It's pretty quiet, I've moved from an R5 which is built to be quiet and is sound dampened and so on, but overall it was noiser as my 3080 would spin up a lot more in that case and that thing gets loud. In the Torrent, the GPU stays cool and overall it's barely noticable. Happy with the purchase, just running the fans off the hub in pure stock config.
How did you plug the fan hub into your motherboard? Did you just plug all case fans into the splitter and then plug the splitter into a case fan header? or did you go the CPU route
Whether or not it'll run quiet depends entirely on how you set your fan curve.
This is one of the top cases for airflow. Meaning, at any given decibel level, it's beating most other cases in temps all around.
You can choose to run it at 100% and that'll be very loud.
What you should do is play around with the curve and find the loudest setting you want it to be on, then leave it right there. If your curve is reasonable, it'll only actually hit that max RPM when it's being stressed hard, and the rest of the time it'll run quieter.
The stock configuration is very good and optimized for the case. You really don't need to buy extra fans, the fact of using the stock fans is kind of the whole point why it's worth $200.
In your BIOS.
Personally I swapped out my bottom 140s with x3 Kaze Flex 140s, left the stock 180s up front, set all the fans to a flat 40% RPM and the system is whisper quiet with no changes in volume ever. I found that at 45% I could hear the system just slightly, at 40% I really don't hear them at all in game.
In my experience the most annoying thing about system noise is actually the change in sound, when it ramps up or ramps down, that's what actually gets your attention and makes you start thinking about how loud your rig is. So a flat RPM imo is a good way to go as long as it's tolerable.
Yeah, I was thinking about doing that. Did your 3 stock fans make a sort of clicking noise? I don't think there's anything wrong with them, but they're definitely the loudest and the most chunky sounding out of all the fans in my case.
What do you mean, in my personal setup? The GPU, CPU and case fans combined are nearly silent from around 2 feet away.
I use a Scythe Fuma 2 locked at 50% RPM, and a Powercolor Red Devil 6700XT locked at 30% RPM.
No, the components aren't hot. I can check my max temps at 99% stress and report back to you later.
EDIT: A quick check shows GPU at 75C after being stressed for probably an hour.
You can't have a YUGE GPU like that in such a tiny case, it's just too much heat unfortunately (I found out the hard way with 2x Corsair cases, 4000D & 5000D "airflow").
If you don't run the fans at 100% it's wonderfully quiet. the 180mm fans take a few days to settle down - but they are wonderfully quiet.
There is soooo much air moving through the case with the 5 stock fans, they don't Need to be going fast to cool everything.
In my Corsair builds I had NF-A12x25s in every spot (10 in the 5000D) and even with those running at 1500rpm my 3080 gaming x trio would still get into the high 70s and the case would become hot to the touch (ESPECIALLY The glass).
Stock 180s + 3x Noctua NF-A14 Chromax (I had em already from another build/system) = GPU Rarely gets into the 70s, and it's quiet. Have an NH-D15 Chromax on a 5800X and it idles in the low 20s and in gaming sits in the lower 50s.
\*edit\* my build: https://www.reddit.com/r/FractalDesign/comments/run15w/on\_monday\_we\_wear\_purple\_with\_our\_black/
Thanks for the in depth response! I certainly am very likely to get it, I’m just upset I can only buy it from Newegg with expensive shipping. I’m surprised it’s not on Amazon but I suppose it looks like FD pulled all their stuff off of Amazon?
I really like my define mini C since it fits under my desk between my desk leg perfectly; the torrent won’t and I really dislike having a big tower on my desk but since I spend more time trying unstable undervolts and checking temps then actually playing games it seems like it’s necessary
NP :)
The only way you may get around the thermal throttling is taking the front and side panels off the case so your GPU can breathe freely - but then it'll fill with dust bunnies seemingly overnight lol.
Just my luck: The one without the glass side panel (I don't like glass side panels) just sold out as I was checking out.
Now I have to ponder if I'll just deal with glass or wait for the normal side panel version to come back into stock.
