The SilverStone Fortress FT05 Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on June 5, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- SilverStone
- Case
Conclusion
It will not be very easy to reach a verdict for the Fortress FT05. It is a peculiar existence, a case mixing the rotated motherboard design of the Raven series with the classy solidness of the Fortress series. The first SilverStone cases that had a rotated motherboard layout were peculiarly shaped and very long designs. SilverStone remedied that by compacting the internal dimension of their latest cases significantly, making them no larger than a typical Midi-ATX case. This design however remains a double-edged sword, as the reduction of the internal dimensions has a dramatic impact on the expandability and flexibility of the case.
On the positive side, the company claims that the rotated motherboard design offers significantly better performance. True enough, convective heat transfer suggests that higher temperature air will naturally flow upwards, so the design does make sense. The case does act as a convective heater, forcefully injecting low temperature air from below and releasing higher temperature air from the top. With the massive airflow of the Penetrator fans and the compact internal dimensions of the Fortress FT05, this process gives it exceptional thermal performance, rivaling that of much larger cases.
Even though this design offers such excellent thermal performance, the negative side of this design can be overwhelming when it comes time to build a system with it. Expandability and flexibility suffers, significantly limiting the number and type of hardware that can be used. Generally, the addition, upgrade or even the removal of components can be a tedious process. There is very little room for proper cable management and almost every change requires the use of tools and the removal of several parts. There is virtually no way to work around the Fortress FT05 without at least two Philips screwdrivers (PH1 and PH2) at hand. For example, upgrading the GPU at the very least requires the removal of the side panel, the manual removal of the metallic cover shielding the expansion slots and then the removal of the card itself, even by assuming that both graphics cards are using the same number and type of power cables.
The two 3.5" and two 2.5" drive bays should be sufficient for the majority of users but their positioning can be problematic. The 3.5" drive cage may need to be temporarily removed in order to install a PSU, permanently even if the PSU is longer than 170 mm. Installing 2.5" drives at the back of the motherboard tray is an easy process but the cable job can be very messy, especially if a drive is being replaced or added afterwards.
The disappearance of the 5.25" bays is not an absurd design move, as users are constantly moving farther and farther away from optical media. A very large percentage of PC users would nowadays have no use for an optical drive at all. However, for those that do want/need an optical drive, the solution of the internal slot-loading slim drive is an overly expensive option. Casual users would likely be better off with a USB optical drive, which offers the flexibility of use with any system as well. Those that need an optical drive on a daily basis however will be forced to pay the premium price of a slim slot-loading device.
For a typical system with a single GPU and a mainstream motherboard/CPU combination, the Fortress FT05 presents no real issues. However, if the user wants to install high performance cooling solutions or multiple high performance components, installation becomes greatly problematic. Too large CPU air coolers will not fit and the installation of liquid cooling radiators requires the removal of the 180mm Penetrator fans that are greatly responsible for the good thermal performance of the case. It is rather difficult to offer great cooling to the CPU without a significantly negative impact on the cooling of every other component. One solution could be the installation of two 120 mm liquid cooling radiators, one for the CPU and one for the GPU, but the small dimension of the Fortress FT05 will make this a rather tedious endeavor.
The greatest advantages of the SilverStone Fortress FT05 are likely to be its external design and build quality. It is a very elegant case, with the fully metallic body offering both a classy appearance and exceptional mechanical strength. While it may be far too simple for some, it is very sophisticated for those that appreciate minimalism and the feel of quality. The rubber strip that covers the optical drive slot is a small visual dissonance but it can be removed if there are no children around that could be inserting things into the empty slot.
On the other hand, the greatest disadvantage of the Fortress FT05 is not the peculiar, cramped internal design or lack of flexibility. It is the high retail price. At this point of time, the Fortress FT05 retails for $180 including shipping. It obviously is not cheap to manufacture and sell a case with almost every panel made out of aluminum, especially aluminum this thick, but this price pits the Fortress FT05 against myriads of other designs, both large and small. With the lack of versatility and very compact internal dimensions, the audience that would be best served by the Fortress FT05 is largely limited to users that will install a typical mainstream system, do not plan on frequently upgrading or fiddling with it, and favor the Fortress FT05 just for its elegant and sturdy fully metallic design. If however other aspects become selection variables, such as the versatility or the value for money, the Fortress FT05 is at a disadvantage against the competition.
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E.Fyll - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
I will try to be as succinct as possible.Taking a lot of time to make a case look tidy is, simply put, not good.
As pictured, the cables of the AX760i are hard pressed against the HDD cage. You cannot insert or remove any cables. Having to take out the entire HDD cage to insert a cable is, simply put, not good.
It is not my job to spend a lot of time to try and hide the cables. Given enough time and resources, I can hide every single cable inside the smallest ITX case. If I need a lot of time to route and hide cables, that is -1 for any design. If you cannot hide the cables altogether with a design forcing you to run them across the motherboard, like this one, that's -3. Or -50. Depends on how biased towards tidiness you are.
My opinion could be "skewed" but pictures tell no lies. Judge for yourselves.
