Performance Analysis

Being essentially an open-air case, the Antec Torque wasn't going to have any issues with cooling (dust may be another matter,) so if you plan to air-cool your CPU or graphics card, there's not much to worry about in terms of temperatures.

The CPU delta T of 52°C saw it come within 1°C of the best result achieved by the Phanteks Evolv X and noticeably cooler than many other fan-equipped but largely sealed cases on test. The GPU delta T of 49°C painted a similar picture, with only the Cooler Master Cosmos C700M and MasterCase SL600M on their highest fan speed settings offering lower temperatures.

Conclusion

We understand the point of open-air show-cases; they're designed to be eye-catching and primarily for modders and trade shows more than for your average consumer, and here the Torque fits in relatively well. However, the issue is that it rarely if ever feels like more than a few anodised aluminium panels bolted together. The whole design, while subjective of course, just doesn't seem to flow, with a mix of shapes, screw types, and other parts not really coming together in a cohesive form. It's certainly not something we'd consider for a PC we'd use at home - there are far better options for a lot less cash, yet the Torque doesn't really add anything new to the show-case scene either; in fact, it's quite basic in some areas. This means that unless you're bowled over by its design, there are better ways to show off your PC's hardware.