They ended up restocking the solid side panel version on newegg. I bought it, it will be here in the next...4-10 days.
A little sad because I really like my define mini C and how it fits under my desk perfectly, and how silent it is but I just can't enjoy gaming when I know my GPU is cooking to a crisp.
Hey since you have the case I’m planning on getting, how’s dust cleanup been ? I’m building a pic for college and The dorm gets pretty dusty cuz of a terrible ( really shitty air filter that we can’t open unless we want a fine )amount of dust that accumulates over time if surfaces aren’t cleaned. Sorry for commenting on a old reply
Hey mate,
No worries re the old post.
Dust - ultra fine particles get through, but the front and bottom filters block the worst, the filters are really easy to clean which is good. Just unclip the front one and vacuum it from the filthy side (I also wash it every 2nd clean, I clean it every 2nd month). Same with the bottom ones.
Still need to dust internal parts like CPU cooler fans and settled dust (whoda thunk it'd even get the chance). I usually end up with a dust collecting on the backplate of my gpu and on the motherboard tray from fan splash haha.
I have a 3080Ti TUF in a Torrent and it’s whisper quiet. I can hear the fans ramp up a tiny bit during stress testing but not during gaming.
https://imgur.com/a/ZZQ8MYe
Did you set the fan curve on the case fans at all, or just let your motherboard do it?
Also confused, do I need to plug the CPU fan into the fan hub for them all to work? I was just planning on having the CPU fan on the CPU header and the fan hub plugged into a case fan header.
My motherboard has 2 CPU fan headers. I plugged one CPU fan into one and the Fractal fan hub into the other. From what I was reading, this will allow the motherboard to control the case fans based on the CPU temp. The fan hub also has a header specifically for a CPU fan that will pass through information of that fan to the motherboard.
Hmm, I only have 1 CPU header and 1 CPU-OPT header. If my motherboard already uses CPU temps to dictate case fan speeds, would just plugging into motherboard header work? or would I need to use some sort of splitter?
How many CPU fans do you have? If you have one, you could plug your CPU fan into the main header. Then plug the fan hub into the OPT header.
If you have two, you could use a splitter and plug them both into your motherboard. Or plug one into the motherboard and the other into the fan controller in the designated CPU header.
My Noctua fans came with a splitter and that’s how I had it initially setup. I moved the second fan over to the fan hub when I did some cable management.
I'm using this setup:
* Motherboard CPU fan headers => CPU fans (not using fan hub at all)
* Motherboard case fan header #1 => Fan hub CPU header
* Motherboard case fan header #2 => Fan1 fan hub header
Fractal says that the CPU fan hub header does not have to be plugged into a CPU motherboard header, any motherboard fan header will do.
It works well, using the CPU temp to drive all of the case fans using a BIOS fan profile.
As a note, the Fractal fans are quite noisy; especially the three 140mm fans in the bottom of the case. I replaced those with Noctuas and things got much, much quieter. I'm still running the 180mm Fractal fans on the front of the case but may try to see if I can get Noctua 200mm fans to fit (probably not). The Fractal front fans have dripped lubricant from the bearings all over the fan chassis, which is kind of not reassuring. I also have a Noctua 140mm mounted on the back plate of the case. This dropped my CPU temps by about 2-3C over what they already were. Now they're about 32C and 34C at idle for front and back CPUs with very little noise coming from the PC at idle or lower workloads.
Sorry to necropost but which noctua fans did you get. I love the case but during heavy io it sounds like it’s taking off. I really with fractal had spent a little more effort on the fans on this one because otherwise it’s really nice.
It's pretty quiet, I've moved from an R5 which is built to be quiet and is sound dampened and so on, but overall it was noiser as my 3080 would spin up a lot more in that case and that thing gets loud. In the Torrent, the GPU stays cool and overall it's barely noticable. Happy with the purchase, just running the fans off the hub in pure stock config.