Isn't it rather ironic that whenever I say something positive about a product I am "on the take" and whenever I say something negative my opinion is "skewed"? :P
wurizen - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Hi,First of all, thanks for replying. I assume you are the reviewer of this case. Any one can make things look tidy given enough time. But, it also doesn't take up that much time after some thought have been made to where to route the cables for this case. The fact that you went about your cabling in the same way as you would go about routing cables for a case that is much bigger is... as you put it... NOT GOOD. Just because there aren't any grommet holes or dedicated spots for cables doesn't mean that there isn't a way for those cables to be placed there. For example, the 8-pin CPU cable needs to be tucked in under the mobo first, so it runs across the back of the case. This is one example of no grommets, but, yet, the 8-pin CPU cable can be placed on this case in the same manner as any case with special grommet or holes for them. This is because there is space on the right side of the case for the 8-pinCPU cable to snake through as well as all the system wires.
"My opinion could be "skewed" but pictures tell no lies. Judge for yourselves." If you look at that picture, I can see clearance and space for the cables to be taken out even without removing the HDD cage. I also know this because I have the AX760 and I've swapped cables without having to remove the cage. Is it tight? Yes. Is it impossible or that hard? No!
I am not biased about tidiness. But, you're a reviewer. People will look at this review and see how you run the cables and it's not how it's done. It's not just for aesthetics or some OCD for tidiness, either. But, if you leave the cables as pictured on your review, then you have all those system cables in front of the bottom fan impeding or blocking airflow. Thus, it is not just a tidy thing but also an ethical thing. You've "skewed" the thermal performance of the case by not routing the cables the correct way.
thank you!
I use to place this site as one of the better tech sites. But, no more!!!
Ryan Smith - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
wurizen, while I regret that we can't meet all of your standards, I do stand by my editor in the case of this case (er, no pun intended). Given the small space available in the FT05, E. did a reasonable job on cable routing. Especially since this is just for evaluating the build-friendliness of the case and taking pictures of what an assembled system will look like. There are tradeoffs to be had in terms of time, and even experienced builders are going to have trouble getting the "perfect" build on this case. E's build, I believe, is likely better than what the majority of users will accomplish with this case."Thus, it is not just a tidy thing but also an ethical thing. You've "skewed" the thermal performance of the case by not routing the cables the correct way."
I would also quickly note that we don't test this case with standard components (as installed), but rather with a dummy load. More details can be found on page 4. This admittedly creates a setup that's a bit idealized, but it also means that the results aren't being impacted by the build itself, since it's not present for testing. So I can assure you that the results are not negatively skewed.
vivi2000 - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
The article states that the fan speed switches are only 2 way(low/high) but they are actually 3 way but only labeled as 2 way.romrunning - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
E.Fyll - thanks for posting both metric & non-metric measurements for the case dimensions (H×W×D)!Impulses - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
I think making it wider would've solved a lot of issues, they could've had more cable management room, space for a vertically mounted 5.25" bay, etc... I'll stick with my Corsair Air 540, of which I have the opposite complaint.I don't mind that the 540 is SO wide but it wastes a lot of space on the right compartment, should've had one more drive cage there or been narrower, at least it was cheap tho and the unobstructed airflow thru the left compartment probably works as well as Silverstone's bottom/top design.
I feel like there's plenty of room to innovate with designs like that tho, which don't force the typical and awkward S shaped airflow path and/or don't waste a ton of space up front on 5.25" bays.
deadlockedworld - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
When I bought my FT02, it was because my wife insisted that I get something that wasn't too ugly and I needed it to run with very little front ventilation. Had this existed at that time I would have paid basically any amount of money for it. Value isn't even part of the equation!Few other manufacturers can make a case this classy looking, yet with good thermal performance. They are targeting a niche user, who cares about looks as much as performance and doesn't have financial constraints.
tim851 - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
>>> True enough, convective heat transfer suggests that higher temperature air will naturally flow>>> upwards, so the design does make sense. The case does act as a convective heater
I wish reviewers weren't parroting marketing speak all the time.
It's been shown time and again that convection plays no role in a case once forced air movement (aka: fans) come into play. The FT05 (or FT02 or any other of these) isn't such a great performer because "hot air rises", but because it employs two huge 180mm intake fans.
If you want to test this, just turn it on it's face, so that the airflow becomes horizontal, and marvel at how the temps don't change.
Valantar - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
Kind of a shame that this could have been a truly excellent case if only they had added 1-2 cm to its width and length for cable management. With space for cables along the "top" (i.e. right side) of the motherboard, they could have stuck a hdd/ssd mount or two along the side there too. Suddenly, the case would be both roomy and have plenty of expandability.MCX - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
Having had my fill of custom watercooling, I went back to Silverstone's Fortress series with the FT05, which seemed like a good successor to the FT02, making a reasonable compromise between size and flexibility. Like the FT02 the backside is unnecessarily cramped and not very useful for cable management, but also like the FT02, the thermal performance and noiseless operation is impressive.Besides the lack of neat cable management, a bit too much is made of how hard it is to build in the case. Sure, it's not for beginners, and if I were someone who changed components weekly or if I had to build hundreds of these, I'd acquiesce to a larger case, but for relatively experienced builders who isn't changing motherboards or cpus every other week, it's not a big deal.
Currently, I'm using it with a Noctua DH15 for my cpu and a semi-passive psu and a gpu (an AX860 and a Strix 970). Case fans are controlled by the motherboard. It allows for whisper-quiet computing that hardly gets louder while gaming, even with a reasonable overclock.