Fractal Design Torrent FD-C-TOR1A-04 RGB Black E-ATX Tempered Glass Window High-Airflow Mid Tower Computer Case

Product Information

For as long as I can remember, I've had love of all things tech, spurred on, in part, by a love of gaming. I began working on computers owned by immediate family members and relatives when I was around 10 years old. I've always sought to learn as much as possible about anything PC, leading to a well-rounded grasp on all things tech today. In my role at PCMag, I greatly enjoy the opportunity to share what I know. Since you don’t have the option to mount a radiator to the top of the case (remember, that’s where the PSU lives), you’re limited to impractical mounting options for liquid cooling, either in the front of the case or at the bottom. We couldn’t fit our EK 240mm D-RGB AIO in the front since we’re using a Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC, which is 12.5 inches (320 mm) long. I even tried mounting the AIO first, then installing the GPU, but that didn’t work either.

When mounting the PSU on the Torrent RGB, however, the PSU is kept in full sight at all times and is easily accessible. There’s no fumbling around with getting cables in or trying to hold it in place. You still have to hold it, but as you don’t have anything obstructing your view, it’s far easier than normal to guide everything where it needs to go. 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 I expected this case to be quite the noisemaker due to all of the fans, but I was pleasantly surprised. These are actually the quietest bundled fans I think I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t hear them at all without putting my ear within mere inches of them, with my head partially inside of the open and running PC. (Hopefully, you won't be doing that very much.) Many people will be familiar with Fractal Design, particularly as a manufacturer of high-quality and well-designed cases. In addition to modernizing classics like the Define, the company always is experimenting with new design concepts, such as the Torrent, to see what works best.Since Intel’s 12 Gen “Alder Lake” has shaken up the desktop landscape (and taken prominent spots on our best CPUs for gaming list), we’ve updated our case testing hardware. We’re now using an Intel i7-12700KF, which is being cooled by a Noctua U12s air cooler. Our graphics card is a Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC. Speaking of space constraints, my least-favorite part of the Torrent Compact is the area behind the motherboard. There just isn’t enough room for cables in the rear. You get mounts for three 2.5-inch SSDs here, and there’s space in the PSU chamber for either one 2.5-inch drive or one 3.5-inch spinning hard drive. I know M.2 drives are increasingly popular, and motherboards now often include ports for three or more, but I still would’ve liked to see more storage support here. Cable Management

However, no RGB controller or hub is present, so you will be relying on the A-RGB ports of your motherboard. This isn’t an issue if you opt for any other version of the Torrent than we’re testing today, but if you want this RGB variant, do make sure you have two A-RGB ports on your mainboard. 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. 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 You can find the full statement from Fractal here , including support links and guides to disconnecting the hub. The original review follows below. Getting a system built into the case couldn’t be simpler. The motherboard mounting tray is large enough to easily fit any ATX, nonstandard ATX, or E-ATX motherboard. After the board is mounted, a wide expanse around the edges makes connecting cables as easy and straightforward as possible. While I have run across a few cases equally as easy to build in, with the Torrent RGB I see little possible room for improvement.Another major benefit of this design is that you can easily add or remove cables to a modular PSU by just removing the top panel. This is an enormous improvement over most other PSU-mounting locations, which more often than not require you to remove the PSU to add or remove a cable. 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. 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. The Torrent Compact does technically allow for E-ATX motherboards. However, be prepared to lose out on some cable routing options if you go that route, as larger boards end up covering a portion of the routing grommets. And as we’ll see later, cable routing space is already scarce. If you want to use a large motherboard, you should opt for the larger original Torrent, or another large case instead.