Fractal Design Torrent PC Case Review

Exterior

This case is pretty dramatic and just getting it out of the box, you can immediately see this is a bit of a beast. It’s big and heavy, and there’s clearly a lot of raw materials in this thing, which does explain a fair bit of the high price tag. It looks epic though, with a massive tempered glass window down the left side. However, the case can be purchased with a solid side panel, a light tint window, or a dark tink window; I have the light tint.

The front panel is really interesting. The fins are huge and offer enough protection to stop a cat from putting its paws into the fans, but they’ll certainly not restrict airflow at all! They look super retro to me, and I absolutely love them.

If anything the most old-school thing here is those massive fans in the front. I’m not sure why the trend went away, but years ago, massive front fans were all the rage. These days, it seems to be two or three 120mm RGB fans… likely a cost thing, anyway…

Another nice touch is that Fractal badge, it looks really classy.

Down the right side, more glass, albeit with a heavy tint. So while you can see brighter objects like SSDs that you’ve mounted, it’ll still choke enough light that you can hide your cable routing.

What is interesting is that there’s no ventilation upon the top of the case. However, there’s no shortage of cooling elsewhere, as you’ll see shortly.

the front I/O is nicely laid out, with a central power button, two USB 3 ports, and a Type C port. Plus, a stylish and toned down font worthy of a Paul Allen’s Pierce & Pierce business card.

Around the back, you’ll see the front panel isn’t the only retro aspect of this case. The power supply is back at the top of the case! Alas, they’ve got a good reason, and we’ll get to all that shortly.

The rear panel has a truly stunning amount of ventilation too. So those huge front fans can pull in all the air in the world, and clearly, nothing is going to stop them blasting it right out the back of the case.

The expansion slots are all bridgeless too, which will make for an easy install of larger cards. However, it can be an advantage to those doing something more custom with the case.

Some subtle recessed channel here, along with some Velcro straps, so you can strap down the external PSU power cord.

There are some recessed mounts on the bottom too, allowing you to apply some underlighting strips (not included).