Review Fractal Design Torrent Review: Totally Different, Totally Cool

[Admin]

Fractal Design’s Torrent offers a totally different design from what we’re used to, but the end result is a pretty unique and powerful chassis.

Fractal Design Torrent Review: Totally Different, Totally Cool : Read more

 

[waltc3]

Don't care for the PSU mount--reminds me of very early ATX (and pre-ATX) motherboards that put the PSU up at the top! I remember it well. I much prefer it at the bottom of the case in a walled off compartment. What happens with the PSU at the top is a lot of the hot air from the CPU and the GPU gets sucked into the PSU's intake fan, reducing its efficiency. Sort of a weird arrangement here...

 

[derekullo]

It would be interesting to see how cases compare to open bench with the same acoustic and thermal tests.

A "bench"mark you could say.

 

[Sippincider]

At the exchanger/fins level you can definitely have too much airflow. Don't have the engineering details in front of me, but it's possible to push air so quickly the heat transfer isn't effective; a given amount of air needs to spend so much time in contact with the fins. (Or in other words, bolting on a bigger faster fan doesn't necessarily make it cooler; learned this the hard way many years ago!)

At the case level, if you go mass overkill, only a portion of the air will actually be doing cooling. The rest will be along for fun, making noise and pulling dirt into your system. Then there's the opposite extreme favored by a certain fruit company, of pulling just barely enough air through to keep the system from thermal throttling...

 

[Pytheus]

Too many intake fans, not enough output fans.

 

[peterf28]

I own fractal design define mini .. very nice case - but too heavy. Always check weight.

 

[peterf28]

Too many intake fans, not enough output fans.

It is called positive pressure

 

[Deleted member 2783327]

Gross. Poor airflow. Seems this case will suffer from a positive airflow. In hot places like where I am that is not a good thing.
No side fans. No, there isn't a situation where you can have too much air flow!

I have a Thermaltake W100. Changed the left side door to the same as the right side door and added and extra 4 fans. Total 13 fans (counting rad), with negative air flow.

 

[Pytheus]

It is called positive pressure

I'm well aware. I believe it's better to be moving hot air out just as fast as pushing cooler air in. Mixing cool air with the hot will not produce optimal results.

 

[magnusb]

I'm well aware. I believe it's better to be moving hot air out just as fast as pushing cooler air in. Mixing cool air with the hot will not produce optimal results.

You can mount fans any way you want ...

 

[Pytheus]

You can mount fans any way you want ...

Not really. The case has a total of 7 fan placements. 3 front, 3 bottom, and 1 back. Front and bottom fans are always intakes, that leaves one fan as an out. Not at all customizable.

 

[Joseph_138]

Steve, at Gamer's Nexus, reviewed this case recently, and yes, there is such a thing as too much airflow. When air is being forced through an enclosed space, it will escape through the nearest exit that it can find. You have to control the air so that it flows over all the components that you want it to cool, or else that air will be wasted, and your cooling will not be as effective as it needs to be, shortening the life of parts. This is why running your PC with the case cover off is a bad idea. All that air escapes through the opening before it can do it's job. There's no point drawing air into the case with fans, if it's never going to reach it's intended destination. Airflow is engineered into the case design with the assumption that the cover will be on and secure to prevent air from escaping.

 

[Darkbreeze]

All I can say is, despite traditionally being very much a fan of Fractal Design products, I don't know what they were thinking here.

There is a very solid reason that case makers moved power supplies away from being top mounted, and it's because that's where all the heat goes and they tend to live shorter lives when they live at the top of the case.

I'm also not sure how this case could do well in thermal testing with only a single exhaust fan and the power supply to expel heat from the case. You can add a hundred intake fans if you want but if you are not getting heat AND pressure out, you are likely shortening the life of the intake fans with the tremendous static back pressure they are going to be struggling against all the time, and you are likely not moving all that much air into the case anyhow since you can only pack in so much pressure without getting some of it out as well. 6 in and 1 out, plus whatever small amount the PSU moves (AND you'd better seriously plan to not run a semi-passive or fanless mode unit in this case or you're going to compound the problem even more) just does not seem like a formula that would work based on all the prior airflow testing we've seen through the years from a variety of very competent sources like GamersNexus, SilentPC review and a number of others.

