SilverStone Fortress FT05 90 Degree ATX Full Tower Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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SilverStone Fortress FT05 90 Degree ATX Full Tower Review - The SilverStone Fortress FT05 is a different take on it successful Raven RV05. SilverStone has gotten rid of the 5.25" drive bays and once again rotated the motherboard 90 degrees so that the IO panel points toward the sky. These two things done in tandem allow SilverStone to produce a much better engineered ATX case.
 
I like the 90 degree rotated atx cases, the concept is cool. Their prices however are not. I went to Microcenter recently to buy a new case and unfortunately they didn't have a single 90 degree rotated atx case in stock. I ended up getting the case in my sig.

I have always felt that with heat rising as it does the most logical place to have the heat dumped out of your case is at the top. Intake at the bottom, lower front, and lower back. It's nice the PSU and videocards are all set to dump the heat right out of the top of the case.

One day I'll purchase one of these cases but the prices need to come down. The bad thing is they take themselves out of contention because of ridiculously high prices and I usually get a new case every 3 years so by the time they lower in price I've already recently bought a case and am not in the market for a new one for another 3 years. (sigh)
 
I just don't understand the 90º rotation thing. I feel like they're overthinking things. I have a 900D and it's the best case I've ever owned in my life. The only thing that would make it better is if it were made of carbon fiber and aluminum to save on weight.
 
I just don't understand the 90º rotation thing. I feel like they're overthinking things. I have a 900D and it's the best case I've ever owned in my life. The only thing that would make it better is if it were made of carbon fiber and aluminum to save on weight.

I'm in the same position as you as in I have never tried one. In theory I understand why they are doing it like this. I thought that they were overthinking things when the very first 90 degree rotated case came out but after seeing some reviews and feedback, these things simply work best. Kyle Bennett has one and he swears by it. My case in my sig is also the best case I have ever used, and it's very lightweight :)
 
hmmm, might finally be able to replace my FT-02. The previous ones werent my cup of tea. What is that large area at the top? just for cables? are those handles?
 
hmmm, might finally be able to replace my FT-02. The previous ones werent my cup of tea. What is that large area at the top? just for cables? are those handles?

Yes, it is for cables and yes, you can use the supports for handles to move the chassis while you are working on it.
 
What kept it from gold? Lack of bays / not tool-less / not aluminum top. Were those enough to drop from gold or was it the price?
 
As I asked in the earlier thread, are the plastic bridge bits up top load-bearing? Maybe I missed it but I couldn't spot an answer.

Anyway, good work, and I'm waiting for it to be available in the UK.

A little touch which I think you have missed and is to the FT05's detriment if correct is that on the FT02 the base is curved at the ends, whereas on the FT05 it appears to be straight with 90 degree corners.
 
I'm in the same position as you as in I have never tried one. In theory I understand why they are doing it like this. I thought that they were overthinking things when the very first 90 degree rotated case came out but after seeing some reviews and feedback, these things simply work best. Kyle Bennett has one and he swears by it. My case in my sig is also the best case I have ever used, and it's very lightweight :)

I have a FX-9370 @4.7GHz and sometimes at 5.0GHz+ when I want to have fun overclocking 24/7. My RV03 case moves the air so well that I haven't seen a temperature warning since I moved my system from a Cooler Master CM Stacker 810 to this one. My VRM temps are 20c lower in this case compared to my old CM Stacker 810. I used to have a house fan blowing into the side panel on my CM Stacker 810. VRM temps are the main culprit for instability in AMD systems. And 220w CPUs of course. :)

I learned to use reference cards in my RV03. They seem to like it better than the nonreference design cards. I think the nonreference cards disrupt the natural airflow of the case. Plus the reference cards cost less. :)

I love these cases and this one is really sexy! But $185 hurts my feelings. Rather just add another R9 290 to my system.
 
hmmm, might finally be able to replace my FT-02. The previous ones werent my cup of tea. What is that large area at the top? just for cables? are those handles?

Same. I wonder if its a good enough upgrade from my FT-02. Definitely seems cheaper I remember paying $230 for my FT-02. I do like the looks though because I prefer simple and elegant over flashy and gaudy.
 