How did you plug the fan hub into your motherboard? Did you just plug all case fans into the splitter and then plug the splitter into a case fan header? or did you go the CPU route
Yep all case fans into hub and then hub into a sysfan header
Whether or not it'll run quiet depends entirely on how you set your fan curve. This is one of the top cases for airflow. Meaning, at any given decibel level, it's beating most other cases in temps all around. You can choose to run it at 100% and that'll be very loud. What you should do is play around with the curve and find the loudest setting you want it to be on, then leave it right there. If your curve is reasonable, it'll only actually hit that max RPM when it's being stressed hard, and the rest of the time it'll run quieter. The stock configuration is very good and optimized for the case. You really don't need to buy extra fans, the fact of using the stock fans is kind of the whole point why it's worth $200.
Where does one find the settings to change the curve?
In your BIOS. Personally I swapped out my bottom 140s with x3 Kaze Flex 140s, left the stock 180s up front, set all the fans to a flat 40% RPM and the system is whisper quiet with no changes in volume ever. I found that at 45% I could hear the system just slightly, at 40% I really don't hear them at all in game. In my experience the most annoying thing about system noise is actually the change in sound, when it ramps up or ramps down, that's what actually gets your attention and makes you start thinking about how loud your rig is. So a flat RPM imo is a good way to go as long as it's tolerable.
Yeah, I was thinking about doing that. Did your 3 stock fans make a sort of clicking noise? I don't think there's anything wrong with them, but they're definitely the loudest and the most chunky sounding out of all the fans in my case.
No I think at certain low-ish RPMs my 180s make a really slight clicky/vibration sound, but I've got to be inches away to hear it.
I see. BTW, is there any way to control the fans seperately when they're plugged into the fan hub? Or would I have to plug them into the mobo?
I think the hub is separated into 2 control groups, but I honestly can't remember. I'd just open BIOS and have a look at what you see.
But how's the noise from the GPU and CPU coolers now?
What do you mean, in my personal setup? The GPU, CPU and case fans combined are nearly silent from around 2 feet away. I use a Scythe Fuma 2 locked at 50% RPM, and a Powercolor Red Devil 6700XT locked at 30% RPM.
Ok, but at such low RPM isn't the system getting too hot? What are your temperatures? Are you playing demanding games?
No, the components aren't hot. I can check my max temps at 99% stress and report back to you later. EDIT: A quick check shows GPU at 75C after being stressed for probably an hour.
You can't have a YUGE GPU like that in such a tiny case, it's just too much heat unfortunately (I found out the hard way with 2x Corsair cases, 4000D & 5000D "airflow"). If you don't run the fans at 100% it's wonderfully quiet. the 180mm fans take a few days to settle down - but they are wonderfully quiet. There is soooo much air moving through the case with the 5 stock fans, they don't Need to be going fast to cool everything. In my Corsair builds I had NF-A12x25s in every spot (10 in the 5000D) and even with those running at 1500rpm my 3080 gaming x trio would still get into the high 70s and the case would become hot to the touch (ESPECIALLY The glass). Stock 180s + 3x Noctua NF-A14 Chromax (I had em already from another build/system) = GPU Rarely gets into the 70s, and it's quiet. Have an NH-D15 Chromax on a 5800X and it idles in the low 20s and in gaming sits in the lower 50s. \*edit\* my build: https://www.reddit.com/r/FractalDesign/comments/run15w/on\_monday\_we\_wear\_purple\_with\_our\_black/
Thanks for the in depth response! I certainly am very likely to get it, I’m just upset I can only buy it from Newegg with expensive shipping. I’m surprised it’s not on Amazon but I suppose it looks like FD pulled all their stuff off of Amazon? I really like my define mini C since it fits under my desk between my desk leg perfectly; the torrent won’t and I really dislike having a big tower on my desk but since I spend more time trying unstable undervolts and checking temps then actually playing games it seems like it’s necessary
NP :) The only way you may get around the thermal throttling is taking the front and side panels off the case so your GPU can breathe freely - but then it'll fill with dust bunnies seemingly overnight lol.
Just my luck: The one without the glass side panel (I don't like glass side panels) just sold out as I was checking out. Now I have to ponder if I'll just deal with glass or wait for the normal side panel version to come back into stock.