But hey, if you say it works, that's great. I am sure as heck not buying any case with this kind of design though. We've seen a number of cases before in the past that supposedly had great airflow or characteristics based on initial reviews too, and then saw a lot of backtracking later when things went wrong. No way I'd ever use a case with this kind of design in these modern times. Just seems like another weird, gimmicky attempt to be different. I could be wrong, but it certainly flies in the face of traditional airflow best practices.

 

[peterf28]

Why not set up the fans like this :
Intake:1xback +3xfront
Out: 3xbottom

?

Maybe because there in no filter on the back side?

Ok then :
Intake: 3xfront
Out:1xback +1xbottom

 

[Pytheus]

Why not set up the fans like this :
Intake:1xback +3xfront
Out: 3xbottom

?

Maybe because there in no filter on the back side?

Ok then :
Intake: 3xfront
Out:1xback +1xbottom

You don't want the bottom fans to be an out. Heat rises.
You'll more likely be sucking the cool air from the front fans down and creating a heat pocket at the top.

 

[crooked windows]

it's a "Swiss Cheese Case" more holes in it the crazier the price. It would be a contender if the price was 50% lower but it has just been released. Wait for 50% off sales before reconsidering it. It's ONLY a case. pretty front though.
Question, are Spinning Rust Drives also optimized for Vertical mounting?
still way over priced.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Why not set up the fans like this :
Intake:1xback +3xfront
Out: 3xbottom

?

Maybe because there in no filter on the back side?

Ok then :
Intake: 3xfront
Out:1xback +1xbottom

This, makes absolutely no sense, at all. Not in any conversation where traditional understanding of thermal and aerodymic concepts plays a role. Could never work. Look at ANY of the case studies using smoke or other means of seeing what is happening, and you'll understand.

 

[Mr. Truth]

I'm kind of confused. This is the best airflow case on the market. There are people saying it has bad airflow because of it not having enough exhaust fans. Other people say too much air flow is bad. Having 12 fans does not mean you have good airflow, even with a 1:1 ratio, depending on the case. The case is engineered to give the air that is being taken in a direct path to the exhaust. Not all cases work well with a 1:1 exhaust to intake ratio, and this case is designed to take advantage of positive pressure. Airflow is not as simple as putting a ton of fans in a case. People are free to have their opinion on the case, but the numbers have been pretty unanimous with this case be fantastic for keeping components cool.

 

[Kyvu]

I legitimately made an account just to say that the amount of people in these comments that have no business discussing thermodynamics is staggering.

For clarification, this case has been tested with robust exhaust fans. It does absolutely nothing but add noise. The flow is already optimized. You do not need exhaust fans with a positive pressure system this comprehensive.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I don't know what gives you the idea that the case has been tested "with robust exhaust fans", note, plural, since there isn't anyplace to mount an exhaust fan, AT ALL, except in the rear of the case? And since you can only mount a single exhaust fan, there is no way to compare how well this type of design MIGHT work IF it did in fact also have a top rear fan location available, so it's impossible to say that it's positive pressure configuration would outperform the same design with some slight modification that would allow for equal or negative pressure performance. There is simply no way to say that either way works better in any given case if it's not possible to test a given configuration in that case.

And, I don't see ANYTHING in the design of the rear panel that leads me to believe that anything special has gone into it's design since it looks 100% EXACTLY the same hexagonal mesh material used on the back of practically every FD case that's been manufactured in the last five years or more. Including my S2, which also has great airflow.

Not to mention, the case has now been recalled due to a faulty fan hub controller, so that's very NZXT-ish of them. Again, I really like FD, more than pretty much any other case manufacturer, and I'm sure it cools well, but personally I'll take a hard pass. Not to mention, the case looks about as ugly as most of the Cooler master designs, unlike practically every other case Fractal sells. Personal preference is compulsory however, so to each their own.

 

[Kyvu]

I don't know what gives you the idea that the case has been tested "with robust exhaust fans", note, plural, since there isn't anyplace to mount an exhaust fan, AT ALL, except in the rear of the case? And since you can only mount a single exhaust fan, there is no way to compare how well this type of design MIGHT work IF it did in fact also have a top rear fan location available, so it's impossible to say that it's positive pressure configuration would outperform the same design with some slight modification that would allow for equal or negative pressure performance. There is simply no way to say that either way works better in any given case if it's not possible to test a given configuration in that case.

