Team,
Looking to replace my Fractal Node 804, it’s not a bad case but also not a great one. Noise is its main downfall, as well as cable management being an old design.
What options are there in 2026.
Six.
Beside containing noise (so no rack…), what are your requirements? Micro-ATX motherboard? 8 drives? Or 10 (11) from a fully loaded Node 804?
Here comes the catch… The quiestest desktop NAS case I know for hosting up to 10 drives is even older than the Node 804: Unobtainium Lian-Li PC-Q26 
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M- atx, 4 3.5 drives, 2 2.5 drives
Streacom makes some interesting fanless cases using heat pipe technology if noise is your primary criterium.
I don’t think that “fanless” is a viable path for a HDD-based NAS: Spinning drives make noise, and require some airflow for cooling.
The drives would fit in a PC-Q25 (possibly even more Unobtainium than the Q26, though less great) or a Node 304, which is distinctly quieter than the 804.
The size distribution is a perfect match for the Supermicro SC712TQ (TrueNAS mini), which is quiet if the Flex-ATX PSU is (after failing to find one which doesn’t make high pitch noise, I settled on opening the PSUs for a Noctua fan swap).
But all of these options only host mini-ITX.
With such low number of drives, your best bet may be an ATX mid-tower with enough drive bays, well-placed fans but a relatively closed design to muffle noise. So basically away from current desktop case design with meshes overall and few (if any) drive bays (because storage only ever comes in M.2 form, righ?).
I replaced the power supply on my 721TQ with a Seasonic FSP500-50FSPT, with a SMBus lead. This plugs into the corresponding header on my ASRockRack E3C246D2I motherboard for BIOS control of the power supply fan. This makes the case and power supply silent, with only the loud whine on initial power up.
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Agree w/@etorix that the PC-Q26B is likely the nicest case every made for up to 10 3.5" drives and a mini-ITX motherboard.
FWIW, I thought the Sagittarius looked interesting, but it’s built for 8 drives. See here for a review and comparison to some other options.
I hope that you agree with me… because I first got the recommendation for this case from you! And I would extend it to the PC-Q26A as well.
While 10 sound better than 8, I think that it might actually be the reverse: 8 SATA ports from a mini-ITX motherboard is quite possible, but 10 takes either (a) a HBA in the sole PCIe port, or (b) an Atom C3758 motherboard (or higher). Option (a) is tough, as it consumes the sole possible expansion slot, while option (b) did not exist when the Q26 was released.
Anyway, and while waiting for the follow-up report after build and actual cooling performance, I see that the drives are directly visible through a metal mesh, as with the Node 804. If the OP finds a 804 too noisy with just four drives, it is a safe bet that he will NOT be happy with the Sagittarius either.
And he does not require so many bays.
To muffle the drives better than in a Node 804, I suggest a closed case design. Short of finding a PC-Q25, the available cases I can recommend from personal experience are listed above—and are all mini-ITX.
On further thought, I do operate a NAS in a Supermicro SC731i which is micro-ATX, a closed design, and fits four HDDs in toolless caddies… but I have not yet put any HDD in there—it’s my all-flash NAS, with 16 SATA SSDs in an IcyDock MB516SP-B in the 5.25" bays. Direct HDD cooling would have to come from the fan of a CPU tower cooler, and I suspect it would be a very tight fit, requiring careful cable management—and very careful planning for the selection of parts. Can’t recommend that…