SilverStone Fortress FT04 Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on August 29, 2013 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- SilverStone
- ATX
As with their Raven RV04, I'm left with mixed feelings about the SilverStone Fortress FT04. In terms of build quality and adjustability, I think it's worth the premium over the Raven RV04, and frankly as far as air-cooling cases go I have a hard time really suggesting anything better. I think I still slightly favor the old school Fortress FT02, but it's bigger, bulkier, more expensive, and comes with its own idiosyncrasies when it comes to assembly.
If performance is your only concern and you plan to stick with air cooling instead of more exotic options, the Fortress FT04 is basically your weapon of choice. Closed loop cooler support is limited to 120mm options, but exists. This case pretty much demands a multi-GPU configuration with blower-style coolers on the cards, and you're going to get almost exactly the performance you want out of it thanks to the broad range the two included speed-controlled fans are able to run at.
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Yet the Fortress FT04 and its sibling, the Raven RV04, is frustrating. Incredibly so. It's obvious where SilverStone was going, but the process of adapting the brilliant Temjin TJ08-E to a full ATX form factor wound up becoming incredibly fraught. This feels like a case that was stubbornly pushed further and further into production even when it proved to be potentially more trouble than it was worth, and really, the chimera that this case became should've been killed and rebooted early on. At some point, someone should've said "no, this is getting too complicated, we need to start over." I can't imagine it's particularly easy or cheap to manufacture the chassis itself, let alone the fascias, but it could've been simplified without losing the essence of what makes it work.
I've spoken to a lot of case designers since I started covering enclosures here at AnandTech, and my number one piece of advice has almost always been "pay attention to what SilverStone is doing." If I were designing a case right now I'd take a very hard look at the FT04's chassis and start thinking about how I could refine it into something cleaner, simpler, cheaper to produce, and easier to work in. If you're willing to put up with its myriad quirks, the FT04 is a dynamite performer. I just find myself too caught up in "what could've been" to be happy with what "is."
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koshling - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
Glad I gave up waiting about 6 weeks ago and bought an FT02 (which rocks)GokieKS - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
I've been a huge fan of SilverStone's cases for about as long as the company has existed, as I was a big fan of Cooler Master's ATCS cases prior too. But this really doesn't do much for me, in either aesthetics (which I believe SS to do better than just about anyone else in the industry) or features - it's the first case from the Fortress line that I haven't loved from the moment I laid eyes on it.What I really wish SilverStone would make is an updated version of the FT-01. The single-piece extruded aluminum design of the TJ-07/FT-01 still looks great today, cooling performance is quite good, and I dearly love mine and continue to use it despite it missing some features that are commonplace nowadays (CPU cutout, proper cable routing holes, USB 3.0 front ports, etc.) If they just released a new version with the features that you expect all decent cases to have in 2013, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
Theremings759 - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
my bf's sister just got a nine month old Lexus GX 460 SUV only from working part time off a macbook air... go to this web-site http://jobs63.combobbozzo - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
Hi, it is difficult to tell from the pictures if the front intakes are filtered; please state whether they are or not in all case reviews.Thanks!
bobbozzo - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
ISTM that a case this expensive should either come with PWM fans, or have another model available with them. Spending another $25 - $50 to buy a couple PWM Nexus or Noctua fans makes this even more expensive.bobbozzo - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
I should point out that many of the Noctuas come as a kit with multiple connection options in case you don't have any available PWM motherboard connectors, so SS could actually sell a single model for PWM / non-PWM.Touche - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
Ugh, this looks like such a mess. FT02 wasn't perfect but it had a lot positive points, but the new series is bad to mediocre in most of things.Any plans on reviewing Fractal Define R4 and/or XL R2?
Touche - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
Sorry, R4 was reviewed.Touche - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
Doh, both are reviewed. Why isn't the R2 in the graphs?genghisquan - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
YES! I wish Silverstone would've improved the FT02/RV02 while keeping the essential layout and design...instead of making this 4th series.