SilverStone Fortress FT02: True Classics Never Go Out of Style
by Dustin Sklavos on August 15, 2011 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- SilverStone
- Full-Tower
In and Around the SilverStone Fortress FT02
I'm not going to lie, I had high hopes for the FT02. Cursory experience with a boutique build utilizing the enclosure was, while backbreaking, ultimately pleasant. A healthy number of you hold it in high esteem, and frankly, it's just nice to look at a case that's understated. The Raven RV03 seemed gaudy in places, but it's also about as out there as SilverStone's designs seem to get in terms of aesthetics.
So what stands out about the FT02 from the moment you unwrap it (besides its staggering 33.1-pound weight) is how sleek and minimalistic it really is. This is the polar opposite of gaudy gaming-oriented enclosures: the design is basically a black aluminum band wrapped around the front, top, back, and bottom of the case, with a steel internal body and side panels. The FT02's side panels are both padded with foam internally, and the case is available with or without a side window (our review unit eschews the window.)
Of course it's SilverStone, so the design is going to be anything but normal, and the FT02 fits their mold by utilizing the 90-degree rotated motherboard design pioneered by their Raven series of cases. The aluminum unibody band produces a healthy gap between the bottom of the case and the floor, creating a space for the three 180mm intake fans in the bottom to easily bring in cool air. The top of the enclosure is where the I/O shield and expansion slots are, along with a single 120mm exhaust fan, and this area is covered by a large mesh panel that snaps on and off with a little force. By removing this panel, you'll see the two side panels are held on by two top-mounted thumbscrews each.
Once we're inside the case, we can see where all of SilverStone's engineers really spent their time. The motherboard tray is indeed rotated in such a way that two of the three bottom intake fans blow directly into the video card and processor heatsink. The net result is an unobstructed path of air that barrels directly through our hottest components. What struck me most about the FT02 was how much cleaner its internal design was compared to the Raven RV03; with a larger chassis and more breathing room, the FT02's insides are more simplified and orderly.
To the left are the five 5.25" external bays, and below them are five drive cages for 2.5" or 3.5" drives, mounted vertically to allow the third 180mm fan to blow straight up through them. The mounting seems a little bit tight, but should be adequate for keeping the drives cool. What's weird is that only one of the 3.5" drive bays features a SATA backplane for hotswapping (made odder by the two step process of getting into the case to begin with); there are places to mount additional backplanes for the other four drive cages, and once again I'm sure SilverStone would love to sell you those separately. Weirder still, the backplane uses a molex connector instead of SATA for power.
There are plenty of places to route cables behind the motherboard tray, but it's here that our SilverStone rep warned us that the FT02 may not be with the times, citing a lack of space behind the tray compared to other, more modern cases. It does appear a bit cramped, but we'll see when we get to assembly.
Initial impressions were pretty positive, and if anything the FT02 makes the RV03 look like a massive step back for the company. The whole fit and finish of the FT02 is attractive, and assembly should be much cleaner if still fairly involved compared to more standard ATX case designs.
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TheYeti - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
But seriously, positive pressure cases always out perform negative pressure cases in cooling tests. Fans will often increase air pressure by 2 psi, or 12%. vs the same pressure drop you might get 25% more cooling, maybe even more since the intake fans are supplying the exhaust fans, not fighting them for air.The trade off for positive pressure cases has always been the noise that they produce. I like the way that was managed by letting the carpet eat it up.
shenjing - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
Come go and see, will not regret it Oh lookhttp://www。ifancyshop。com
dac7nco - Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - link
some of these guys have legit beefs with the review. I may know 1 person in 50 who still uses a Zalman CPU cooler, and they would probably be rocking a C2D or AM2 CPU. As to snapping the "roof" off of the case to access USB3 ports... look at yourself in the mirror and recommend that. I've built systems with this case and Pus/Pull Megahalems you wouldn't believe had fans at all. Yes, I hate the dreadlocks out of the rear: being able to daisy-chain displayport ala SCSI will clean that up a LOT.A tip: I've found that rigid toslink (optical audio) cables don't clear the closed roof well... look for "thin".
Daimon
dac7nco - Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - link
Edit: and your love for Lian Li's side-mounted optical bays is bizarre. Those are an abomination, which I'm sure you fancy, but have never used. New to this, eh?hurrakan - Thursday, August 18, 2011 - link
I've been planning to get this case for my next build.scan.co.uk seem to have a new version with USB 3:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/silverstone-fortres...
bramdb - Thursday, August 18, 2011 - link
I just emailed SilverStone sales with a request to give me a price for the part. My request got forwarded to RMA EU (I live in Slovakia).Here's the result:
part (no G113032): 20 euro
shippping: 19 euro
VAT on both: 7,58 euro
total cost: 47,48 EURO
outrageous!
I expected it to be somewhere around 10 euro for the part (they're already making a profit like that) and another 5 or so for the shipping (this thing fits in a bubblewrap).
This is the last time I bought a Silverstone case with this kind of aftersales on such a high-end product.
Gonemad - Thursday, August 18, 2011 - link
I guess vertical (90º rotated, whatever) cases like this are not something extraordinary, but I guess they are not exactly common either. I've been under a rock in the past 6 months and didn't see many of them, nor I know anybody that owns one. So I ask this, isn't it a bit of a concern the PCI-E socket being forced in a specific direction (I am trying to say short-circuit sliding here) specially if the case is under a desk where it may be close to people with 'happy' feet?Y'know, won't some bumping and nudging cripple the graphics cards, especially our 2-pound gaming rigs? Yes, mine is screwed tight and all, but running it on vertical still looks dangerous to me. Bending it on the side, OTOH, never appealed to me either. I'm still looking for a good design in desktop fashion, where the card sit its weight straight on the slot...
On another view, USB ports are closer and more usable than ever. Instead of being tucked in the back, they are on top, which is great for cases that will be on lower shelves. I liked the design, and I'll look into it...
Bobben49 - Sunday, August 24, 2014 - link
I've been running vertically for 3 1/2 years and have never had a problem with card slippage even with double wide dual-fan video cards. The FT02 are very well manufactures so that the cards line up perfectly and the steel of the superstructure is stiff and thick enough that it does not warp down and the screws holding the card ends don't strip their threading. The thing weights over 30 pounds empty and is built solid as a tank.Oxygen12 - Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - link
I have an FT02 since 2013 and still using it. I still like the case despite it's many quirks and shortcomings. I would buy an updated version in a heartbeat.Something I really don't understand with these results are the temps between low/high modes under idle. Under Idle: Almost always the results seem to show a much lower temp for CPU/GPU on the low fan setting compared to the high fan setting - that is completely counter-intuitive - a higher fan speed should have a lower temp at idle than a lower fan setting. At Load: The high fan setting manages to edge out the temps vs the low fan setting, this directionally seems correct, but i would have expected a bigger difference.
What I conclude from this, is the tests done at the high fan speed had a significantly higher ambient temperature than when the tests were performed at low fan speed. It just doesn't make sense any other way to me - someone correct me please.