We live in a world in which Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition is SFF-Ready, making it almost a crime not to throw it in a petite PC for a small but mighty system. Building a Mini ITX rig can be challenging and costly but cases like Fractal Design Era 2 make the whole process far smoother and stylish to boot.
Fractal Design Era 2
“An improvement on its predecessor in every way and a great SFF case in its own right.” Read our review.
Over on Amazon UK, you can pick up a Fractal Design Era 2 in three colour ways. The most affordable, and best-looking in my opinion, is the ‘Silver’ model which is available with a 21% (£42.58) discount making it just £162.41. The ‘Midnight Blue’ option is a touch more expensive at £184.07 but that’s still a 10% (£20.92) saving versus its RRP. Finally, the ‘Charcoal’ edition sadly hasn’t had its price chipped down but you can still pick it up for £211.10.
To give you some idea as to Fractal Design Era 2’s versatility, it’s able to fit a GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition into its shell no sweat. In case you’ve forgotten, that card has some seriously beefy dimensions, so more reasonably-sized pixel pushers will have no trouble fitting in here. You don’t even need to fork out for a riser cable as the chassis comes with one out of the box. For those wanting specifics, the case can handle models up to 326mm (L) x 137mm (W) x 63mm (H).
If you’re relatively new to putting together Mini ITX systems then Fractal Design Era 2 is a fantastic starting point, but experienced enthusiasts will also appreciate the easy build experience. Its shell detaches from its rigid frame as a single unit, giving you multiple angles from which to install components and tidy up your cables and making for a largely fuss-free install.
One of the more eye-catching features of Fractal Design Era 2 is its combination of metal and wood materials. This combination gives the chassis a mature styling, making it easy to slot it into practically any space. Whether you’re after a case for a gaming space or the living room, it’ll fit right in.
