Fractal Design Torrent Black RGB TG Light Tint

[Darksaber]

The Fractal Design Torrent is an all-new chassis with a unique internal layout and the ability to easily hold even the largest air coolers out there. Add plenty of space for custom loops and five intake fans, two of which are 180 mm, and the Torrent could be the breeze of fresh air Fractal Design needs.

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[Chaitanya]

seems like Fractal did learn from their hotbox that was Vector.

 

[Rowsol]

Great design. In an ideal world, the fans wouldn't have any lights and the case would be 50 dollars cheaper.
It's surprising to see the Montech x3 beat this one in GPU cooling even though this has 3 140's blowing up into the card.

 

[Chrispy_]

Great design. In an ideal world, the fans wouldn't have any lights and the case would be 50 dollars cheaper.
It's surprising to see the Montech x3 beat this one in GPU cooling even though this has 3 140's blowing up into the card.

I guess the fine fan filter Fractal uses is far more restrictive than the Montech's mesh.

Also, the floor is only ~35mm away from the fans so all 420mm of intake fan is fighting over a couple of 35mm slits that also require a direction change of the airflow, meanwhile the Montech has a completely unhindered direct airflow path.

I'm not keen on bottom-mounted fans. They're sub-optimal at the best of times, but when you put a case on carpetted flooring the feet sink into the carpet and underlay making the air intake gap even smaller.

Despite the flaws, there's a lot to like about the this case.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Great design. In an ideal world, the fans wouldn't have any lights and the case would be 50 dollars cheaper.
It's surprising to see the Montech x3 beat this one in GPU cooling even though this has 3 140's blowing up into the card.

There's a SKU with metal sides and no RGB, which I guess would be $50 cheaper.

Torrent

Built to maximize cooling potential straight out of the box, the Torrent comes with a brand-new component layout and two custom-made 180 x 38 mm Dynamic PWM / Prisma RGB fans. The Torrent is a perfect fit for anyone serious about high-end cooling – with or without a custom water loop.

www.fractal-design.com

 

[TheDeeGee]

Can tell you right now that a Hybrid PSU will have it's fan running with this setup.

In my current Define 7 i had my old PSU (Seasonic Platinum 760) with the fan facing down, and it kept spinning up due to heat. Once i turned it around with the fan facing the vented shroud it never spun up again.

With this Torrent case a PSU will get even more heat issues.

 

[dgianstefani]

Ideal world would be SKU with ARGB and SKU with no fans at all.

 

[dicktracy]

interior is a bit of a mess. So much holes everwhere when it should be kept to a minimum

 

[Oberon]

Fun fact, the fans are ARGB in the RGB models, at least according to other reviews and Fractal Design's own spec sheets.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

What's the word on release date? Looks like a good case for my buddies new workststion build ill be doing.

 

[TheMio]

Fan and strip are definitely ARGB!

 

[Oberon]

Great design. In an ideal world, the fans wouldn't have any lights and the case would be 50 dollars cheaper.
It's surprising to see the Montech x3 beat this one in GPU cooling even though this has 3 140's blowing up into the card.

The Montech also just has its fans running full speed all the time.

 

[jormungand]

for those about rgb fans rgb fans rgb fans , theres a non rgb fan version already just the strip on the psu. the one almost everyone is reviewing on video

 

[TechLurker]

Can tell you right now that a Hybrid PSU will have it's fan running with this setup.

In my current Define 7 i had my old PSU (Seasonic Platinum 760) with the fan facing down, and it kept spinning up due to heat. Once i turned it around with the fan facing the vented shroud it never spun up again.

With this Torrent case a PSU will get even more heat issues.

I'm pretty sure PSUs are still designed with the capability to still be used as another active hot-air exhaust, like PSUs of old were, so some heat isn't bad as long as it's not the sole source of heat-exhaust (like in really old cases). Even server-grade PSUs still suck warm air blowing blown over the HDD/SSD drives up front and exhaust it out the back, even hotter. At any rate, half the modern cases have PSUs sucking air from the internals near the GPU at the bottom (which definitely isn't cool air), assuming there is no PSU-specific vent allowing them to be fan-down, or sucking air from above, but near a 120+mm fan nearby splitting heat-exhaust duties.

