fractal deisng torrent review banner Fractal Design Torrent Case Review

Fractal Design Torrent Case Review

If you’re familiar with the design of ATX cases, you’ll see that most follow a straightforward style. The thing here is, they don’t really differ. But here in our Fractal Design Torrent Case review, we’ll introduce a uniquely designed chassis unlike other ATX cases around.

The Torrent Case from Fractal Design is built to enhance cooling potential right out of the box. It comes with a brand-new layout and two customised 180 x 38mm Prisma RGB PWM or Dynamic PWM fans. 

Just by looking at it, the Torrent Case is an ideal fit for people who are serious about high-end cooling with/without a custom water loop. 

If you’re interested and want to know more about this chassis, continue reading our Fractal Design Torrent Case review. You’ll get all the details about its features, design, functions, how it works, and more. But before that, let’s look at its packaging and see what Fractal Design has in store for us. 

Fractal Design Torrent Case Packaging

Let’s dive straight into its packaging. The chassis arrived in a very simple cardboard box with an illustration of the product in front. Fractal Design’s branding is also present here, as well as a few details about the product. 

There’s not much to see here. So, we immediately started unboxing for this Fractal Design Torrent Case review to see what’s inside. 

Here, everything is tucked nicely and neatly in an organised manner, providing ideal protection for everything inside. Other than the Torrent Case, you’ll find two mounting rails for replacing the front-facing fans. You can change these with either the 120mm or 140mm fans.

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In the box, you’ll also find a GPU mount, a couple of screws, plus an instructional booklet for installation.  

Fractal Design Torrent Case Review – Design and Functionality

The Torrent Case that we have is the white-coloured version. It sports an eye-catching aesthetic that we can’t help but love in many ways. 

Starting from its exterior, it has an attractively strong look with striking glass panels on both sides. Plus, it also has a front mesh panel that looks just as good.

The main parts of the case’s body are made out of plastic. But despite that, it doesn’t look cheap or flimsy.  

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Let’s discuss the top panel of the case in our Fractal Design Torrent Case review. Compared to other cases, this spot doesn’t feature an exhaust vent for the radiator. The reason for this is that the PSU is situated at the top portion of the case. 

Then, the case’s cooling system is centred along the intake located at the bottom and front. 

For the top portion, it’s left closed and has no open lid available. Its lid, however, is similarly constructed and made of plastic with bevelled edges. 

There’s a top IO that offers one USB Type-C port and two USB 3.0 ports. Then, there are discreet mic & headphone jacks, as well as the power and reset switches. All are standard but are fairly complete which is good enough for us. 

The front portion of the Torrent Case features a huge grille instead of a closed front/fine-mesh one. The grille shows the main focus of the case: airflow and a lot more airflow. 

From afar, the grilles look like they’re made from aluminium, however, they’re actually made of plastic. Despite that, its design is more attractive compared to the regular slotted design. 

Behind the grilles are fans with RGB lights, these add more charm and appeal to the product. Additionally, the company features a full-length front panel dust filter under the grille. This helps protect the components and the fans positioned behind it. 

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The case’s side panels are both made of glass which come off easily without the need for tools. You’ll only need to use a clip system requiring moderate force to pull the side panels off. 

Its rear portion is almost entirely separated via hexagonal holes for better ventilation. And naturally, it comes with seven expansion card slots that are perforated with the same design. 

The rear has a mounting option for 140mm fans. It even has cuts for both the I/O panel at the bottom and power supply at the top. 

To detach the panels, you only need to pull on the tab located on the top-rear corner of the case. Just pop it out of the push-pin to readily lift it off the chassis. After removing this, you can check out the Torrent’s interior. 

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The Torrent Case’s interior lets you easily update or assemble a system that’s centred on a larger or full-sized motherboard. And what we like about it is that it has a couple of differences compared to other similar products. 

The case is built to maximise airflow which is why it has a somewhat open front. Compared to all other cases, Fractal Design opted to position the power supply above the enclosure instead of the bottom. 

In the primary compartment, there’s space even for E-ATX boards. You can even include GPUs that measure up to 431mm long with pre-installed fans.  

The other end of the case offers all the cable management tools and space you need. It can hold up to two 88.9mm drives and four 63.5mm SSDs. There’s a huge cutout on the board’s tray to easily access the reverse portion of the CPU cooler’s mounting system. 

There are other essential openings along the board’s tray to ensure tidy and organised cable routing. It also has wider openings for rubber grommets. 

Inside the chamber, its component clearance is superb. It has space enough for huge CPU coolers that measure up to 188mm tall. And, it also has space for GPUs that are up to 423mm long with front fans too.

Power supply clearance is also massive and can support units up to 230mm on the top-mount chamber.

Cooling with the Fractal Design Torrent Case

Aside from the PSU on the top layout, the five fans included are among the case’s main highlights. The Torrent Case sports two Prisma AL18 ARGB fans that are set in front of the case. Plus, there are three 140mm spinners along the base for added intake. 

