The ULTIMATE air cooled gaming case The Fractal Torrent Review

[@karjis891]

It putting a smile on Tom's face is a good sign

[@DaveGamesVT]

I'm using one of these right now. It's amazing. I honestly don't know how you'd get better as far as air cooling goes.

[@NINJA_INVESTORS]

Can't. It's physically impossible

[@hellowill]

Then they released Fractal North

[@SubZyYT]

Got this case for my first PC build ever and it was perfect. At first it was super loud, but I figured out what fan curves are and turned them all to PWM mode and they are all quiet now!

[@lgolem09l]

Do you do that in bios?

[@fi.ja.8657]

@@lgolem09l yes

[@ЄвгенДомашець]

I amazed by Fractal, they exchange my old broken case that out of warranty with new one and even better, terrific support, wish they go same way.

[@andrewmp6]

I emailed them about something simple,I had a full answer with pictures with in 8 hours.Any other company would have taken days to answer me.

[@changman7772]

Hope fractal makes a torrent compact!

[@TheManicGeek]

LOL how did I know you'd end up really diggin' this case? I was pleasantly surprised to see this layout again, it really does provide some unique opportunities for interesting builds given what we've learned about case design since the days of the original HAF cases. Also... "the only fans you get in the case", said he about the two 180mm and three 140mm fans x-D. Great vid, man!

[@AnchorAlchemist]

A huge grin on Tom's face means this case is something to consider...:D

[@mik310s]

You could mod the top as well, cut a hole for the PSU fan and 3D print a nice dust filter insert for it and flip the PSU round, or even 3D print a new top with a similar pattern to the front.

[@thebeardprevails5246]

Actual old school cool.

[@hardcorehardware361]

It reminds me of the Silverstone RV02 and I absolutely love it! Finally something different, great review Tom.

[@ragingsilver]

I love fractal design cases and owned 3 of them. Currently have the meshify S2 and now I'm thinking about grabbing this one :S

[@TillOverHill]

This is a refreshing case to see! No wonder you like it so much :-D I have but one extra worry though and that is for the 3.5" mounts at the back having near to no airflow over themselves. The current drives available beginning from 8TB upwards can get really hot in such a setting. Could you give us some temps perhaps from these Tom? Say from 10+TB sized Exos or Toshiba N300s, very hot running disks these are. I'm currently running a 4000D airflow and a full air cooled 5900x/3080 rig, I am massively impressed by the temps in this thing and those are out of the box! Well done Fractal.

[@IrishWolf]

Super excited to get my hands on this too. Glad It put a smile on your face.

[@ZioComposite]

Good Shit TTL! Love the enthusiasm. I'm late to the PC world but I honestly think I've always seen your videos when I needed to look up something or some basics. Thanks for always giving us the coverage all these years and more to come. =D

[@Eshcole]

Wow, it's about time we saw a case that's truly new and actually works well.

[@basshead.]

What's so new about it?

[@brooklynforge4591]

I hope they do a compact MATX version

[@Chebz]

Just ordered this case. I choose the white one, because the black one has glass panel on both sides.

[@FentonTheCat]

Happy with your choice? I’m waffling between white and black now, typically a black case guy but these look nice and clean in the videos.

[@laddso5444]

@@FentonTheCat I want before White with White RGB Fans, but now I acutally own White Case with black fans. I am happy :)

[@Alexandra-Rex]

I was going for the Phanteks P200A DRGB for an mITX system, but even if it's more than twice the price here, and so very much bigger, I am really considering this case for how low speed I can run the fans and still get cooling. I want quiet and cold.

[@gidderman]

Thanks for trying to put the glass on the back of the case, this was a burning question i needed answered! I can wait to mod and build in this case ;)

[@MrResyst]

Looks great! I've actually been using an old Antec 1200 for transferring my previous-gen builds from AIO to air-cooling for no maintenance. This looks great considering how dated the features on the Antec 1200 are (especially with all the 3.5" drive bays that all sit empty nowdays). Will definitely keep this one in mind for whenever there's a good deal to get it.

[@amateurhourlive]

Nice touch with the camera zooming on the features, really high quality too when zoomed in. Nice one ☝️

[@seydaneen8970]

looks like theyve done a very good job with the airflow design! i dont really care much for the aesthetics of this one though. i'll be hanging on to my define r6 in white for a long time until someone drops some other sick case in a white scheme

[@GodSEndOMG]

Great video. Would had being nice trying adding a rear fan.

