I've seen other reviewers complain that the top panel is easily scratched but I haven't noticed this after about 3 months of use, and I've removed it at least 10 times. I've had the PC on top of my desk and underneath it as well. I've leaned the top panel against the wall, had it fall to the floor, and its still pristine. I think those comments may have been reviewers trying to identify a negative given they only spent a day or two with the case instead of a few weeks/months.

The size is right, pricing is acceptable, and the most appealing aspects of Torrent go untouched. That stylish front fascia looks better than ever and dual 180mm intakes deliver on the promise of high airflow. 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.In my opinion, the best feature of this case is the cable management. The primary cable management channel with three dedicated lanes, a bottom lane, and another lane on the right made this case a pleasure to work with. Even with an additional SSD and my Lian Li fan controller installed, cable management is super clean. Other case manufacturers could learn a thing or two from how this case is designed. The Fractal Torrent Nano is a solidly built, extremely well-designed PC case that excels in air-cooling your components. It supports the mITX form factor but it definitely isn't a "small" case by any definition of the word. It supports a standard ATX PSU which is nice for your budget (or maybe not!). In terms of looks, it has the sex appeal of Angelina Jolie or Idris Elba, depending on your preferences. The cable management is superb with a main cable channel and a ton of space at the bottom, right side, and top of the case.

It helps the customer to reduce costs as you don't have to hunt around for a specific low profile CPU cooler or a short SFX power supply and pretty much the only concession you have to make is the form factor of the motherboard. I've been using the Fractal Torrent Nano for the past 3-4 months with hundreds of hours of gaming and tens of hours of benchmarking. Now that I've seen its strengths and weaknesses (versus receiving the case and immediately publishing a YT review), here are my thoughts and recommendations.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.

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. 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. 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 InteriorOn the inside the decision to slim down hasn’t diminished the chassis’ suitability for a high-end build. Strictly speaking, there’s still room for up to a 274mm E-ATX motherboard, though regular ATX is going to be a better fit for for most users. 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. For as long as I can remember, I've had love of all things tech, spurred on, in part, by a love of gaming. I began working on computers owned by immediate family members and relatives when I was around 10 years old. I've always sought to learn as much as possible about anything PC, leading to a well-rounded grasp on all things tech today. In my role at PCMag, I greatly enjoy the opportunity to share what I know. I ran this configuration for the first 3 months and overall got very good performance. My CPU temps were 29 - 32 C at idle, 45 C during gaming, and peaked at 70 C during 1-hr Cinebench R23 runs. My GPU ran very hot and was thermally throttling while playing games and benchmarking. I decided to undervolt to 950 mV at 1980 MHz. This reduced my CPU temps to 60 - 65 C during gaming, and it peaked at 68 C during about 30 minutes of Unigine Superposition runs. Removable top bezel and routing clips with velcro ties make for easy installation and cable management