Both areas have bigger air filters that are easy to remove. For controlling the fans, the company included a fan controller at the bottom of the Torrent Case. Specifically, this is a SATA-powered Nexus 9P Slim PWM fan-hub, and it’s lined up along the edge behind the glass. 

It supports a total of nine fans which we think is a bit overkill. That’s because the case has adequate room to mount a total of just six fans. However, if you swap the Prisma fans for smaller ones, then you can mount seven fans instead of six. 

Along the back tray where cables are managed, you’ll find a nine-port PWM hub that’s powered by a SATA port. It utilises a regular fan header to draw the primary PWM signal from the board. 

But with the included nine-port hub, connecting the fans would be easy. Plus, it’s also nice to have enough room to add extra four fans to the system.

If you’re a fan of water cooling, you’ll love that the case supports up to 420mm radiators. And specifically, you can set these at the front and bottom areas of the case. That’s with an extra 140mm unit along the rear. 

Remember that installing a radiator in front will require fan brackets. That’s because the standard mounting holes are lined up for bigger 100mm fans. 

Let’s continue our Fractal Design Torrent Case review and take a look at its storage. 

Storage 

Here, the chassis can accommodate two 88.9mm and three 63.5mm drives. Thus, allowing it to accommodate six storage drives in total. 

With extra M.2 storages that can be installed on your motherboard, you’ll have adequate storage for regular use. 

Key Features of the Fractal Design Torrent Case

Now, our Fractal Design Torrent Case review will see the different features of the product that makes it a favourite. 

Top-tier Airflow

The Torrent Case is built to deliver exceptional performance at controlled sound levels with its included fan hub. It’s streamlined to provide adequate airflow for your PC’s components.

Excellent Cooling

The new layout features expansive base intakes and extra-large bottom fan mounts to properly cool your GPU. There are also optional front and bottom nylon fibres so you can choose between dust filtering or higher airflow. The open interior provides components with more breathing room, resulting in maximised cooling performance.

Flexible Design

With the Torrent Case, the front fan brackets provide unblocked airflow for larger fans. It also supports standard-sized fans and radiators. Additionally, the front and bottom panels can support up to 420mm radiators and push-pull fan configurations.

For extensive customisation, this PC case features seven bridgeless expansion slots.

Quick Start and Clean Finish

To keep your build neat, the Torrent Case comes with a removable top bezel, plus cable guides with straps. Also, there are four dedicated SSD brackets included. These allow for easy installation and adequate cable management.

With two sturdy steel drive trays and vibration-damping rubber grommets, the Torrent Case will deliver smooth, silent, and reliable operation.

Specifications

The case is compatible with ATX, E-ATX, mATX, ITX, SSI-CEB, and SSI-EEB motherboards, and it uses an ATX power supply. 

It supports three 120/140mm or two 180mm front fans and a 120/140mm rear fan. The case can also work with three 120/140mm or two 180mm bottom fans. However, Fractal Design included two 180mm Prisma AL18 ARGB PWM and three 140mm Prisma AL14 ARGB PWM fans. 

It supports up to 360/420mm front radiators. Then, it supports up to 120/140mm rear radiators and bottom radiators of up to 120/140mm. 

For component clearance, the case has a maximum PSU and GPU length of 230mm and 461mm, respectively. If not the 461mm, its total GPU length is 423mm with a pre-installed front fan. 

It has 32mm of space for cable routing, plus four 63.5mm & two 88.9mm dedicated drive mounts. And for convenience, it has a total of seven expansion slots available. 

Lastly, the Torrent Case measures 544 x 242 x 530mm (L x W x H) and weighs 10.8kg. 

Continue reading our Fractal Design Torrent Case review to see how good of a chassis it was. 

Hands-on with the Fractal Design Torrent Case

Starting off with its thermals, all-core temperatures were steady at around 55-degrees Celsius. Then with the graphics card we installed, it reached about 67-degrees Celsius while we were gaming. 

We got excellent results on both fronts. And even if it didn’t have soundproofing, surprisingly, noise levels stayed at a comfortable level. We assume that this is all thanks to the large fans available that don’t require fast spinning at all. 

Noise levels were fantastic and the case runs almost silent. Even within the case sitting on the desk right next to where your sitting, its almost impossible to hear and audible sounds coming from the Torrent case.

The quality of the ARGB lights was excellent for us since they were brighter and more vibrant compared to others. We also loved that they included a light bar below the PSU compartment. It isn’t as colourful as the fans but it adds more glow to the case, which is good.

Fractal Design Torrent Case Review Summary

The Torrent Case is a high-performance chassis that focuses on delivering the most adequate airflow with conflict-free component compatibility. With that, you can install your high-end hardware and unconventionally-sized cooling solutions in a single build.

During our tests for our Fractal Design Torrent Case review, we’ve seen this chassis’ exceptional thermal performance and minimal noise. This impressed us since it offered more than just its eye-catching aesthetics and well-designed interior. 

We highly recommend the Fractal Design Torrent Case to you and everyone searching for a quality, high-airflow chassis.

Get more information about the Torrent Case in Fractal Design’s official product page.