Why it matters: Fractal Design is tackling one of the more annoying elements of many budget PC cases: even the airflow-focused models often prioritize CPU temperatures while the GPU ends up recycling its own heat. The company's new Pop 2 Air tries to fix that with a simple solution – an integrated GPU air guide designed to steer front intake air directly toward your graphics card.
Fractal Design's GPU air guide is essentially a scoop-shaped section of the power supply shelf that directs air toward the GPU slots. With cards routinely pulling 300W or more, directing cooler front intake air straight at the graphics card makes more sense than hoping airflow eventually drifts downward.
The Pop 2 Air sticks to the formula that made the original Pop line popular, such as clean looks, sensible layouts, and compelling pricing. It ships with three 120mm "swept-blade" fans out of the box (Fractal's Aspect 12x in some listings), plus a mesh front and ventilated top panel.
Fractal rates the case for GPUs up to 416mm, which covers most of today's oversized boards, and there's support for a top-mounted 360mm radiator if you're going AIO. Air coolers up to 170mm are also supported.
Fractal is rolling the Pop 2 Air out in several models – solid side panel, tempered glass (TG), and RGB variants. The RGB models add an integrated lighting controller and on-case controls in the front I/O, which is welcome given how many RGB cases still expect you to juggle a separate hub.
The Pop 2 Air family starts at $90 for the base model, climbing to about $100 for RGB TG depending on region and configuration. That's impressive considering the included fans and the GPU-targeted cooling feature.
The Pop 2 Air isn't the only recent case trying something different from the usual fare. The new Nextgear EG-series gaming PC from Japanese company Mouse Computer has a unique feature: a "Clear Shift" case that allows the glass panel to switch between transparent and opaque via a button on the top panel.