Alright I guess I'll wait for the Fractal Design Torrent Compact XL.

keep the front fans in, add a rear exhaust, use a beefy air cooler rather than an AIO and you got yourself the best airflow on the market. in terms of the space for cables in the back, id look for a PSU with flat only cables :)

Couple notes. This case works perfectly with a full size ATX board and two 140s at the bottom. The cables are plugged in at the bottom of the board and the 140s hide them perfectly with enough space to run them out of sight. The USB 3.0 cable was my only tight fit as the Gigabyte 550 Elite board puts it at the bottom edge. The cabling while tight at the back is in fact manageable and you can close the side panel if they're routed the right way. I managed it with a bequiet power supply which has a beefy 24pin that isn't the most flexible. The two 180 fans and room at the bottom for 140s (and yes 180s with an mATX) are the biggest selling point of this case. It's a fan case. Almost pointless to go AIO on this.

I love the comedy, squeezing an AIO in an air case and mounting the fans in the bottom perpendicular to the flow. Thanks for the laughs, subscribed ! All joking aside, the Torrent is one of the very few cases which can run almost completely silent with front fans at 500 rpm, no exhaust or bottom fans and just a tower cooler.

THANK GOODNESS. The one thing keeping me from snagging a Torrent was it was just so damned huge. Didn't need it. And here we are, finally. I'm 100% on board. I expected a tight build, being a compact. I feel simple builds without a lot of cables (no high RGB builds) will fit it best, alongside meticulous cable management around back.

I really like the interior, nice and full with gear. But the lack of cable space, not so much. Seems like so many cases these days offer all kinds of interesting options, but too common that anything other that the "stock" set up makes for too many tradeoffs. Excellent review, as always, Leo!

Most AIOs would be a bad idea in that case unless you remove the front fans. You don't want the pump to be at the top of the loop so for a bottom mount rad, you would need one that has the pump in the rad itself.

Leo you are truly amazing and you take all the aspects with case reviews. I don't do that many comments in general but I had for this one cause I had more hope for this case.

i like the quote on the end, and gj with the review

Thumbs up for an honest reviewer!

Shame about the cable management, and screws blocking the front panel. FD usually has lots of attention to detail so I'm a little surprised they dropped a few stitches there. At least the fan hub doesn't catch on fire, that's progress!

Thanks. This video convinced me to get the Meshify 2 Compact instead of the Torrent to replace my aging R5, nothing wrong with it, just want a change. I like the 2C more aesthetically, it's a lot cheaper and would seem to be better with the setup I have in mind.

Thanks for the honest review the lack of cable management just kills it for me.

Leo, your video improved since the Fractal Design R5.. you made me bought it last year : and found a new tampered glass. Lucky me.

Nice work! I have the Torrent and it's so awesome! But I like your fan-swap and AIO. But I think I'll stick with the Torrent. I like having all that easy-to-use room.

I really like Torrent's design so I'm excited about the compact version too, but I think keeping the distance in the back of the case will be much better, not only easy wire management like Torrent does but affording two 3.5"/2.5" drive mounts not three dedicated 2.5" drive mounts.

Nice Review!

Since Fractal shows how it's done with addition of bottom intake fans, I think this year will be exciting year for case releases. If only there were other case manufacturers duplicating the airflow patterns of the Fractal Design Torrent series with easier cable management setups, it's a no-brainer to pick that up.

Thanks, I guessing I going with the regular torrent case. I hate dealing with small case and just try to make it work. This was informative as I wanted to make sure it had enough width for Evga3080 ftw with a front cpu rad. But with your struggles, I rather just go with the normal torrent since I’m running aio cooler.

What do You suggest instead for best airflow case (in order to reduce fan speed to 600 rpm to get silence I need)? Is there better alternative?

Would it be possible to attach the 140 mm fan adapter plates to the other side of the front 180 mm fan plate? That would provide more room between the radiator (and its screws) and the front air filter.

Guys if you buy this case or any from the Fractal torrent line up use your motherboard fan header not the fan hub. That way you can control the cpu and case fans individually

I moved the 180mm fans to the bottom too and put a 420mm AIO in the front on the Torrent full size case. I wanted big airflow for the Nvidia 3080.

Nice vid but which one is the best between meshify 2 and this one torrent ? Thanks

Can you fit a 240mm AIO cooler like the arctic freezer on the bottom and use a normal ATX Board?

