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You will have gathered from our video that we have mixed feelings about the Fractal Design Torrent Compact. The simple explanation is that we are perfectly happy with cases such as the Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO that rely on 120mm and 140mm fans and do not feel an immediate need for 180mm fans. Open layout with expansive base intakes and extra-large bottom fan support offers exceptional GPU cooling KitGuru says: If you fancy the looks of the quirky Torrent Compact you will need to accept its slightly unusual layout. I'm well aware. I believe it's better to be moving hot air out just as fast as pushing cooler air in. Mixing cool air with the hot will not produce optimal results. While moving their PSU mounts to the top of the enclosure will be seen as a controversial decision, you will see for yourself that this choice has a huge impact on the Torrent’s airflow and cooling performance.
Fractal Design Torrent cases allow you to install 180mm fans in the floor and front of the case and house the power supply in the roof so if – like us – you're not much fussed about that feature you may well be feeling a touch of meh. A sturdy, vibration-damped drive tray supporting a single HDD or dual SSDs with two optional mounting positions I won’t quite say that I have grown tired of companies taking the safe route by slapping a fine mesh front panel on cases. But I admire creativity, which is what Fractal has brought to airflow-focused cases. Not only does the front panel look good, but it also performs really well, without even adding an exhaust fan. The open interior and top mounted PSU provides plenty of breathing room for components and maximizes performance potential I didn’t realize how tiny the Torrent Compact was until I started building in it. While I have experience with the Fractal Meshify C, that case looked small right when I first laid my eyes on it. However, the Torrent Compact does not. This isn’t a bad thing, but if you’re using a triple-fan graphics card, you’re cutting it close, as the case only supports graphics cards up to 13 inches (330 mm) with the front case fans installed.Pytheus said:I'm well aware. I believe it's better to be moving hot air out just as fast as pushing cooler air in. Mixing cool air with the hot will not produce optimal results. Streamlined open interior provides plenty of breathing room for components and maximizes performance potential Fan mounts: 3x 120mm, 2x 140mm or 2x 180mm front, 3x 120mm, 2x 140mm or 2x 180mm front, 1x 120mm rear.
Since we reviewed the original Fractal Torrent last year we have included our results from that case as well as the new Compact model, in part because we don’t yet have any other results from our new test rig. But since the original Torrent was tested on our previous testbed (with an Intel Core i9-9900K and an RTX 2070 Super), not our new i7/ RTX 3070 Ti setup, this isn’t meant as a direct comparison. Acoustic Results Optional front and bottom nylon filters included, allowing the user to prioritize between dust filtering or even higher airflow Like the company’s original Ion Platinum series (which we reviewed here), Fractal’s new Ion 2 Platinum lineup ships with 560W, 660W, 760W and 860W models and features ultra-bendable UltraFlex cables. These extra bendable cables are designed to simplify cable management, making Fractal’s latest PSUs incredibly easy to use across a broad range of cases/enclosures. Streamlined open interior with extra headroom for components and support for E-ATX motherboards up to 274 mm in width The rest of the top panel is barren, thanks in large part to the power supply’s mounting location at the top rear of the case just like the original Torrent. Mounting the power supply up top feels a bit retro and makes installation easier, but it affects cooling and also made for some cable routing complications (more on that later). Internal Layout
For cooling, the Fractal Torrent ships with two front-mounted 180mm intake fans and three bottom-mounted 140mm intake fans. That’s five large fans for airflow, which is a big deal for anyone that’s investing in air cooling.
The acoustic results of the Torrent Compact are awe-inspiring. As you can see in our chart, the 180 mm fans on the Torrent Compact do a great job at minimizing sound while providing more airflow than a 120 or 140 mm spinner would. When we cranked the fan speeds up, it's obvious that the larger surface area of the fans is going to make more noise than smaller 120 or 140 mm fans. The thing is, as you’ll see next in our thermal tests, there’s no need to turn the fans up that high. Thermal Results Our acoustic test consists of three scenarios: We run the CPU at full load, the CPU and GPU at full load and an optimized idle. The CPU full load test runs the CPU and case fans at their maximum speed. For the CPU and GPU full load acoustic test, we also stress the Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC and set the fans at 75% speed, because in gaming the fans never run at 100% and are far too loud when they do. Gross. Poor airflow. Seems this case will suffer from a positive airflow. In hot places like where I am that is not a good thing. The Torrent Compact is built to air cool your compact build as efficiently as possible through an open front grille and two of our 180 x 38 mm Dynamic PWM fans (Prisma for RGB version), making it a perfect fit for air cooling aficionados looking for a compact case. On the other hand, if you love the look of the Torrent family you have to think that things are looking pretty darned great. The original Torrent is a large case, this Compact is medium sized and the Nano is fairly tiny so it seems that Fractal Design has covered all the bases.
Removable top bezel and routing clips with velcro ties make for easy installation and cable management When it comes to storage, the Fractal Torrent supports up to two 3.5-inch drives and three 2.5-inch drives, allowing this chassis to support up to six storage drives. Add on any M.2 storage that you can place on your motherboard, and you will have more than enough storage for any standard use case. If you need more storage than that, you should look at Fractal’s Define series.
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