What kept it from gold? Lack of bays / not tool-less / not aluminum top. Were those enough to drop from gold or was it the price?

All of the above. It had just enough minor issues to keep it from earning a gold award but this is still a great case for anyone that can overlook these things.
 
LOL a that air penetrator vid...step 1, cut a hole in the box
 
LOVE this case, and would seriously consider it for my next build, but THAT PRICE,
 
Overall, it's a definite improvement over the FT-04, but I still feel like Silverstone missed the mark.

I have the FT-02. It's a great-but-not-perfect case, but I feel like the 4 and 5 models have been a step back.

The FT-04 gave you 8 I/O slots, but abandoned the 90° mounting, the sleek design and the hot swappable drive cage.

The FT-05 brings back the 90° mounting, the sleek design, and loses 7" of depth by discarding the 5.25" bays, but they could have brought back the hot-swap drive cage style and hung on to enough of the depth to provide 8 I/O slots.
 
Nice looking case.

Don't understand the comments about price. People here easily spend a small fortune on internal components.

The costs for good quality cases are often a fraction of the premium [H] internal components that are often (deliberate) overkill.

The case is what holds everything in, and it's what you see every day. It is at least as important, if not more so, than the internals and should be priced in line with the rest of your system.
 
The only thing that's keeping me from replacing my FT-02 with this is the hard drive situation. I have an SSD, one Velociraptor 1TB for Steam games, and a 1TB WD Black for other random programs. The PSU clearance with the 3.5" cage seems to be an issue if you want anything higher than a 750w PSU or so (from what I've seen just browsing around). If I wanted to do 2x 980s with this case, and keep my current hard drive setup, is there a power supply that could handle this and still fit?
 
Thanks for another great review! This case is going to the top of my list for my next build. Betting you can set the case fans on high and allow the GPU fans to run a bit slower. Since I put all my spinning disks in the NAS now the drive situation is fine for me.
 
I have a v1000(170mm) psu in my ft05 and was able to still keep the hard drive cage.
 
Am I right in assuming that among the best air cooling cases from Corsair (760T, 900D), Silverstone (FT02, FT05) and others, there is - at most - 1 or 2 degrees difference in GPU and CPU load temperatures?
 
The only thing that's keeping me from replacing my FT-02 with this is the hard drive situation. I have an SSD, one Velociraptor 1TB for Steam games, and a 1TB WD Black for other random programs. The PSU clearance with the 3.5" cage seems to be an issue if you want anything higher than a 750w PSU or so (from what I've seen just browsing around). If I wanted to do 2x 980s with this case, and keep my current hard drive setup, is there a power supply that could handle this and still fit?

750W will more than handle two GTX 980 cards.
 
Thanks for the review,

Any chance it can be reconfirm if the side panels are aluminium? seems like the Black versions many users are saying its steel.... this would steer me toward silver.... but im wondering if this is true.
 
My case is black, non window and the panels are steel. "Aluminum wrap-around exterior". The website and description on the box leads you to believe exterior would be made of aluminum.
 
My case is black, non window and the panels are steel. "Aluminum wrap-around exterior". The website and description on the box leads you to believe exterior would be made of aluminum.
Thanks for the feedback :), the problem that im seeing, there are some users that are reporting their black side planels as steel/magentic, and the [H] review and users with the silver cases are reporting aluminium, so im confused if its only for the silver :confused:
 
I wrote pm'd Tony(silverstone rep here on the forum) and asked for clarification.
 
I wrote pm'd Tony(silverstone rep here on the forum) and asked for clarification.
Yeah, thanks for that, I knew there was another rep around these forums too. Let me know if you have more luck than I did in getting a response on this.
 
Nice looking case.

Don't understand the comments about price. People here easily spend a small fortune on internal components.

The costs for good quality cases are often a fraction of the premium [H] internal components that are often (deliberate) overkill.

The case is what holds everything in, and it's what you see every day. It is at least as important, if not more so, than the internals and should be priced in line with the rest of your system.

