The SilverStone Fortress FT05 Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on June 5, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- SilverStone
- Case
SilverStone is a well-known manufacturer, distinguished for their atypical, strange case designs. The company offers numerous enclosures that partially or completely neglect the ATX design guide. The ML04 and ML05 that we reviewed several months ago are but a pair of examples of their HTPC solutions, while the Raven RV05 with its rotated motherboard tray was a prominent specimen of their unique tower designs. Today we are having a look at the Fortress FT05, a case very similar to the Raven RV05, although not quite the same.
The latest Fortress series case also has a rotated motherboard tray, a design that is inherited from the Raven RV01, but retains the compact dimensions of the Raven RV05. SilverStone boasts that the compact Fortress FT05 offers exceptional thermal performance and easy maintenance despite its compact proportions. However, that was the case with the Raven RV05 as well and our review revealed that this design is far from perfect. The Fortress FT05 retails at double the price tag of the Raven RV05 as well, making it a rather expensive small tower case, and a bit of an uphill battle for SilverStone.
| SilverStone Fortress FT05 Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 1 x Slim Slot Loading |
| Internal | 2 x 3.5" (rear drive cage) 2 x 2.5" (rear of motherboard tray) | |
| Cooling | Front | - |
| Rear | - | |
| Top | 1 x 120 mm (optional) | |
| Left Side | - | |
| Bottom | 2 x 180 mm (included) 3 x 120 mm or 2 x 140 mm fans can replace the stock fans | |
| Radiator Support | Front | - |
| Rear | - | |
| Top | - | |
| Side | - | |
| Bottom | 240 mm / 280 mm | |
| I/O Port | 2x USB 3.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearances | HSF | 160 mm |
| PSU | 170 mm | |
| GPU | 310 mm | |
| Dimensions | 483 mm × 221 mm × 427 mm (H×W×D) 19 in × 8.7 in × 16.8 in (H×W×D) | |
| Prominent Features | Aluminum wrap-around exterior with classic SilverStone Fortress styling Revolutionary 90 degree motherboard mounting from RAVEN RV01 Breakthrough 5.25 inch bay-free design for unprecedented power to size ratio Two Air Penetrator fans included for great performance and quietness Positive air pressure design for excellent cooling/quietness and dust-prevention Foam padded interior for advanced noise absorption Quick-release latch for fast side panel removal Exterior access to main filter for easy maintenance Support for various liquid cooling radiator sizes |
|
| Price | $180 Including Shipping (No Window) $206.6 Including Shipping (With Window) |
|
Packaging & Bundle
SilverStone supplies the Fortress FT05 in a large, dark cardboard box. There is little artwork to talk about, as the company limited it to a dark picture of the case itself. Thick Styrofoam slabs and a black nylon bag protect the case during shipping.
SilverStone supplies virtually only the hardware essential for the installation of the components, a few simple cable ties and a 120mm fan filter. There also is a very well written manual, but no extras such as cable straps or decorative stickers.
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maximumGPU - Sunday, June 7, 2015 - link
Thx for sharing your experience with the case, helps others from opinions.curious to know why you had your fill with custom watercooling?
also,how would you rate silence operation of the air cooled ft05 and your previous watercooled setup?
MCX - Sunday, June 7, 2015 - link
Too much extra cost and time needed when upgrading stuff and when my pump broke I decided that it wasn't worth the extra effort. It's hard to make a direct comparison, it was a different case and different fans. I used 2x240 mm radiators to cool the cpu and gpu, and the cpu ran a bit hotter and the gpu a bit cooler under water in the single loop. than they do in air in the FT05. Noise-levels were about the same: Almost silent in normal operation.hasseb64 - Sunday, June 7, 2015 - link
Perfect case for me:-No DVD!
-Low numbers of 3,5"/2,5"
-Beautiful and Quiet
-Perfect thermal air flow
MASSAMKULABOX - Monday, June 8, 2015 - link
they make some nice cases but I lost interest when I saw the size. This thing is a room in itself. I tend to go micro-atx for power and m-itx for neatness.Sancus - Monday, June 8, 2015 - link
Why is test data no longer entered into the Bench database, and why is it presented without comparison to competitors?It's really not very useful in a vacuum, and manually comparing with other reviews is tedious. This is a major regression in the usefulness of case testing.
Dorek - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
The answer is probably because they changed their testing methods so drastically (i.e., they don't actually run a computer inside of these cases anymore). Which I think is a mistake, but whatever.Dorek - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
"e, a case mixing the rotated motherboard design of the Raven series with the classy solidness of the Fortress series."Solidity. The word is solidity.