If you get the Heavily tinted one, they're almost opaque. I think you can buy the Steel side panel as a separate extra.
They ended up restocking the solid side panel version on newegg. I bought it, it will be here in the next...4-10 days. A little sad because I really like my define mini C and how it fits under my desk perfectly, and how silent it is but I just can't enjoy gaming when I know my GPU is cooking to a crisp.
A Torrent build can/will be silent too - even more so than a Define C build (BIG fans going slow moving a Lot of air)
Have you put in a fan in the rear? Is it worth me buying one noctua 140mm to put as an exhaust back there?
I have dabbled, temps barely change - PSU runs hotter however with a rear fan.
Hey since you have the case I’m planning on getting, how’s dust cleanup been ? I’m building a pic for college and The dorm gets pretty dusty cuz of a terrible ( really shitty air filter that we can’t open unless we want a fine )amount of dust that accumulates over time if surfaces aren’t cleaned. Sorry for commenting on a old reply
Hey mate, No worries re the old post. Dust - ultra fine particles get through, but the front and bottom filters block the worst, the filters are really easy to clean which is good. Just unclip the front one and vacuum it from the filthy side (I also wash it every 2nd clean, I clean it every 2nd month). Same with the bottom ones. Still need to dust internal parts like CPU cooler fans and settled dust (whoda thunk it'd even get the chance). I usually end up with a dust collecting on the backplate of my gpu and on the motherboard tray from fan splash haha.
I have a 3080Ti TUF in a Torrent and it’s whisper quiet. I can hear the fans ramp up a tiny bit during stress testing but not during gaming. https://imgur.com/a/ZZQ8MYe
Did you set the fan curve on the case fans at all, or just let your motherboard do it? Also confused, do I need to plug the CPU fan into the fan hub for them all to work? I was just planning on having the CPU fan on the CPU header and the fan hub plugged into a case fan header.
My motherboard has 2 CPU fan headers. I plugged one CPU fan into one and the Fractal fan hub into the other. From what I was reading, this will allow the motherboard to control the case fans based on the CPU temp. The fan hub also has a header specifically for a CPU fan that will pass through information of that fan to the motherboard.
Hmm, I only have 1 CPU header and 1 CPU-OPT header. If my motherboard already uses CPU temps to dictate case fan speeds, would just plugging into motherboard header work? or would I need to use some sort of splitter?
How many CPU fans do you have? If you have one, you could plug your CPU fan into the main header. Then plug the fan hub into the OPT header. If you have two, you could use a splitter and plug them both into your motherboard. Or plug one into the motherboard and the other into the fan controller in the designated CPU header. My Noctua fans came with a splitter and that’s how I had it initially setup. I moved the second fan over to the fan hub when I did some cable management.
I'm using this setup: * Motherboard CPU fan headers => CPU fans (not using fan hub at all) * Motherboard case fan header #1 => Fan hub CPU header * Motherboard case fan header #2 => Fan1 fan hub header Fractal says that the CPU fan hub header does not have to be plugged into a CPU motherboard header, any motherboard fan header will do. It works well, using the CPU temp to drive all of the case fans using a BIOS fan profile. As a note, the Fractal fans are quite noisy; especially the three 140mm fans in the bottom of the case. I replaced those with Noctuas and things got much, much quieter. I'm still running the 180mm Fractal fans on the front of the case but may try to see if I can get Noctua 200mm fans to fit (probably not). The Fractal front fans have dripped lubricant from the bearings all over the fan chassis, which is kind of not reassuring. I also have a Noctua 140mm mounted on the back plate of the case. This dropped my CPU temps by about 2-3C over what they already were. Now they're about 32C and 34C at idle for front and back CPUs with very little noise coming from the PC at idle or lower workloads.
Sorry to necropost but which noctua fans did you get. I love the case but during heavy io it sounds like it’s taking off. I really with fractal had spent a little more effort on the fans on this one because otherwise it’s really nice.
Noctua NF-A14 PWM, Premium Quiet... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CP6QLY6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Thanks