Silverstone has just released a new video about the positive air pressure they are using in the previously tested Fortress FT01 case. Silverstone's engineers used smoke to show the air circulation within the chassis which looks very impressive. We have tested this feature before with turning the large upper fan around that it exhausts the air. The temperatures were worse which shows that possitive air pressure indeed helps this case with good cooling.

 

Wouldn't this be a nice addition to our chassis-reviews? We will see what Santa Claus is bringing this year.
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  • Insomniac - Sunday, December 21, 2008 - link

    Wouldn't it be more real if they weren't blowing the smoke into the system? They should have the smoke blowing past the case, not into the fans.
  • UltraWide - Sunday, December 21, 2008 - link

    How is this so innovative? Dell has been designing their BTX cases for the Optiplex 700-series just like this for a few years now...
  • corsa - Sunday, December 21, 2008 - link

    ..that all other Silverstone cases are now under-performing & obsolete :)
  • Intelman07 - Saturday, December 20, 2008 - link

    This is certainly neat. I love things like this. I've always heard negative pressure in the case is best for cooling...

    I've never actually seen a video of what happens.
  • helms - Saturday, December 20, 2008 - link

    Are the fans actually on? If not, I believe it would make more sense to see what happens to the smoke when the fans are actually on.
  • whatthe - Saturday, December 20, 2008 - link

    I wonder why nobody has tried to exhaust the air from the rear top , instead of the back? I thought hot air rises. There are a lot of cases made today that install the power supply at the bottom of the case.
  • mindless1 - Saturday, December 20, 2008 - link

    First, hot air doesn't necessarily rise - unless there is no other force working against it.

    Second, the point of airflow design is to make the air flow past the hot objects. Since there is no hot object pointed towards the top (Of an otherwise solid case panel in many cases), since traditional designs plan on the rear fan, it makes sense to place it there. Also, remember the goal is the longest path through the case so if air intakes through bottom front, top rear is that path and puts more pair past the mobo power regulation subcircuits.

    Having a top exhaust or intake fan can help too, in exceptional situations if a rear fan wasn't enough, but in this demonstration the main consideration would be maintaining positive pressure as it effects filtration efforts. Otherwise a couple of degrees one way or the other can be ignored since it is not a contest where that would matter, in any reasonably set up system there's far more than 2C margin for longevity or stability.

    Above all, the video wasn't a great learning lesson, it was marketing. Several ways a system can be set up and work fine, a little better or worse is dependant on objective.
  • TimboG - Friday, December 19, 2008 - link

    I just can't believe it. 10 years ago when overclocking P3 500s on BX chip-set boards many studies proved that a slight positive pressure was the best cooling solution. I for one am glad to see a case manufacturer use this as effectively as Silverstone has done with this new case.
    When the ATI 1900s came out most of the review sites were complaining about the gap between the heat sink fan shroud and the rear panel of the case. That gap was there due to how many cases were actually using negative pressure. Although most graphics cards now have closed the gap at the exhaust of the heat sink shroud to the rear of the case due to the "professional" reviewers "opinions", the cooling of these cards has suffered due to the continued trend of negative pressure within the case.
    Two thing I would have personally preferred on this case would have been a better fit between the 5 1/4 bay bezels, they've only had the standard size of the 5 1/4 to fit these bezels to for 20 years, "bout time they adjusted their stamping dies to fit it. And second, for the top inputs to be placed on a 5 1/4 movable front bezel.
  • Revolution - Friday, December 19, 2008 - link

    Little bit confused !
    But unfortunately SilverStone cases are not available in India.....:(
  • greasemonk - Friday, December 19, 2008 - link

    There is another advantage to maintaining a net positive pressure in the case with regard to dust. Since the pressure in the case is higher than outside, dust will not enter through any openings other than the intakes, which should be fitted with filters anyway.

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