I have a Fractal Design case and a Raspberry Pi. I love them both. So I was amused when I learned that someone had made a mini version of the Fractal Design North case for the Raspberry Pi without my knowledge. And not just some trashy little matchbox thing that reminds me of kindergarten crafts, but a glorious mini luxury PC case officially designed by Fractal.

Called the North Pi, the mini case looks great when assembled, and this one, built by Reddit user manky_tw, is small and tiny, with a wood-paneled front, side panels with windows, a vented back, and a partially open top for port connections. and small, with a wood-paneled front, windowed side panels, vented back, and a partially open top for port connections. It is a handsome little pocket-sized rig with the elegance of a high-end ATX machine.

This is not just a passing project by a Reddit user. The rig is stamped with Fractal's imprint, and the company has provided an instruction manual (PDF warning) for building the rig.

The manual seems fairly easy to understand and follow. Something like, “This part is 3D printed from this file name and fits into the chassis here.

Yes, unfortunately, you need a 3D printer to make a North Pi chassis for the Raspberry Pi, and if you want the best results, you may need extras like paint and fans. And if you want the best results, you may need extras like paint and fans, etc. All of the 3D printed files can be downloaded for free from the North Pi page above.

And if you ask me, now is a pretty good time to do such a project with the Raspberry Pi 5, the latest Raspberry SBC to hit the consumer market. Because, as I argued in my Raspberry Pi 5 review on another site, the Pi 5 is, in my opinion, the first Raspberry Pi that can function as a true desktop PC in day-to-day use. (At least my 8GB version can certainly fulfill that role.)

With a 1080p monitor, my Pi 5 can be used for browsing with multiple tabs open, watching videos (even 4K ones if they are downloaded), text editing and other standard everyday tasks without any problems. By “trouble-free” we mean no lag at all.

So if you have a 3D printer handy, the North Pi would make a great home for the Raspberry Pi 5. Now we just have to hope that Fractal makes a wider case that fits the Pi 5 with an NVMe base and SSD.