Awesome air cooled system. If your using a current gaming pc with the psu fanned through bottom of the case water cooling is almost a necessity with this you get that classic airflow of pcs from decades ago. in a newer version.

If you cable manage properly there is no issue with closing it. I don't need the screw to keep the back panel on.

Is it possible to fit 3x 120mm at bottom with 2x 180mm at front?

will the bottom part of the case accomodate 3 T30 fans?

For such a wide case the lack of cable space in the back is a let down.

I like the video. I would have preferred a build with a tower CPU cooler and had the fans in the default configuration

I see your point, i general they could have done a even better job if they would design it without all the options. just imagine coolermaster would make a similar case with their 200mm fans, i would even they say the can push air behind the motherboard for a truly ultimate air cooling case. some realy nice and fine dust filters, very tight tolerances with no holes in the case which could disturb airflow and al the panels equipped with some gab closing fabric or rubber or something so make them airtight so only way air can go over the components and out the back.

If buying this case a couple 120mm or 140mm intake fans should be added to help with GPU temps

I have a torrent compact but I’m having trouble fitting 3 120mm fans on the bottom of the case, need help 🙏

Fractal guide says max 33 cm GPU with front fan installed. The fan inclued is 3,8 cm, so if i use a 2,5 cm thick front fan i could install a 34 cm GPU? Great video!

u have the front and bottom fans as intake, was this intended?

I am more of a compact and small PC case guy, but now I'm more of a open/semi-open case guy now, best temps for all the hardware.

I bought the large Torrent because I planned on using an E-ATX but it turned out to be terribly designed for that application. The grommets are so thick that the mounting screws don't make contact with the standoffs. An E-ATX board literally sits on the grommets. If you remove the grommets then it's pure hell trying to bend cables for connection.

I don't have to agree or like everything you say in these videos, but damn, i do respect your brutally honest no shit reviews (refreshing if nothing else). There's certainly some nitpicking going on, but i appreciate and respect that, i can discard it when it doesn't matter to me. Too many reviewers blowing smoke up manufacturers asses, it's nice to see someone man handle the hardware and just lay their opinion down without speaking a load of horse truffle.

I use a test bench but if I were to get a case, this is the one I would go for, looks amazing. As always, good to see Leon doing his no nonsense reviews.

Regarding the bottom fans being covered by holders for 120mm fans: is there anything prohibiting taking an angle grinder and making the bottom 180mm-exclusive?

Most people want an excellent case with good features for their build and fractal does make an excellent case and they have been on a roll. My main complaint for this video is that although the case has some issues, the cable management being one, you seem to try to outline what I would like to call "inconvenience" of an older fellow. The case accessory box comes with a multitude of things. Cable ties to help tighten your poor management skills. Flat screws for the front, which you complained about as if the product failed when the manual clearly states to use the flat screws that they gave you. So instead of putting it in a pull configuration you opted into putting it in a push. But it seems you forgot that the original complaint from many is that it's an air case. Specifically for air cooled systems so why replace the two 180mm fans when you could just add a few more fans? Finally, you placed the aio in a way that would dry out the pump overtime. The tubes end should be lower than the cpu block so that as much liquid gets to the pump itself. Placing it flat won't work but in 9:10 you would do better with the radiator flipped so that as much of the fluid gets to the lines. Although you seem to like to dive deep into a lot of these cases, this one seemed to annoy you before you even opened the box because it had the same name as the torrent which got you some flack. Although it does have less space than before, the same rules apply. Get those cables tucked and used a power supply that is modular while also taking advantage of the zipties and extra loops already in the case. Don't want to do all that? Buy a 580x.

Wonder why they didnt do an argb version in white.

Can I fit a 3090 in that case? The nano had no intake fan cooling the GPU but this one seems it does

Will the HDD get too hot crammed in that top compartment?

When is this available?

Have you thought of using 2 more 180mm in the fron instead of the 2x140 ? You could probably instal them first, then install the 280mm adapter bracket to them, then add the 280 rad to the bracket. In this way there may be a chance to have 4x180mm fans... ? Worth trying! All in all, I dislike case without 2x140mm at the top. It's a design flaw from an airflow perspective.

Hmmm SuprimX cards are 335mm putting it 5mm over so I would have to take the 180 fans out... I will hold off until I move to the Tuf I got on back order. I got the Meshify C currently.

