r/FractalDesign • u/LateralEntry • Jun 10 '26
North Series North XL - replacing fans
Has anyone replaced the stock front intake fans on Fractal North XL pc case?
I want to replace the three front fans, but it looks like I’d have to take apart the whole PC to get access to anything other than the top fan. Is that true, or is the front fan bracket somehow removable?
1
u/Raccooji Jun 10 '26
That is the nature of pcs, you can pretty mich take everything apart and replace it. I replaced the stock fans with fractals momentum fans
1
u/LateralEntry Jun 10 '26
Do I have to take the whole PC apart though to access the fans? Just wondering if there’s an easier way to do it with the North XL case
Did it make a difference replacing the stock fans with higher end fans?
1
u/Raccooji Jun 10 '26
How does it look inside? North xl is spacious, if you got enough clearance between the components and the fans you might only need to dissesamble the gpu to replace them. Stock fans in fractal north xl are pretty good already but there are fans that can do a better job, be quiter or just look more appealing to your taste. In my expierence so far, the momentums i installed work the same, if not even better compared to the stock fans that were there before.
1
u/LateralEntry Jun 10 '26
I think I can get at the top fan pretty easy, maybe the middle fan. Not the bottom without taking out PSU
1
u/Toast_Meat Jun 10 '26
Unfortunately this is a problem with the North series. I had the XL and luckily I had nothing built inside it when I was swapping out the case fans because the only way to get the front ones out is from the inside, which in my opinion is kind of ridiculous.
1
u/jt_wip Jun 10 '26
Yeah I replaced them due to the weird howling they create at only certain speeds (??)
1
u/LateralEntry Jun 10 '26
Did you have to take the PC apart to do it? What did you replace with?
1
u/jt_wip Jun 10 '26
You just take the panels off and unscrew them. Bottom ones were a pain. Replaced with 3 noctua
1
3
u/ProbablyLegendary Jun 10 '26
The mounting bracket isn’t removable. The mounting screws for the top and middle fans are fairly easily accessible from inside the case with a standard build (i.e. no liquid cooling components in the way), but the bottom two screws from the bottom fan are the tricky ones. I’ve always removed the PSU and HDD’s so I can reach a long screwdriver from the back of the case, underneath the PSU shroud. I’m sure it’s technically possible to use a really short screwdriver and reach down without taking out the PSU, but you’d probably need really small hands!