[@pf100andahalf]

I just ordered one of these cases, and with a noctua nh-d15s I'm going to try a 140mm fan mounted on the rear of the case (not the nh-d15s) to see if it affects the psu temperature in any way. I'm thinking that with the fans turned down low such as when you were running them at 600 rpm, an exhaust fan could help pull the hot exhaust from the cpu cooler straight out the back vs possibly drifting up into the psu intake. I'll try to remember to come back with my findings. I don't expect a big difference, if any, but I haven't found a test on this aspect of the Torrent.

[@EvilestGem]

I'm torn between this and the Lian Li 011Evo ...which one would you recommend? Thanks.

[@MultiNastyNate]

This case keeps my cpu so cool it's absolutely impossible to set a fan curve using the cpu temperature. I also found out you don't need much of a curve, or the case fans at full blast ever. Settled at 60% and the cooling is more than enough even for overclocked cpu and gpu. Temps never even hit 70c in the most demanding games. CPU at 40c in games with scythe fuma 2 air cooler. If I turn the fans up all the way I can run cinebench and the temp will only hit 72, with my 5600x pulling 115 watts the whole time at 4700Mhz.

[@FentonTheCat]

Did you go white or black or grey? I’m torn

[@TommyThousandFaces]

It's weird to say, but it's a novel concept in 2021 having a case that's committed to air cooling like this case! But what "worries" me is how would an open shroud fan be affected by this fan configuration. The blower style one you're using for testing absolutely love such a configuration and, because of the high air pressure inside, it won't recirculate back inside. Getting air inside the case is just as important as exhausting it. Weirdly a negative pressure setup usually helps open shroud GPUs because they pull air from the vented PCI slot covers. What's your opinion about it? Does the fully perforated back panel really compensate for the lack of an active exhaust vent? Loved the usual energy and detail of the review!

[@markotto1767]

i'm not sure about what you say about fanhub: when you connect different fans (140 and 180), rpm is not the same, but different. The % of max speed that is the same and so will be different cause different is maximum speed for a 140 or a 180 fan. all the fans, connected to the fan hub and to a motherboard fanheader, will follow the same curve but not the same rpm. Do you agree ?

[@Beezzzzy_]

I have this case, 9900k @ 5ghz with an Noctua NH-15, 3080ti. Stock fans except I added a Corsair ML140 Pro for rear exhaust. CPU rarely gets above 50C while gaming, 75-80 while editing, and my GPU went down 8-10C on average while gaming when I used to have a 240 AIO with my old Phanteks case. And its so stupid quiet even with the fans on Turbo settings from the BIOS because it rarely gets up in temp.

[@FentonTheCat]

Did you go black or white like Tom? Grey seems nice too, can’t decide.

[@utubeb14]

With the focus on air cooling I think I would have reduce the depth of the case to be more like the meshify c.

[@TTks124]

or you can add a lot of noise like here. 50dba is no joke.

[@hellowill]

@@TTks124 they are PWM fans that run up to 1600RPM, Define/Meshify has the same fans but 3pin so max at 1000RPM. Basically nobody is gonna run them at max RPM/noise.

[@TTks124]

@@hellowill i know, but you're missing the point. Less volume=less fans or less RPM=less noise. With less depth as the original commenter suggested you have to move less air for the same temps, or the same for better temps. There's nothing special about this case. In fact a 802 reverted with 140mm fans, it's gonna do just as good if not better, but retains the support for radiators and conventional stuff. This is, fractal at it again. Reinventing the wheel. I have a meshify C running the same concept as this (with certain non permanent modifications), and im willing to bet, im getting better temps at noise normalised, than this torrent.

[@hellowill]

@@TTks124 ok I was just responding to the 50dBA part - basically the Torrent is louder because it comes with PWM fans that can run at both a higher and lower RPM. Expecting future cases (Like Meshify 3) to be similar. On Compact case - yeah true, Torrent Compact would keep 2 180 in front and just 2 140 in bottom you think?

[@TTks124]

@@hellowill idk if there will be a compact and no. 180mm fans are not that good for a 45x45x20. The bigger you go the more air you move. Yes that's right, but also the bigger you go the louder the fan is for the same RPM. 45cm of case would have 42-43 real frontal intake. So the best would be to use 140mm fans. While i agree bottom fans are useful in a case with holes everywhere (trying to fit many hardware configs) they also screw with the air flow path. Ideally, you want smallest volume case, with the fans that fill the best, the format, without having intersected airflow paths, and sealing everything other than the intake and the exhaust.

[@Kizzster]

Wish you did an AIO comparison with this case but it seems like air cooling would be the best configuration regardless. But I wish case designers focused on Mini ITX cases rather than these huge cases that are absolutely everywhere. Would love if smaller cases had more competition tbh.

