SilverStone FT03 Mini Review: We'll Make You Fun Size
by Dustin Sklavos on May 22, 2012 1:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- SilverStone
Conclusion: You Already Know If You Want It
Honestly, you probably already knew whether or not you were interested in the SilverStone FT03 Mini from the moment you looked at it. There are plenty of Mini-ITX cases out there, but none of them look like this one, so what the review is really about is answering questions and determining whether or not it has personality to go along with its looks. I'm happy to report that it does.
I liked the FT03 to begin with, and the FT03 Mini is in many ways a direct improvement on that design. In addition to shrinking the form factor, SilverStone fixed one of the main problems: the side panels. There's also no more bottom fan filter falling off, and assembly is actually much simpler in the FT03 Mini than it was in the FT03 proper. The engineers did their homework and came back with something not only improved, but I think shrinking to the Mini-ITX spec actually serves the design better. Aesthetically it's more interesting by being smaller, and physically it allows SilverStone to go down to a single 140mm intake fan in the bottom doing all the work.
The funny thing is that in the process, SilverStone continues to prove that you don't need to throw six fans at every problem when one or two smartly placed fans will do the job. The aforementioned FT02 and TJ08-E along with Lian Li's PC-90 are evidence enough of that. I've been increasingly of the opinion that the low-front-intake-to-top-back-exhaust design, however popular, is inefficient. Tiny wind tunnels like the FT03 Mini seem to prove that.
If you're interested in the FT03 Mini, hopefully this review assuages any concerns you might have about it. Assembly is relatively easy apart from the slightly unusual mounting for the drive cages, and thermal performance and acoustics are both excellent. It's at least as good as it looks if not better, and SilverStone's engineers are showing real progress in their designs. Taken as a whole, that makes the FT03 Mini Bronze Editor's Choice award material.
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dalenchm0b - Saturday, May 26, 2012 - link
Newegg has it.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
terragb - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
I got mine from Performance-PCs.comThey are in Florida but mine was drop shipped directly from Silverstone in California.
mcbowler - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
I always wanted someone to build a case around the graphics card... check out the perfect fit on silverstone web site... http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=333I wish more companies did things like this. 1 HD and 2 SSD is all I need. A 450w power supply should be good enough for an Nvidia 680 and a stock voltage 3770. If not, I will be melting something.
terragb - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Yup. Mine runs fine on the SilverStone 450w PSU. Reference GTX 680 and stock voltage 3770.Death666Angel - Thursday, May 31, 2012 - link
Hey!You write:
"There are five points to screw in the PSU, but there were only enough screws available to do the four corners."
All PSU I have laying around and the few I looked at online only have 4 screw holes, however, most cases I owned had 5 holes. In those cases this was so that the PSUs could be installed with either the fan up or down. Not sure if this is the case here, but it might be. :-)
Interesting case, for sure. :D
caycep - Saturday, June 9, 2012 - link
1) How have the FT03-mini's been in terms of rattling? SilentPCReview didn't like the full size FT03 at all, but the mini seems to be substantially revamped. Is the build quality better?
2) How does this compare w/ the lian li PC-Q11A?
3) will a 350 or 450W sfx psu be enough to run a nvidia gtx 670 class gnu?
s7r83dg3 - Sunday, October 28, 2012 - link
1) Please move the buttons 180° so all the cables can be shorter and in the right position justabove those pins !
2) Make all cables sleeved & short & soft !!!
3) Make the legs 2 cm shorter and the case 2 cm taller so my gfx card will fit.
4) Use a standard FOUR PIN fan so it can be replaced, which is currently not possible.
5) Change your company logo =)
6) Make silent sfx PSU with good modular cables (like superflower psu)