Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
Consistent with its exterior, the interior of the Fractal Design Epoch Black TG RGB Light Tint is also nicely finished with all surfaces painted matte black. To further accentuate its all-black color scheme, the back expansion slot covers and removable drive trays are painted black as well. The conventional layout has the power supply and 3.5" hard drive trays mounted at the bottom inside a shroud with the main area allocated for the motherboard. Generally speaking, everything is quite traditional as far as ATX computer cases are concerned. Let us take a closer look at what is going on inside.
The Epoch is able to accommodate mITX, mATX, and ATX motherboards. The riser mounting holes are labeled for extra convenience regardless of PC building experience. No pre-installed rear exhaust fan is situated around the CPU socket area of a standard ATX motherboard, but the opening can accommodate one 120mm unit. The upper ventilation area is open with a mesh. I would much rather have, at the very least, a dust filter here, because the holes in the mesh are rather large and will not keep much out. Two 120mm or 140mm fans or a radiator of equivalent size can be installed at the top of the case.
As shown in our photo above, we can also spot a large rectangular opening on the motherboard tray for easy aftermarket heatsink backplate installation without removing the motherboard itself from the chassis. The opening is actually large enough to accommodate pretty much anything. I mean, with something this big, unless you have some strange motherboard, it is hard not to get it right. The tallest heatsink you can install is 170mm. The perimeter of the opening is not lined with rubber, but the edges are well rounded off, so you do not need to worry about your cables being stripped accidentally.
The chassis platform is raised about two centimeters off the ground to accommodate PSUs with fans at the bottom, because the Fractal Design Epoch features a bottom-mounted power supply bay. Should you flip your PSU to have the fan at the top, a ventilation grille is present to keep the air flowing. Inside the Epoch, metal bumps with rubber toppings at the top elevate the power supply up a further half centimeter just to ensure enough air is made available to your PSU. A metal bracket is designed to be attached to your power supply, and is held on by two captive thumbscrews. The ventilation grille has an externally removable dust filter pre-installed, so you will not need to worry about nasty stuff clogging your fans down the road.
There is only one thermal zone inside the Fractal Design Epoch, since the shroud separating the main chamber and the power supply chamber is almost fully ventilated. Cables can be routed through two opening on the shroud adjacent to your power supply. Other cables can go through the two large openings on the right side of the motherboard tray. If the cables do not fit through the standard openings, you can always use the large space where the shroud does not cover. Rubber grommets are present on the two motherboard tray openings to keep everything looking neat and tidy. For unused cables, it can stay underneath the shroud.
Three 4-pin PWM Fractal Design Momentum 12 RGB 120mm fans draw cool air into the system from the front. They are fluid dynamic bearing fans rated at 2200 RPM, 28.03 dB(A), 62.44 CFM, and 2.42 mmH2O. Out of the box, they are daisy chained together, so you only need to connect one RGB and one PWM connector to your motherboard. The fans can be swapped for a radiator of equivalent size. The longest video card you can fit in the Epoch is 372mm with front fans installed. No graphics card is that long at the time of writing this review, but with the way things are going, we are getting dangerously close.
Here is a look at other side of the Fractal Design Epoch Black TG RGB Light Tint. The back of the motherboard tray is quite fundamental to good cabling. This is especially held true with the Fractal Design Epoch, since it is normal practice to cables through this section. With the latest iteration, the company kept gap wide with room here for two 2.5" SSD installations. The amount of room between the side panel and motherboard tray varies from 15mm directly behind the motherboard to 30mm in the cable routing area. Users will generally not experience problems if you own a power supply with thick cables.
There is an integrated main cabling guide towards the front, where three Velcro straps allow for easy organization in this area. Other than that, lots of openings can be found so you can fish your cables through, and they are reasonably sized to carry everything you need. Rubber grommets are found at the two largest openings, which is a very nice touch. I have actually had cases in the past where cables started rattling against the metal panels, and trust me, that could be annoying. The rubber grommets are clipped on pretty well, but if you rip your cables through these holes during your build, they may become loose, although it is not a significant problem.
No bottom intake fans or radiators can be installed into the Epoch. The Epoch can take power supplies up to 255mm long with one HDD tray installed or 155mm with two HDD trays installed. With no HDD trays installed, you can have a PSU that spans the entire length of the case. Of course, this is just a trivial fact, because I do not believe something of such a size exists in the world, haha.
The Epoch's I/O connector cables are great, as I have always expected from the company. In the past, most chassis manufacturers provide a bunch of colorful wires that looks like it came straight from an electronics lab, Fractal Design took the effort to bundle them up into nice black wires.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
