Fractal Design - Torrent PC Build/GPU Mod + mini review

[Wildgg]

After buying the Fractal Design Meshify C i never thought switching cases ever again for my main system. Few days ago the Torrent case from Fractal Design was available and i instantly liked it so naturally i had to give it a go!
This post will be a combo of showing off my build and give you my thoughts on the case and my experience building in it.

Editionally i ran a before and after Temperature test.

This includes: 

 

Heaven Benchmark 4.0 at 1080p maxed out settings looping for about 10minutes (after 10min the temps were bascially flatlined as you will see in the pictures below).
F1 2021, 5 laps of Belgium SPA 1080p (mostly medium graphics settings and FPS unlocked).
For the test results check the review below the post/pictures!

 

Part list

Intel Core 8700k

Nvidia GTX 1080ti Strix with 2x Corsair 120mm airflow fans 11rpm

Asus ROG MAXIMUS X HERO

EVGA G2 850

Corsair 32GB 2x16 3200mhz

Noctua D15

Fractal Design Torrent

 

My review/thoughts will be below the pictures, if you're interested of course!

 

I'll start with some photos i took along the way (Imgur album for more!: https://imgur.com/a/Z3OKoQ3 )

 

Review

Fractal Design Torrent White TG Clear Tint

 

Starting with the exterior of this case, the case has a aggressive look, the front panel has a beautiful grill with a build thinn mesh dust filter.

This case comes in many different variants, colors and different tints of glas. I went with the White version and Clear TG.

The layout: Unlike 99% of case, the top of the Torrent does not have exhaust fans, this is because the PSU is mounting in the top of the case with easy acces when you remove the top panel.
Cooling is centered around the intake at the bottom and front, this case is deffently centered around positive air pressure setup.
The case comes with 2x 180mmx38mm fans in the front and 3x 140mm in the bottom, i went with the non RGB fans but this case is also availble with RGB fans. The case comes with a fan hub that supports 9x 4pin fans!

The case comes with an extra box that includes two fan brackets, these brackets you can mount in the front of the case if you don't want to use the included 180mm fans.

 

Panels: All of the panels on this case are extremly easy to remove, no need to be scared of braking plastic tabs anymore!
the top panel is secured with 2 screws in the back and the panel slides cleanly off. The front panel you can pull of very easy from the top side and this will remove this dust filter at the same time, neat!. The side panels you can simply pull off from the back of the case, each panel includes a tab you can pull on, the panel by default are not secured with screws but there is an option to do so.

 

Build experience: After removing all case panels you are greeted by so much space, everything is easy to get at even with big hands. One thing you will notice right away is the amount of cable tie points, these cable tie points are placed in all the right places. Hardware placement is straight forward and plently of room for a big aircooler as well. The cable management was not hard but not easy either, i think Fractal Design did a good job on the amount of space you get for the cables but you do have to tie the cables down so the side panel fits nicely. As shown in the pictures above you can see that I've mounted the SSD's and the NZXT hue+ unit on the inside using the Reservoir mounts, I don't know if the spacing was intented by Fractal Design but the holes line up perfectly and it fills up the dead space nicely.

 

Cooling: With the big fans the airflow is just crazy, the bottom and front fans are running at 600rpm and the airflow at these low rpms is just stunning, I've never had a case where i can feel the airflow coming out the rear of the case. Without a rear fan mounted you can feel the airflow as if there is a rear fan mounted. I've added a rear fan for the looks but this not needed at all.

 

As i noted before I've ran 2 temperature tests, Heaven loop and F1 2021.

The previous case is the Meshify C with Front: 3x Noctua NF-F12 at 900-rpm, Rear 1x Noctua NF-F12 at 900-rpm and 1x top Noctua NF-A14 at 800-rpm.

The current case Fractal Design Torrent with Front: 2x Dynamic GP-18 at 600-rpm, Bottom 3x Dynamic GP-14 at 600-rpm and 1x Rear Noctua NF-A14 at 500-rpm

GPU fans were at 1100rpm static in both cases.

 

Both tests were at a room temp of 23C, To be clear i've ran both tests 3 times each and the results were the same every time.

We saw a 10C drop on the GPU, Not only did we drop 10C on the GPU, it is also boosting higher: before:1936mhz / after:1962mhz in Heaven Benchmark 4.0.

 

Meshify C Heaven:

Fractal Design Torrent Heaven:

 

Meshify C F1 2021 Belgium 5 laps:

Fractal Design Torrent F1 2021 Belgium 5 laps:

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to check out my post and hopefully this will give you a general idea of the case.
For any questions feel free to post them below.

