A sturdy, vibration-damped drive tray supporting a single HDD or dual SSDs with two optional mounting positions My GPU is 285mm long. In the default configuration, the GPU will just barely fit underneath the fan, so it can accommodate a longer GPU. For reference, the RTX 3080 Ti FE is 285mm long. The EVGA RTX 3090 Ti XC3 Gaming ULTRA is 300mm long, so that will easily fit in the case in this configuration as well. The noise readings are illuminating. Fractal’s large 180mm intakes are practically silent at low speed, and even at 800rpm the smooth hum is far from distracting. The decibel meter reacts accordingly as fan-speed rises, and you need to get closer to full pelt for noise level to rise above 40dB, which we deem off-putting. My second issue is that, given space constraints, you can't install a modern GPU and bottom case fans. Technically you might be able to install extremely slim fans, but there will be 1 or 2 mm clearance between your GPU's fans and the case fans. Your GPU might even be sitting directly on top of the fans. Those slim fans don't really do a great job cooling, and the close proximity of the fans to the GPU won't necessarily improve thermals. Ample room for typical enthusiast parts, but similar concessions extend throughout the case. While its bigger brother can accommodate up to seven 120/140mm fans or four 180s, Compact houses up to six 120s, four 140s or two 180s. Dotted around the enclosure, that includes two 140s or three 120s at the bottom, while the rear is limited to just a 120. Top I/O Ports Rear Cable Management Hidden Storage Bay Torrent Compact Interior

My GPU is 285mm long. In this modified configuration, there is about 1.5" (38mm) of space between the end of the GPU and the fans. For reference, the RTX 3080 Ti FE is 285mm long. The EVGA RTX 3090 Ti XC3 Gaming ULTRA is 300mm long, so that will easily fit in the case in this configuration as well. Air cooling is an excellent option for this system due to the large intake fan on the front of the case, while options for adding a water cooler are quite limited. You can't add a fan or radiator to the top of the case. You could install up to a 240mm radiator on the front, but this would require removing the preinstalled fan. In fact, we’d argue Torrent has never looked better. Nano’s smaller profile looks a little too diddy for our liking, and though we enjoyed the original, its enormous 544mm (L) x 242mm (W) x 530mm (H) footprint proved ungainly atop most desks. Compact’s 450mm x 222mm x 467mm dimensions are less obtrusive, and the 33 per cent reduction in overall volume is more in keeping with our expectation of a mid-tower solution. What we did not expect was that temperatures inside the Torrent Nano would be quite so high as they were. Simply looking at the Torrent Nano gives the impression that air flow should be very good indeed. As you can see from our testing chart we had plenty of headroom and were a significant distance away from any problems so really this is a reminder that small form factors builds always force you to make compromises.

The Smallest Member of the Torrent Family

Both Compact and Nano continue the Torrent tradition of a top-mounted PSU, but as expected, the amount of headroom now varies. PSU support has reduced from 230mm on the original to 210mm for the Compact, maximum GPU length shrinks from 423mm to 330mm, and the limit for CPU cooler height falls from 188mm to 174mm. When it comes to liquid cooling, said fan mounts can handle a 120/140/240/280/360 radiator in front. There’s technically room for up to a 240/280 on the bottom, though installation will be fiddly in front of an ATX motherboard. You can instead put a couple of 180s down here, albeit with the proviso that you’ll have to use a micro-ATX board.

My CPU temps were immediately worse due to less cooling. Idle temps increased to 32 - 35 C, gaming increased to 50 C, and standalone Cinebench R23 runs increased to 74 - 75 C after running the benchmarks for an hour. A high-quality cooler ought to be the first port of call when taming an enthusiast chip, but a decent chassis has a part to play. A Core i9-12900K under full load is perfectly happy inside Torrent Compact, even with fans configured to a barely audible 400rpm. Increasing fan speed does improve temperature, though one might argue the shift from 78°C to 75°C is hardly worth the trade-off in noise.Fractal Design's new Torrent Nano is an interesting case that does a decent job of cutting the original Torrent down to size. The end result is a small case that is supplied with a single 180mm fan and which supports Mini-ITX/Mini-DTX with full sized hardware in the other departments. Building a system inside the Torrent Nano is somewhat different than you'd expect from a modern PC case. That's not unusual for a Mini-ITX case, but while many Mini-ITX chassis tend to be challenging builds due to their compact design, the Torrent Nano is delightfully easy to work in. If there’s a criticism of the eye-catching design, it’s that angular motifs typically result in large swathes of plastic. Though the front fascia looks incredible, the slithers that make up the vent do have some flex to them, and the chassis’ plastic top panel doesn’t carry the high-quality feel of a metal build.