OC3D Review Silverstone Fortress FT03

[tinytomlogan]

The air in the bottom and out the top approach that Silverstone have been using is very popular, can they make it work in a compact chassis though?



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[sheroo]

I know you ain't got the time to do a full build for each case. But I would have loved to have seen you put a full on gaming system through its paces in that thing. Rip those 120mm fan mounts out. get a D14 in there, dual 80mm fans in the bottom and see how long you could go on a gpu.

 

[SieB]

Nice little case from Silverstone even though it's a bit restrictive with the fans being the way they are, but it's all good for cooling and air flow.

 

[sheroo]

For me the only thing missing would have been a grommeted hole at the top and another one in the floor so that if you wanted you could run the video and other cables behind the motherboard tray and out through the bottom. This for me would have finished the clean look.

I think that this could make an awesome gaming rig, more innovative than the SG07 and much better looking.

It reminds me of the Apple Mac G4 cube.



If they hadn't gone with the hot swap bay, they could have had a vertically mounted dvd drive and kept the front completely clean.

 

[jonowee]

saw the video yesterday... agh, magnets! Like the RV03 and the NZXT H2, magnetic tacked on junk should burn many points off. I thought the case was crampd when I saw it last year, but now with TTL look inside, now I'm claustrophobic.

 

[dugdiamond]

perfect for a web-surfer - small and compact

terrible for a power-user - not enough air OUT, for my liking

liking the hotswap mechanism

ALL those locking plastic panels will wobble after time, adding to vibration noise levels

 

[sheroo]

not enough air OUT, for my liking

hmmm lots of cases have a single 120mm exhaust?

 

[dugdiamond]

hmmm lots of cases have a single 120mm exhaust?

hmmm - alot of case have more than ONE 120mm (or better) exhausts

also, when the gpus are inserted, they are facing AWAY from the intake fan, which means the in-air will be hitting the backplates of the gpu(s)... if it gets that far!!!

also, if the cpu cooler is placed as TTL had it, the air is pulled in - straight through the cooler and out the case, starving the gpu(s) of fresh, cooler, air.

 

[tinytomlogan]

hmmm - alot of case have more than ONE 120mm (or better) exhausts

also, when the gpus are inserted, they are facing AWAY from the intake fan, which means the in-air will be hitting the backplates of the gpu(s)... if it gets that far!!!

also, if the cpu cooler is placed as TTL had it, the air is pulled in - straight through the cooler and out the case, starving the gpu(s) of fresh, cooler, air.

GPU's get fed cool air from the bottom of the case

 

[dugdiamond]

IMHO this is not an enthusiast's case, or has any traits that an overclocker would be looking for.

but, if someone is looking for a small build for web-browsing rig only, and this case was fitted with a single low-profile GPU, then it passes the test for simple practicality

 

[sheroo]

If you use a reference card that vents out of back/top I think you could get a gaming rig in there. I'm not talking super dupa bleeding edge but definitely a 560ti or 6950 with a 2500k with a mild overclock.

The more I look at it the more I like it.

 

[LUVABBW]

I actually own this case and I have to say it's simply wonderful. There are two things that have been overlooked in this review. The fan that sets directly below the GPU slots can be removed and second it can be replaced with 2 80MM fans. Also the design makes it easy to switch the air flow so that instead of air leaving out the top you can have it go out the bottom. Also all the fans in the system can be replaced with whatever brand you plan on.

System Specs

Intel Core i7-950 Processor

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU IDLE 31[sup]o[/sup]

Asus Rampage Gene III

Asus Radeon HD 6950 2GB

Corsair Dominator 6GB

Asus SDRW-08D2S-U External

If you plan on getting this case PLAN YOUR BUILD. Depending on your After-Marke cooler you may need to remove the fan that sits above the Slot DVD Drive Cage. Also there is NO CPU CUTOUT on the back of the Motherboard tray area. So if you want an After-Market cooler add it during your initial build process or you'll end up spending a Saturday Afternoon like I did

. If anyone wants pics I'll be glad to post.



Not sure what happened to the original link to the pictures but here they are.

FT03B

 

[SieB]

If anyone wants pics I'll be glad to post.

Pics please, we like pics.

 

[sheroo]

This might be my next htpc case. If I can get it past the finance commitee.

 

[badtaylorx]

i was thinking of using this case to build my 'lil cusins rig....but after my build with a small ff case i think ill go with a raven instead!!! thanx for the help

 

[sheroo]

Pictures added to the post.

Nice rig.

Now I've seen those pics I'm even more impressed with the case. Silverstone are definitely the most innovative case builder at the moment.

This makes the SG07 look so last year....

 

[SieB]

Thanks for the pics LUVABBW.

Looks pretty good, it's a little to cramped for my liking but it's a good case for what it is and your temps are ok so it definitely has good air flow.