[@FentonTheCat]

Deciding on this vs Lancool 3. Which do you think would be better for a 4090 build Tom?

[@Greenalex89]

Best case Ive ever had. Added a 120mm fan to the back too+ Im not using the fan hub, since I want my B550 Tomahawk to regulate all fans.

[@hellowill]

Really smart modern case. Finally PWM fans on the case itself AND occupy all slots - dont have to replace them unlike in say the Meshify C.

[@ZanderLexx]

We are old Tom , we are old :) , but yes, this feels like a blast from the past with a lot of present features. I wonder if I can control myself :D, cause I changed my case in March 2020 from Phanteks 719 to O11 Dynamic and in December to Corsair D5000 Air. Also I wonder if my power supply will fit in there :) I have the ginormous Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1200W which is 200 mm long and Fractal sais that it can fit a maximum of 230 mm psu :). I think I'm sick and my only cure is to buy this one too hahahaha :D

[@briscolaselvaggia1371]

Why nobody let see the fans backplate of the bottom side of the case to maybe help someone to understand the possible position of 120mm fans? I wanted to change stock fans with Noctua A12x25, put it's a pain to practically know the position they will have in the case (if distant or near the "vertical wall" of the case).

[@natashaweikath1487]

Hi I was wondering if you could clarify the speed of the fans? In your review it said 1600rpm, yet the Dynamic X2 GP-18 are 300 - 1200rpm. I am very interested in this case and was thinking about putting in 4 of the Dynamic X2 GP-18, 2 on the front and 2 on the bottom, and using 1 of the 140mm fans as an exhaust. This was an excellent video and you have sold me on this case, I am hoping that I have the correct fans to match the ones at the front though. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Have a lovely day.

[@billwiley7216]

Question, with the top mounted PSU would it not be better if the PSU were mounted inverted and the top case cover incorporated an opening and filter to draw cooler outside air in for the PSU rather than the warmer heated air from inside the case? Also for air cooling I would incorporate a 120 -140mm rear case fan to help with the exhaust, could not hurt. I like the overall design but I see entirely way too much plastic and the case seems cheaply made for a $200 price point and the side panel latches or lack of them seems sort of cheesy. This will be possibly considered for a future build but also waiting to see an actual Lian Li Lancool iii to be reviewed when it releases. My build last fall was with the Lancool ii and for the money is a hard case to beat.

[@1480750]

I suspect that there's enough positive pressure in that case to push air though the PSU as well. If you've got a good PSU with a 0rpm mode it might only rarely spin up because it's already being "cooled" I just spent a bunch of money putting Noctua fans into my original HAF and even with that sunk cost this case is tempting

[@KamenMinkov]

Maybe it wouldn't make much of a difference if the fan is spinning all the time, but it will improve things for PSUs that stop their fans completely. I'd be hesitant to put a fully passive one in this case since they usually recommend mounting those with the vent up so that they can radiate the heat upwards.

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

Now if they had an XL version of this case.... I would get one to replace my old corsair 760T

[@AdmiralFloof]

We're back to early 2000s with PSU being at the top of the case

[@Permafrost_13]

great video matey, any idea if there going to do a matx or itx one?

[@z00h]

Shalom Tom! Great review as always.

[@Nick_R_]

I'm thinking of tweaking mine to run the bottom fans off the hub, configured to GPU temps and the front 180s direct to the motherboard configured to the CPU temps. I already run the CPU fans off the motherboard. Overall it's a great case. The fans are noisy as hell at max, but you can run then much quieter and it's still cool. I just want the bottom fans to better support my rather warm GPU. Cable management is a challenge as there's insufficient space behind the system. It's no worse than most, but another centimetre would make a big difference. Oh, my PCIE cable only just reaches - it's a big case. And the I/O coming out the top is annoying - it makes more sense for them to face front. I know, it would spoil the look...

[@NotHimJim]

Ooooh........ I like.. but where would I put my AIO? (Currently have a 280 in the roof)

[@1480750]

I wonder about the temperatures a 3.5" drive might see under heavy/steady use

[@ITAngel]

I have the RGB version of this case with a Intel 10900K, NH-D15 chromax.black, RTX 3070 Ti FE, and it keep the whole thing nice and cooled. I totally love this case and is been a long time since I found a case that would make me happy to be back in full air cooling setup.

[@FentonTheCat]

Black or white? I can’t decide

[@ITAngel]

@@FentonTheCat I went black because my setup is black and Grey / silver. I would say black unless you are planning a white theme. :)

[@MrErball]

I like that it reminds me of the very oldschool Coolermaster Stacker.

