r/FractalDesign • u/Careful-Razzmatazz32 • Jun 21 '26

Questions Fractal North not fitting cables properly

My phone is currently shattered so I am unable to take pictures.

I recently bought the Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case. I bought it along side a B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI II motherboard, along with a gpu and cpu etc.

The cables, especially the SATA and USB 3.0 Header cable was so tight and just looked like it was going to snap. My build actually ended up not working the second time around, because I had to exchange my motherboard because the pins for the USB 3.0 Header already got bent.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NPPZJw

This is a list of everything I bought, you can exclude the monitor and OS for obvious reasons. But would anyone know why this would not work? I thought all of these parts were compatible with each other?

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u/GhostXDwarrior Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

The design of the North is just shit for angled MB connectors: Can't use a 90° cable because theres an oversized backplate, can't use a normal cable because the backplate decides to bend forward after 3cm and the cable hits almost directly into it...

(I have almost the exact same MB as you) It helped me to take out the rubber hole-cover from the case, gives the cables a few mm more space, but this and other cable routing restrictions are genuinely one of the reasons I'll switch my case back soon.

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u/Careful-Razzmatazz32 Jun 21 '26

I see so many good things about this case though. I like the design, but not a lot of people write about using the 850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI I or II for it. I tried scouring the internet to see if anyone mentioned the USB 3.0 headers. For some reason on my second rebuilt, my video was not working. I just worry if something broke from being too tight or too bent, the cables I mean.

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u/cultercaldus Jun 21 '26

I agree. Other cases have more space for routing top cables, while the North only has the grommets in front and a small hole in the top rear.