Silverstone Fortress FT01
by Christoph Katzer on November 10, 2008 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Installation
The hard drives fit nicely into the small plastic frames. There are small rubber grommets that work with the special screws that come with the case. The drives will be isolated from the chassis since they don't touch the frame directly, which should reduce vibrations and noise. After installing the hard drive(s) into the frame, you can easily slide it back into its final position inside of the case.
While the case looks very large from the outside, it's surprising how little extra space there is around the motherboard area. You will definitely want to pay attention to what you're doing during system installation. Everything fits okay, but depending on your choice of motherboard you may have a few areas that cause difficulty. Other areas present far fewer problems; optical drives are easy to install: slide them in and push down on the button. That will extend two little pins into the holes where screws normally go. However, you will need to be careful when you connect the IDE and/or Molex connector; if you press too hard the two pins will not hold and the optical drive will most likely fall out of the front.
The CPU cooler sits directly below the top 180mm fan, so it should have plenty of airflow and good temperature results. The rear 120mm exhaust fan supplements airflow for this area, so it's entirely possible to go "fan-less" on the CPU. Our three GeForce 8800 Ultras fit nicely inside the case even though there isn't much space to the right. All of the cables from the power supply also need to pass here, which will make this area rather crowded and airflow will definitely be better if fewer cables are at this position. Power supply length will not be an issue in this case, as there is enough space for even the longest units with a little more than 20cm clearance.
The only problem we had was with the SATA connectors on our motherboard. Since the motherboard we use has angled connectors, there is very little space between them and the chassis. If you intend to use all of your SATA ports on such motherboards, it will be difficult but not impossible to install the cables properly. On some motherboards, you might get lucky and the three long openings to the right will line up with the SATA jacks, allowing you to pass cables directly to the hard drive area. However, our motherboard had part of the frame in front of the jacks, which made this impossible. (The use of SATA cables with angled connectors is another option.)
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
22 Comments
View All Comments
billt - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
Good looking case. But then I am partial to Silverstones; have a TJ09 and a SG03 (neither overheat). Wish they had made this case 1-2" deeper.MrX8503 - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
I think antec might of been the first ones to have the psu at the bottom, but what silverstone did to their psu is ingenious!I like how the psu fan is flushed to the bottom hole of the case with a filter on it. This lets the PSU suck air from the outside of the case and is separate from the entire case air flow.
SilthDraeth - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
What amazes me, is you can get a bling bling case for $50. But if you want a simple case like this it will cost you around $200.I know quality of craftsmanship is one thing, but there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get aesthetics like this in a $50 case. It could look similarly, but maybe have a few sharp edges that need to be filed by the purchaser.
Vidmar - Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - link
That hard drive cage is a real problem with airflow. For what this thing costs I would expect a high end power supply as well.For my $$$ this Rosewill R6AR6-BK case has almost all of the features of that case, cooler performance and at 1/4 of the cost!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Sunrise089 - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
The TJ-07 model from Silverstone is a popular case for watercoolers. Does this case replace the TJ-07, or is there an even larger 180mm equipped case in the pipeline?Cardio - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
I have had 3 of their cases and while well made, they all had extremely poor thermal performance. Could only run one of their expensive HTPC cases with the top removed! Very poor engineering as far as I am concerned. Never again they must not even test these things!HOOfan 1 - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
Looks a little like the Coolermaster RC-690HOOfan 1 - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
also it is nice for a change to see a black case with a black back panel....strikeback03 - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
For reversed fan flow measurements, did you reverse all the fans? So that the rear 120 would be the only intake, and most airflow from it would be sucked right back out by the 180 on top? How would a more Antec-like configuration, with front intake and both rear and top exhaust, work? Also, would the stock fan configuration have any negative impact on air flow around a larger tower style cooler?Also, you mentioned that you wouldn't recommend using a PSU with an 80mm fan, why is that?
Christoph Katzer - Monday, November 10, 2008 - link
No, just the large one on top (then according to ATX spec) to see the difference. No 80mm-fan-PSU because one with 120mm fan can get fresh air through the bottom.