Should've just tested it how it was intended: no AIO. However, since you did use an AIO (for some reason), it was a good call moving the front fans to the bottom and the AIO radiator to the front. This allows adequate GPU cooling. Anyway, good video.

2 Questions: 1. Is there a way to configure the RGB to a specific color? (never owned any RGB Hardware) 2. Is there a way to buy power cables in a specific lenght to deal with the cable management restrictions?

Was looking at the compact or switching to the nano and itx but I look at the size and this thing and even the nano is just as large/larger than the meshify mini ... I guess I'm never going to get rid of this thing ever.

I have a 330mm graphics card, and I use the Arctic Liquid Freezer Ii 280, so the radiator alone is 38mm thick, then there're the fans with 25mm thickness as well. So like many other case I looked at before building my gaming PC, the case is literally a few centimeters too short :P

best case i ever seen. where can u purchase? edit - one thing i dislike is the psu location... heat rises!

Does the black version only get the RGB fans option cause I can't find that option for this white version

Does anyone know if a AMD TRX40 will fit in this? It's 325mm x 275mm

The only man on KZfaq I trust

I had such a crap case....I looked at this before I bought an 011d evo. Pulling heat out with 3 120s behind the 3080 and 3 bottom intakes synced up fan rpms, seemed awesome....and it is. With an undervolt I'm at 59c GPU. And my GPU manufacturer skimped on the cooling. The fractal fans are the whole point of the torrent, replacing them defeats the whole point of the case.

So the back panel.. When building removed the plastic cable "guides" included in the case.. Bought a pack of 100 zip ties..

The Compant and Nano are both interesting. I want a case that still has front drive bay access for a DVD/CD. I must be one of the few losers who still use a DVD/CD drive.

Hi Leo, did you just test the thermals without installing a 120mm exhaust fan and putting back the side panel? I'm asking since you have no notes on the graphs.

And you know there's an absolute mad man somewhere in Britain who's done stuck a Threadripper or i9-13900K high-powered system into the Nano. The fire dept hates him 😂

Almost perfect. If only the PSU was in the bottom this case would be sitting beside me right now.

love the video, would you recommend this for a 5900x build with a 3080? The 5900x would be air cooled, or with a single 120 for the back

i think they missed the mark here, they should have left room at the bottom for 2 x 180 fans with standard atx m/b and just reduced all that extra space at the front (that only water cooled systems would need)

Case should be just wider, and it would be OK, but side panel is too close to GPU, and other side panel is too close to cables on the rear. I keep asking them what about rev 2, but cant get the answer. I would love too see approach with mix of O11 and Torrent (PSU IN OTHER CHAMBER), ventilated top panel with additional cover (for airflow) and big part of the show swappable PSU/Drives cage. Imagine this (in full rev2, not sure if it would fit into compact) - You got ventilated top panel, but you also got Same PSU shroud as here. You can remove it to get access for AIO placing on top, OR mount PSU there, OR Drive cages in there. Additionally in the back, you could use other drive cage, and find secondary place for PSU. Case could fit even 6 x HDD. And if whole case would be wider, what about front panel? Easy. Similar plastic frame, this bars, but I/O panel, could be hidden between bars (!) on the wider part of front grille (nex to the fans, on service part of the case). Hell, even slim disc drive would fit between bars. But they would need to listen. They choose to ignore me. I wont choose torrent as chase is too pricy for what it serves - too much plastic, and s***ty fans on bottom (3x140, that mostly have production flaws and make noise), also it need 750mm cables for GPU to route the cable UNDER the GPU. Compact in the other hand is lacking in support for 140mm fan at the rear (this is a must in this price range - not that long time ago even budget cases supported it!) and at same time giving much more space for air coolers, and getting more gap between glass panel and GPU = Better GPU temps, and this TERRIBLE 20mm space for cables. Also PSU SHOULD be possible to be mounted fan in other direction - to the top. Why they not gave us vent holes on top panel for PSU fans - noone knows, what i know, is 60-80 degree air in this part of the case is not friendly to PSU. And i dont have top tier CPU, but only Ryzen 5800X.

wait, i can move my noctua cpu fan from above the ram, to the middle slot, and move the second one to the back ? WHAT? how much big of a difference would it make temperature wise ?

built in this for my brother but my one issue is the noise from those 180 fans,have a thermalrite phantom spirit air cooler on the 8700k cpu but no matter what i do no matter how slow i make the fans they are still loud enough to hear them..i thought with fans being that big they would not need them to spin so fast and my brother is no gamer so his temps rarely reach above 30c on the CPU but the noise is the thing he is complaining about...any ideas would be welcome...i have set all sysfans to PWM in the bios added a manual curve at as low as possible but still noise...not sure why

That's some big ass fans. That price though. Wow

Fractal is good for making all there compacts narrower then their full size so less room for cables and air coolers.