And, I don't see ANYTHING in the design of the rear panel that leads me to believe that anything special has gone into it's design since it looks 100% EXACTLY the same hexagonal mesh material used on the back of practically every FD case that's been manufactured in the last five years or more. Including my S2, which also has great airflow.

Not to mention, the case has now been recalled due to a faulty fan hub controller, so that's very NZXT-ish of them. Again, I really like FD, more than pretty much any other case manufacturer, and I'm sure it cools well, but personally I'll take a hard pass. Not to mention, the case looks about as ugly as most of the Cooler master designs, unlike practically every other case Fractal sells. Personal preference is compulsory however, so to each their own.

Your rebuttal to "it's been tested and the results are null" is "we can't know because no one has tested it"? Alright I don't even need to address that one. Same with positive pressure vs equal/negative, as we have plenty of conclusive testing to show positive pressure is superior in regard to controlling both airflow and dust. Refer to the ENTIRE back panel being permeable for pressure balance and flow (which conveniently addresses your second paragraph).

The airflow is entirely different to most cases. As GN points out, the most comparable case is the Silverstone RavenRV02, which itself is a rare case configuration. Not to mention a chart topping one, and the Torrent beats it.

Fractal handled the recall with some rather impressive grace and responsibility, compared to the disasters NZXT and Gigabyte displayed, so I'm not really sure what you're knocking there. Proper accountability?

 

[Mr. Truth]

I don't know what gives you the idea that the case has been tested "with robust exhaust fans", note, plural, since there isn't anyplace to mount an exhaust fan, AT ALL, except in the rear of the case? And since you can only mount a single exhaust fan, there is no way to compare how well this type of design MIGHT work IF it did in fact also have a top rear fan location available, so it's impossible to say that it's positive pressure configuration would outperform the same design with some slight modification that would allow for equal or negative pressure performance. There is simply no way to say that either way works better in any given case if it's not possible to test a given configuration in that case.

And, I don't see ANYTHING in the design of the rear panel that leads me to believe that anything special has gone into it's design since it looks 100% EXACTLY the same hexagonal mesh material used on the back of practically every FD case that's been manufactured in the last five years or more. Including my S2, which also has great airflow.

Not to mention, the case has now been recalled due to a faulty fan hub controller, so that's very NZXT-ish of them. Again, I really like FD, more than pretty much any other case manufacturer, and I'm sure it cools well, but personally I'll take a hard pass. Not to mention, the case looks about as ugly as most of the Cooler master designs, unlike practically every other case Fractal sells. Personal preference is compulsory however, so to each their own.

You are misunderstanding the design of the case. The back of the case is the exhaust. If the air has only one place to go, through the back, then the design of the back is perfect. The hexagonal grates are quite large. By adding a top fan, you give air a point to escape because hot air rises. If you add a rear fan, and air is moving faster through the case than that fan can exhaust, then there is no benefit. I'm also not sure why you think there is any comparison between how they handled the recall vs nzxt. You don't need to test any other configuration if it is thermally better than any other case on the market. Can you explain what part of that doesn't make sense please?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Your rebuttal to "it's been tested and the results are null" is "we can't know because no one has tested it"?

That's not what I said, at all, and you know it. You're being intentionally obtuse, which is ok. I'm not going to argue points that have already been repeatedly proven in tens of dozens of previous tests involving a vast variety of designs and case models. You like the case, great, buy yourself one. All I'm saying is that this sort of design isn't for me AND since all of this testing was done with similar hardware AND is being compared NOT to other cases with aftermarket cooling components installed but instead, is a comparison of a stock configuration versus a stock configuration, which the great majority of people would never run with, it's a senseless data set to me. But again, that's just my opinion. I don't expect, or care, if anybody else shares it. So as I said before, to each their own. End of story. Bye.

 

[Kyvu]

That's not what I said, at all, and you know it.

And since you can only mount a single exhaust fan, there is no way to compare how well this type of design MIGHT work IF it did in fact also have a top rear fan location available

It's exactly what you said.

AND since all of this testing was done with similar hardware AND is being compared NOT to other cases with aftermarket cooling components installed but instead, is a comparison of a stock configuration versus a stock configuration, which the great majority of people would never run with, it's a senseless data set to me.

GN tests in stock, standardized, and general use configurations.

But again, that's just my opinion.

At least you're aware that your comments aren't data driven.