-mounted standoffs, four power supply screws, an extra motherboard standoff, eight shoulder screws and eight rubber grommets for mounting 3.5-inch drives, and four cable ties. You’ll also find a stylish user manual, but that’s packed outside the case.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

Now for the easy part! Once we had our motherboard installed, we connected it to front panel buttons and ports via a power switch and split power LED leads, an HD Audio cable, and Gen 1 (19-pin) and Gen 2x2 USB cables. As their signal cables are daisy-chained in series, the case’s three Momentum fans connect to a single motherboard fan header.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

We aim for test consistency, which usually means mounting our cooler as far back on the case’s top mount as we can fit it, so that its fans will give the greatest possible airflow over our motherboard’s CPU core voltage regulator. Even though the North Momentum provides only 35mm of vertical clearance for our 54mm-thick cooler, its 44mm of horizontal clearance almost allowed everything to fit normally: Only the mirrored cover of our motherboard’s lighted I/O connector concealer stuck out past the I/O shield, and 45mm beyond the standoffs.

Our options were to either slide the cooler forward around 30mm, or squeeze it in. After initially squeezing it in and finding that the top of the case wouldn’t snap into pace, we slid it forward around 10mm, squeezed it in, and found that the top snapped into place as expected. A slight compromise, but full transparency here!

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

While our fitment issue appears unique to the mirrored plastic plaque of our test motherboard, that problematic feature (see the blingy "ROG"?) certainly looks nice all lit up. But, if you’d like to copy this build, we’d recommend sliding the cooler a little farther forward than I did, even if doing so slightly reduces its airflow over the voltage regulator. As you’ll soon see, the voltage regulator is more than cool enough.

(Credit: Thomas Soderstrom)

We mentioned earlier that cable passages above the top of our motherboard were sparse and possibly insufficient, but found the one hole to be completely sufficient…if not exactly convenient. 

Testing the Fractal Design North Momentum

The list of parts used for today’s test is our standard what’s-what of case-testing components. (We retain the same components build to build for relevance and test consistency.)

I noted that the North Momentum’s ability to keep our loaded test components cool runs mid-pack, compared to cases with similar fan configurations, across all measurement points. Notable competitors include the Cooler Master MasterFrame 600 and the Corsair Frame 5000D RS ARGB.

It would have been ideal if the North Momentum’s new fans pushed it into the top spot for noise, and they didn't do badly, landing the Fractal Design case just behind the Super Flower Zillion Direct. That leaves buyers weighing a familiar trade-off: The Zillion Direct runs a bit warmer, while the North Momentum is slightly louder. Still, this is a strong showing for Fractal Design’s case.