[@greenteaenjoyer9068]

Is this worth upgrading to from a meshify-c when it comes to thermals? I couldn't find the meshify-c in your graphs.

[@Rimmer666]

Great review! This will be my next case. So good looking and with super performance 😎👍😍

[@Killswitch78]

But....how much is it going to be?! I've seen one review say its likely to be £165. Not sure if that's the RGB version or not. But either way its not cheap (if correct)

[@ChopperPBM]

Great video, love you mate :)

[@bavarianwolf3806]

hello i have this case but the front comes off very easily, i just have to crap it a little bit and already comes off the tower. Is this normal?

[@DecanFrost]

was hoping to fit a Gigabyte in there. need a good firewall

[@KoseChris]

I wish they made the front easier to clean, i want to vacuum the filters without taking the front panel off.

[@NinerJonny]

Late to the party but the RGB case does have double glass...and I love it...

[@YaronRosen]

for the white torrent case, if might replace the fans to the aspect fully white fans rgb, should i also buy a controller or some other component in order the rgb to work?

[@grumpyoldnord]

I just wish it had more 3.5 storage capacity. Other than that, looks like a good upgrade from the case I've been using off and on since 2010.

[@kewin3000]

Need this case lol, what is the price in the UK ? Can't seem to find any retailers that have them...

[@Leverz]

Scan has the whole selection I believe.

[@dominic.h.3363]

I haven't had a PC brought to me with a PSU issue since they stopped putting them in the top, so it definitely was detrimental to PSU longevity, BUT this was before they even had the 80+ certifications in place, so they might be built better nowadays... 🤷‍♂️

[@G0UDG]

Nice one Tom Brother Good to see a big Smile on yer face

[@DeejayCriB]

this one are better then meshify 2? :) if yes why?

[@pitbullash]

Best looking and best airflow case in 2021 ! ☺️🙏 Proud owner

[@stevewatson6839]

A case worthy of a TSL tribute build, perhaps? I think the white case looks really good with the Fractal RGB 180s in the front. See Leo's build on KitGuru (Ignore his cable management! LOL!!!) I haven't been as impressed as this since the FT-02.

[@OC3D]

Love the fact you even mentioned her x

[@stevewatson6839]

@@OC3D I'd buried my younger brother not three weeks before when your sad news dropped. OC3D is usually my first point of call when I fire the rig up. The various perigrinations of 'Orca' always brought my Mum to mind. Same here, one comes to mind with the other. It was always lovely when Michaela cropped up in a vid. I don't chip in very often and half the time I'll be annoyed at something, but it is nevertheless true as you often say we are something of a family at OC3D. We are one another; not strangers but friends who have never met. TTFN.

[@Excalabur50]

Wow what a wee ripper, Thanks Guv!

[@ChrispyNut]

Phew. I just watched Wendell's video, first thing after finishing that, checked sub feed in hopes of a TTL case review of it. Don't let me down m8, it's been a while, I've got my rosiest specs on (though looking at vid length, might be let down :( )

[@waitandhope]

Good, I miss the Fractal Define S I had but they clearly have good cases

[@shakenout4980]

Badly needs to be inverted! Do it Tom... please?

[@Flightsimmovies]

Will fractal torrent air cool perform similar to other case with 360 aio?

[@OC3D]

Thats a hard call for any case tbh. I doubt it unless the case and aio were crap

[@shingnosis]

They should make a "silent version". Thicker metal, sound dampening, metal top panel, closed front with vent at the bottom and sides, keep the air intake underneath. Basically a hybrid of this and the Define 7.

[@CRAZCHEVBOY]

10 out of 10 air flow :D

[@AmateurTroll69]

Im happy with my lian li Lan Cool 2 but I will consider this one

[@MrFoxRobert]

Thank you!

[@SkyForce6700]