The other options (in this case; figuratively and literally) include just turning off the PSU's passive mode (if it has one), so that the fan can run at a steady RPM to avoid ramping up and down, using a stronger 120/140mm rear fan to help suck out all that hot air before the PSU does at the expense of noise, or upping the RPM of the intake fans to help force more hot air out the holey rear panel. I'm pretty sure the extra holey rear panel is to help allow more exhaust compared to Fractal's Define 7, judging by online images of the Define 7.

 

[Frick]

So anyway am I the only one who would love a bit of colour in the cases? I would love something like an Aerocool DS200 or DS Cube in red, or orange. But it's all just black. Which is fine but there is literally nothing to buy but black, black with glass and RGB EverywhereTM. There are some white cases but that is pretty boring too.

 

[Operandi]

There's a SKU with metal sides and no RGB, which I guess would be $50 cheaper.

Torrent

Built to maximize cooling potential straight out of the box, the Torrent comes with a brand-new component layout and two custom-made 180 x 38 mm Dynamic PWM / Prisma RGB fans. The Torrent is a perfect fit for anyone serious about high-end cooling – with or without a custom water loop.

www.fractal-design.com

Commendations to the infant of the glorious deity!

Seriously thou, fuck TG and RGB both, matte black all the things!

 

[Turmania]

I was waiting for an updated version of their era itx case. With better cooling and airflow.

 

[maxfly]

Its about time we see some manufacturers finally getting back to common sense layouts. These glass hot boxes have to have run their course by now (i hope)? The psu position in the Torrent is clever! Kudos to Fractal for thinking outside the box (no pun intended). Overall its a well thought out case. They obviously over value those janky rgb fans quite a bit. Lose the useless 180s and replace them with 3x140s. 2x420 rads would be sweet in this case.
Glass mb panel? What's the point? Im not showing off my cable mess. Steel it up. Few other nit picky things but for the most part i like what they've done!

 

[Vader]

This case feels like endgame for aircooling. I don't see the appeal of it if what you want to do is watercool your components. There are better cases for that in my opinion.

 

[Space Lynx]

Does this case not even have a proper dust filter? If not, I am not sure I would call it "great temps from airflow"... because yeah I can just remove the dust filter from any case and get better temps, the way this case is designed it's going to be a dust monster... it literally has an open front basically...

 

[Oberon]

Does this case not even have a proper dust filter? If not, I am not sure I would call it "great temps from airflow"... because yeah I can just remove the dust filter from any case and get better temps, the way this case is designed it's going to be a dust monster... it literally has an open front basically...

There's a fine mesh filter on both intakes.

 

[Space Lynx]

There's a fine mesh filter on both intakes.

nice. thanks. somehow I missed that. I just found pictures of it, it does look small enough that it will gather the dust just fine. very good.

this indeed is a winner of a case. I do agree with Steve from GamersNexus on his review of it though, there could have been room for an addon option for extra 3.5 inch drives. Plenty of room not being used, but I do like this case a lot.

 

[Liquid Cool]

seems like Fractal did learn from their hotbox that was Vector.

Vector? Wouldn't know from experience, but their Era ITX boxes were expensive and overpriced...and...as a bonus they gave you the hotbox treatment as well. In fact they were pulled from the market quietly...right after launch. An absolute disaster.

I'd like to see a version of this Torrent in mini-itx, not holding my breath. They seem to not care much for the small pc space. Zero innovation, unless you believe the 202 is innovation. I do not.

Fractal Design...just not much of a fan. I've had too many bad experiences with this company.

Best Regards,

Liquid Cool

 

[dyonoctis]

Vector? Wouldn't know from experience, but their Era ITX boxes were expensive and overpriced...and...as a bonus they gave you the hotbox treatment as well. In fact they were pulled from the market quietly...right after launch. An absolute disaster.

I'd like to see a version of this Torrent in mini-itx, not holding my breath. They seem to not care much for the small pc space. Zero innovation, unless you believe the 202 is innovation. I do not.

Fractal Design...just not much of a fan. I've had too many bad experiences with this company.

Best Regards,

Liquid Cool

Same, but as usual : "Itx is a niche market bla bla bla, it's impossible to please the people who want optimized space and the people who want maximum compatibility and ATX support at the same time bla bla"

 

[Dredi]

Fun fact, the fans are ARGB in the RGB models, at least according to other reviews and Fractal Design's own spec sheets.

Yeah, I wonder what @Darksaber has been smoking? The ARBG headers are even pictured in the article itself.