Why would you move the big front fans down the bottom when you could have just added the smaller fans down the bottom? Could have stuck with original motherboard then too. Bizzare..

Was gna buy this but the cable management put me off gamers nexus had the same issue, I doubt I can cable manage much better than these guys.😁

would using 4 180s be possible (2 front, 2 bottom)?

This may be a hot take, but i think this is one of the few cases that looks better without RGB fans

Fucking hell. My big Torrent arrived a couple of days ago. If I'd knew they would be releasing compact one, I'd so pick that out over the behemoth that is the original Torrent.

does the nh d15 still fit?

Crap, I bought the regular torrent and now I kinda regret it. I mean, not much, because it's a great case and performs amazingly well, but you know. Maybe this was better for my needs, but luckily I am not out of space here, so maybe it was the right choice regardless. Looking at the review, maybe I wouldn't have been able to put all my cables in that tiny space D:

The cable management in the compact is horrible you can barely close the side panel with just a USB 3 header and some fan cables. if only they had just kept the original profile from the full size torrent. i just kinda shoved the panel on and said F it. But this case is indeed gorgeous and the airflow is just amazing. But still 20mm for cable management is just not enough. The torrent nano has 29mm and the full torrent has 32mm which i have no clue why the nano would have more....

It looks nice but I'll stick with my Meshify 2 Compact. It's as if they made this case just to fill a gap in their case range.

I've been waiting for this video. I desperately need to replace old Phanetks case due the gargantuan size of GPU's these days and all the current Phanteks cases are far too large for me. But I'm not sold on this one. Not sure if it's Phanteks level quality.

I really want to like the Compact, but it's just a little bit too compact for me. No 140mm back fan support, little cable management room/options, very tight at the bottom with ATX mobo. Just too cramped.

Will they put out a xl version? Hope so ❤️

I got that case and returned it for Lian Li Air mini. Torrents quality build is OK, but as Leo mentioned...1)side panels will bulging-out unless you have no cables..2) front panel mounting is flaky, tbh, the snap on panels mechanism are cheap, Fractal should just stick with thumb screws on all panels, Also, Torrent case without panels is very wobbly, cheep metal opposed to Air mini, that is much sturdier. Overall, quality built on Air mini is whey superior to any fractal case. In my opinion: Air mini 9/10...Torrent Compact 7/10

Fractal Torrent Compact + Noctua NH-D15 chromax black or NZXT Kraken X73?

Are you able to remove the logo in the front?

Torrent "a strong and fast-moving stream of water or other liquid." So to those people saying it means air...shut up.

sigh... still no matx option

Greatty

it's not a case for watercooling.... it's a king with air coolers

Oh yes..?

Name a better case for air cooling. Just a little bit wider and we'd have a close to perfection case. I'd never want a "RPG happiness" .

Fitting those cables behind that side cover is a mission! What the hell was Fractal thinking. "Compact" edition is an understatement cable management is BS!

Great now I can't decide on the Compact or Nano. It's a nice case but now I need to make up my mind 😂.

think people wanted to places 120mm fans in the buttom

I want to see comparative thermals with the stock configuration and an equivalent air cooler please

Four fans blowing towards the inside of the case with no forced exhaust is a dumb idea.

They really should at least have left the cable management space from the original torrent alone. I doubt very many would care if it were 20mm wider, especially when cable management suffers for it.

Puts an aio in a case designed for air cooling. "NO, IT IS YOU WHO ARE WRONG." Maybe if you didn't add so much shit the side panel would've fit better.

Meshify 2 Compact seems way better buy

i hate that micro atx cases are always overlook when it comes to good cases like this..

Oh dear. This is the first of your videos in a long while that have disappointed me, primarily because you did no testing with air coolers. That's especially valid given your closing thoughts. Still, at least I learned that my RTX 3090 FE will not fit with the fans in the front. I've commented before on Kitguru's exclusion of air coolers; were you instructed to not use them on this video?