PC cases · 2024 · Fractal Design

Fractal Design Era 2

The Fractal Design Era 2 is an 18.97-litre Mini-ITX case with an aluminium body and a walnut top panel. Its sliding central wall trades graphics card space against cooler height, with GPUs up to 326 mm; it offers up to a 280 mm radiator on top, two pre-installed Aspect 12 fans at the bottom, SFX/SFX-L power supply support and a 20 Gbps front USB-C port. Independent testing rated thermals and cable management very good; a cracked wooden panel and a misaligned side panel on the review sample were noted as build-quality concerns.

Era 2 Mini-ITX case; Silver (FD-C-ERA2N-01), Midnight Blue and Charcoal Gray. The original Era is a separate model.

Specifications

SpecificationValue
Motherboard and form factorMini-ITX; 18.97 L volume

A small-form-factor case that accepts only Mini-ITX motherboards.

Graphics cardUp to 326 mm long, 137 mm tall, 48 mm thick; 3 expansion slots; pre-installed PCIe 4.0 riser cable

Fractal says the slidable central wall gives 15 mm of internal flexibility. GamersNexus notes that in wall position 3 GPU thickness rises to 63 mm (3.1 slots) while the CPU cooler limit drops to 55 mm.

CPU cooler and radiatorAir cooler up to 70 mm; 120, 140, 240 or 280 mm radiator on top

The 70 mm limit means low-profile coolers; for more powerful CPUs a 240/280 mm liquid cooler on top is more suitable.

Fans2 × Aspect 12 PWM installed at the bottom; mounts for 2 × 120/140 mm on top and 2 × 120 mm at the bottom
Power supplySFX or SFX-L

GamersNexus says SFX-L significantly reduces cable space and recommends standard SFX.

Storage4 × 2.5-inch drive mounts

There is no 3.5-inch hard drive support.

Front I/O2 × USB-A (5 Gbps); 1 × USB-C (20 Gbps); combo audio/mic jack; illuminated power button

The 20 Gbps USB-C runs at full speed only if the motherboard has a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 header.

MaterialsAnodised aluminium exterior and side panels; FSC-certified walnut top panel; bottom dust filter
Size and weight366 × 165 × 314 mm; 4.6 kg net
Colours and warrantySilver, Midnight Blue and Charcoal Gray; 2-year warranty

From the manufacturer

Fractal Design presents the Era 2 as a case of aluminium and walnut with improved airflow and a flexible interior, designed for stylish yet powerful small systems. Fractal Design

Strengths and limitations

  • In GamersNexus’ test with an i5-13600K, RTX 4070 FE and a 240 mm liquid cooler, CPU temperatures stayed within a 2.1 °C band across all layouts tested; removing the top panel made no difference. The biggest negative effect came from the lower drive cage; the review recommends mounting a single SATA SSD on the forward wall mount. Blocking the side vents raised GPU temperature. Cable management and mechanical design were rated very good. Criticisms: the PSU exhausts toward the bottom intake fan, a bottom crossbar requires removing rear cables before the shell slides off, and there is no 3.5-inch drive support. The review sample arrived with a cracked walnut top and a misaligned side panel, which GamersNexus notes as a build-quality concern.

    GamersNexus review, 18 September 2024 (updated 7 October 2024); one review sample, fans and pump at full speed.

    GamersNexus: Fractal’s Excellent Era 2 Case Review – Thermal Benchmarks, Cable Management, & Quality

Tags

2024FRACTAL-DESIGNMINI-ITXSFFALUMINYUMUSB-C

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Sources

  1. Fractal Design: Era 2 Silver specifications
  2. GamersNexus: Fractal’s Excellent Era 2 Case Review – Thermal Benchmarks, Cable Management, & Quality