Fractal Terra is a small aluminium sandwich layout Mini-ITX case at 11.4L in volume. It features swing arm, quick release side panels and adjustable internal spine for better hardware compatibility. It’s priced at US$179 and availability in most regions. Fractal Terra on Amazon (paid link)
SPECIFICATIONS
| MODEL | Terra |
| MATERIALS | Aluminium, Steel, Woodgrain |
| DIMENSIONS | 343×153×218mm (L×W×H) |
| VOLUME | 11.4 Litres (external volume, inc feet) |
| COLOURS | Graphite, Silver, Jade |
| CASE I/O | 1x USB Type-C 20Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2×2), 1x USB Type-A 5Gbps (USB 3.0), Power Button |
| MOTHERBOARD SUPPORT | Mini-ITX |
| COOLER CLEARANCE | 72mm (configured for max GPU thickness) / 43mm (configured for max CPU cooler clearance) |
| RISER CABLE | PCIe 4.0 X16 (185mm) |
| GRAPHHICS CARD COMPATIBILITY | 322mm max GPU length 62mm thickness (configured for max GPU) / 33mm thickness (configured for max CPU cooler clearance) 145mm max height (configured for max GPU thickness) / 131mm max height (configured for max CPU cooler clearance) Motherboard spine is adjustable, which affects the min / max GPU thickness and CPU cooler clearance. |
| DRIVES SUPPORTED | 2x 2.5″ |
| CASE FANS SUPPORTED | Bottom: 1x 120mm |
| LIQUID COOLING SUPPORT | 1x 120mm (121mm wide, w/ max GPU length of 200mm and no SSDs) |
| POWER SUPPLY SUPPORT | SFX / SFX-L (SFX-L will restrict use of under PSU case fan) |
BUILD #1
| MOTHERBOARD | Rog Strix B650E-I Gaming WiFi (paid link) |
| CPU | R7 7800X3D (paid link) |
| CPU COOLER | AXP90-X53 FB + NF-A9x14 HS (paid links) |
| GPU | RTX 4080 Super FE (paid link) |
| PSU | Extreme 850R / Corsair SF750 (paid links) |
| CABLES | 24pin (150mm), EPS (370mm), 12VPWR (210mm) |
| RAM | 32GB Gskill Flare X5 DDR5, 6000MHz, CL30 (paid link) |
| STORAGE | 1TB + 2TB NVME (paid links) |
| CASE FANS | 1x NF-A12x25 chromax.Black + SilverStone AS120 (paid links) |
| MISCELLANEOUS | 3D Printable GPU Side Panel Clip |
We set the 7800X3D to max power target of 75W (PPT). This provides enough power to achieve near stock performance, even in multicore. We also applied a negative 20 PBO curve optimiser offset. This provides a small boost to multicore and a marginal increase to single threaded performance. The RTX 4080 Super FE was left in its stock configuration. The 120mm case fan and CPU cooler fan were set to 50% fixed/max fan speed for all testing. We also tested a slim 120mm fan underneath the case on the motherboard side. Unfortunately, it failed to provide any meaningful benefit. Finally we tested the 10mm PSU offset standoffs, but offered no thermal improvement over 6mm, when using the 4080 Super Founders Edition graphics card.
CONCLUSIONS
From the unboxing experience, the internal PSU extension and riser cable routing channels, aswell as adjustable clearance between the CPU and GPU. There is alot to love with the Fractal Terra. There are also some areas where it leaves something to be desired. There is only a single case fan supported and is located at the bottom of the case, rather than the top. While the Terra can support larger air coolers than let’s say the FormD T1 running an equivalent setup. It’s unable to fully take advantage of the additional clearance, due to the increased side panel fan turbulence and lack of case fan support above the motherboard. So despite using a more powerful low profile CPU cooler in the Fractal Terra, it will still be outperformed by a weaker cooler running in the T1. All that said, the Terra is easier to build in, locally available to most and cheaper than T1. So it does also have it’s advantages.