Fair points, BUT I'm not sure I see any particular part that makes this case so expensive. I mean, the internal components don't appear to be any nicer than my Fractal Design R9 which was $100.
 
the internal components don't appear to be any nicer than my Fractal Design R9 which was $100.
I been pretty happy with my R4, but from my time on TJ08-E, i used to run much cooler with the AP181 being so close to the components that benefit from active cooling, this is imo the gain, specially with newer gpus that run semi fanless, and im not too sure how will my R4 do with a SLI.
 
I been pretty happy with my R4, but from my time on TJ08-E, i used to run much cooler with the AP181 being so close to the components that benefit from active cooling, this is imo the gain, specially with newer gpus that run semi fanless, and im not too sure how will my R4 do with a SLI.

Maybe, but the materials are the same. Is the design an orientation of those components worth a $80 premium?
 
but the materials are the same.
In theory no, it suppose to be aluminium on the FT05 vs Steel on the R4. But in the real life we dont know for sure, as some report steel side panels and others aluminium.

Is the design an orientation of those components worth a $80 premium?
Thats for each of us to judge and decide, for me it is.
 
My case is black, non window and the panels are steel. "Aluminum wrap-around exterior". The website and description on the box leads you to believe exterior would be made of aluminum.

I apologize for the confusion that term in FT05's specification table may have caused. Just like FT02 and FT04, FT05's side panels are made out of steel, not aluminum. We felt FT05's aluminum coverage of front, bottom, and rear panels was similar to FT02's aluminum unibody frame that it warranted the description of wrap-around exterior. To avoid future misunderstanding though, we've changed the description in FT05's specification table to make it more clear.

I have also notified Steve and Kyle on this as well so they can update their review.
 
This question is for Tony, as I've been reading some reviews from other sources that have pointed out that the position of the window on the models of the FT05 with a window is a bit odd; they claim that it is smaller and positioned down more than they would have preferred. Can you explain the methodology of how yall decided on where the window would be on the side panel?
 
I apologize for the confusion that term in FT05's specification table may have caused. Just like FT02 and FT04, FT05's side panels are made out of steel, not aluminum. We felt FT05's aluminum coverage of front, bottom, and rear panels was similar to FT02's aluminum unibody frame that it warranted the description of wrap-around exterior. To avoid future misunderstanding though, we've changed the description in FT05's specification table to make it more clear.

I have also notified Steve and Kyle on this as well so they can update their review.

I'll slap a magnet on one of the silver panels I have later this evening, I can't remember if the wifi module I used for the test build adhered or not, but the silver panels have a clearly different texture and are more rigid than the black ones.

You're saying this is simply an applied texture difference and both are steel?

Window placement is fine after all the components are installed. It's looks odd initially, but it's in the right place considering everything is rotated. PSU, HDD cage and the fans are obscured, but everything else is displayed quite well.
 
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This question is for Tony, as I've been reading some reviews from other sources that have pointed out that the position of the window on the models of the FT05 with a window is a bit odd; they claim that it is smaller and positioned down more than they would have preferred. Can you explain the methodology of how yall decided on where the window would be on the side panel?

Most people do not realize that the side panels on the FT05 (and RV05) actually covers the entire top compartment so the usable area is much less than it appears from the outside. If you take a look at the below over-layered photo and you'll see what I mean. We outlined the area in red to show how big the side panel would have looked if it didn't cover the top compartment:
ft05_opaque.jpg
 
I'll slap a magnet on one of the silver panels I have later this evening, I can't remember if the wifi module I used for the test build adhered or not, but the silver panels have a clearly different texture and are more rigid than the black ones.

You're saying this is simply an applied texture difference and both are steel?

Window placement is fine after all the components are installed. It's looks odd initially, but it's in the right place considering everything is rotated. PSU, HDD cage and the fans are obscured, but everything else is displayed quite well.

Both black and silver FT05s use the same steel material and thickness for their side panels. The paint used however are indeed different. The black FT05 has a smoother, matte finish while silver version has rougher textured surface finish to mimic the sand-blasted surface on the aluminum "wrap-around" panels. We had to do this to silver FT05 to maintain its uniform look as smooth silver color paint would have showed up as a different shade, making the case two-tone.
 
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