-Wild

[Milos Sladic]

What an airflow beast!

1. How is the noise and the quality of the front 180mm fans? I wont be replacing them since nocuta doesnt offer 180mm versions, and I don't think there is a extra 2cm room for NF-A20.
2. In your experiance does any other case on the planet comes to mind that could beat torrent in airflow?

[Wildgg]

5 hours ago, MS1993 said:

What an airflow beast!

1. How is the noise and the quality of the front 180mm fans? I wont be replacing them since nocuta doesnt offer 180mm versions, and I don't think there is a extra 2cm room for NF-A20.
2. In your experiance does any other case on the planet comes to mind that could beat torrent in airflow?

1. I'm running every fan that comes with this case at 600rpm and it's very quiet and there's lots of airflow, quality seems great so far, no noises coming from the fan motor and they are very well balanced.
2. I'm sure there are a few out there, but i don't think anything comes close when you compare other cases with noise-normalized tests. 

[Milos Sladic]

Thats waht I thought. Thank you!

I too will be going with the white version coz of white strix. Thanks for the pictures!

[Skiiwee29]

Curious why you put NF-F12s on the CPU Cooler instead of the NF-A14s it comes with?

[Wildgg]

On 8/28/2021 at 4:44 AM, Skiiwee29 said:

Curious why you put NF-F12s on the CPU Cooler instead of the NF-A14s it comes with?

The right fan is indeed a NF-F12 but the middle fan is a NF-A15 HS.

 

I bought this heatsink second hand a while ago without fans, i bought a NF-A15 HS fan and the chromax covers for it, and added a NF-F12 fan i had laying around.

[For Science!]

Don't forget to get the fan hub replaced

[JayVee21]

Hey I know this an old post but I have a very specific question about the case. 

 

I'm moving my build from a dinosaur corsair 760t to the torrent and I wanted to know if everything I have now will fit properly. The build has high end internals (5950x x2 3080, etc) 

 

On your bottom pcie slot do you think you'd be able to fit a second gpu? If not do you think it would work with low profile fans instead of the stock case fans? 

 

I haven't upgraded my case in years due to sentimental reasons and now that I live in warmer client I want to upgrade my cooling solution and case to get a decent upgrade to Temps. 

[Wildgg]

On 12/5/2021 at 10:05 AM, JayVee21 said:

On your bottom pcie slot do you think you'd be able to fit a second gpu? If not do you think it would work with low profile fans instead of the stock case fans? 

Yes i can fit another gpu on the bottom pcie slot BUT the top card fans would but touching the second card, the top mounted gpu would be choked pretty badly.

 

Low profile fans would be the safe bet but you will see higher temps.

 

Also, keep in mind the thickness of your card compared to mine.

 

You can also look into a motherboard with better pcie slot spacing for your needs.

[Squilliampapi]

How did you mount those sata ssds to the front? It looks really good and takes up the unused space 

 

[Squilliampapi]

1 minute ago, Squilliampapi said:

How did you mount those sata ssds to the front? It looks really good and takes up the unused space 

 

Nvm I need to work on my reading skills

[Squilliampapi]

This thread inspired me to make a similar build only RGB. Will post pics soon 

[Wildgg]

3 hours ago, Squilliampapi said:

This thread inspired me to make a similar build only RGB. Will post pics soon 

Awesome!

I'm looking forward to see your build!

[DD08]

On 12/5/2021 at 10:05 AM, JayVee21 said:

Hey I know this an old post but I have a very specific question about the case. 

 

I'm moving my build from a dinosaur corsair 760t to the torrent and I wanted to know if everything I have now will fit properly. The build has high end internals (5950x x2 3080, etc) 

 

On your bottom pcie slot do you think you'd be able to fit a second gpu? If not do you think it would work with low profile fans instead of the stock case fans? 

 

I haven't upgraded my case in years due to sentimental reasons and now that I live in warmer client I want to upgrade my cooling solution and case to get a decent upgrade to Temps. 

Hi JV

I can confirm that you will likely be able to fit 2 x 3080 into the Torrent, BUT, you will have to be VERY specific in you choice of MoBo. Hardly any of the current Z690 come with a dual PCI-E 5.0, so you'll have to look for that.
Also, you need to look at the spacing. I built mine with a 4 slot distance, as I've fitted 2 x 2,9 slot GPU's, and wanted to maximize the airflow to the top one.
I can provide pictures if you should want it.
Take care and good luck wit the build.... if you've not already completed it.

BR. DD