Actually Tom you have come across a case before that does even better for GPU temps especially when vertically mounting it and that was your beloved Cooler Master Master case SL600M. I have that case for my rig and I love that case! It still remains the chart topper in Gamers nexus charts for GPU temps it is on average 5 degrees Celsius cooler then this Torrent case. The problem with that case though was poor CPU temps in default configuration as tested by Steve, but I have alleviated that by going AIO with radiator at the top. So now all is well!😎 As for this Torrent case, I love the way it looks, otherwise Fractal are known for more boring cases. But here Fractal have a winner! for sure! The front reminds me of a modern skyscraper design, that brings back memories for those old very popular Dell XPS cases in the 600 and 700 series, those where popular at LAN parties and Internet cafés back in the days... One downside of the PSU mounted at the top like that is that it removes the possibility to have a radiator at the top. So that leaves either bottom or front mount available as options. But having the pump higher then the tubes are not ideal for pump health and sound levels so that leaves us with the front spot and that means if you go AIO you have to forsake those cool looking 180's visible trough the front if you have the RGB version. My other gripes with this case is that there is only 2 USB type A ports in the front, at this price and size I think it should come with 4 of them as is the case with my SL600M. Also I think they could have included some sort of bracket that cover that large hole at the front top. On that bracket you could then mount 1-2 extra HDD's making that a total of 6 SSD's and 2X 3.5" or 4X SSD's and 4X 3.5" drives. As it is now I think just 2X 3.5" drive bays is too few for me. I want minimum 3 of them. Tom can you try and see if one of those 3.5"HDD drive bays with a 3.5" drive mounted in it would fit over that hole at the top spot? Can the top cover come on then? If so then it would be possible to purchase spare ones from Fractal and do a little case mod by drilling a hole there for the screw and give you 1X additional 3.5" drive space available. As it is now I think that is a wasted opportunity in this case! But overall I like this case for its performance and looks!😎😍

[@1480750]

(SL500M) I've always wanted to know if (how much) the CPU temps would improve if someone drilled out a spot for a 120/140mm fan in the typical spot near the mobo I/O As for this case I'd like to know how the HDD temps are back there

[@SkyForce6700]

@@1480750 I presume you mean the SL600M. If you intend to run a air cooler in that case it is best to have the CPU tower cooler placed in a regular horizontal position so that the air passing trough it get pushed against the back wall then you mount 2X 200 mm fans (for instance the ARGB ones by Cooler Master) at the top of the case running in a pull configuration so that they suck air out. When the air from the CPU cooler hits the back wall the "splash of air" are going to go both down and up as well as towards the sides. Since air and other gases seeks the path of least resistance most of it will be funnelled upwards and escape at the top back vent in this case if you have top mounted fans in pull configuration. I recommend 200 mm ones since they have the largest area cover and thereby catches as much air as possible. The SL in the model name stands for SiLence case. The idea behind the sealed of front and back is to make it run quiet and to force air upwards funnelling it towards the top part of the case. If you drill holes in the back you are not only ruining the looks you are also increasing noise and there is very little improvement to CPU temps compared to just having the top fans mounted. at most maybe you are winning 1 degree Celsius I do not think that is worth it! It is an interesting question how the HDD temps are at the back of the Torrent since that part of the case is not very cooled by any fan and there is no ventilation at the top to allow for convection cooling of the drives. This could be a potential issue that I did not think of! I do not think any reviewer have checked the status of HDD temps in the Torrent case?

[@Ralipsi]

I bough that case (EATX version) I will have enough room for a future GPU upgrade

[@reset1101]

My Visa is getting a weird look at me watching this video...

[@crissnickers_frog6689]

so it's white,...........

[@ProAutist101]

Legend

[@MrBook123456]

👍👍👍

[@A6Legit]

Beat gamers nexus by 2hrs whats up with the coincidence?

[@andyk81]

At 11:38 and on. I noticed your thumb was bleeding. I wouldn't recommend this case. It will cut you and hurt you. You can die from infection. Very dangerous case. I hope your okay.

[@ares23dc]

Ultimate? Just lol

[@basshead.]

1st

[@DomGaskell]

Top performance with an unconventional layout. Stick some be quiet! fans in and you'd need rgb to tell when it's on 😂

[@waynestorton1875]

OK. Not a fan of this case based on this review. WTF is that bulkhead at the top rear? Am I missing something? Luv U TTL

[@Rimmer666]

Yeah your missing the power supply mate.

[@Cxs1a3]

Quite weaksauce specs for a monster case

[@NewmanOnGaming]

The front to me personally looks god awful aesthetically speaking.

[@Geryboy666]

ugly case

[@markcooperartcomofficial]

Ugly case. Pathetic how lame computer designers are.

[@JackTotGaming]

as always; looks are subjective. I think the black version looks nice. Edgy but also clean. To each their own

[@gorkskoal9315]

7:20 fuck looks as cabling goes. Keeping them organized is the real priority. I think you people that build 20,000 cases a month forget that. If anything it's developmentally retarded cables up to and including plugs and spot on the mother board are not color coded with some hard inforced industry law. Good on you reviewers for finding it easy. For mere mortals? that kind of thing would go a long ways! One day a computer isn't working. Let me double check the wiring just in case. oh look I can follow the yellow, red, orange, or neon pink cables to just in case! Oh look somehow ThatThing with a hot red cable and small cha_fa label came undone. Oh look I plugged it in. (facepalm). I'd think in world that likes colors they'd love that.