New Silverstone FT02

Yeah, with all the current options the FT02 can't get much smaller, but I would love to see someone make a shrunken version of the FT02/RV02 chimney design for mATX boards.

Take JohnHind's hdd cage design from earlier in the thread and toss in a vertically mounted 5.25 (or side-panel facing and rotated a la the Xbox 360 in a vertical config). Then cut down the number of hdd bays to 2-3 while still having room for an SSD. Case depth could be shrunk by several inches (likely removing one of the 18cm fans). Then increase height by an inch or so for future GPUs, and you'd have a case w/ a normal size footprint while retaining the bottom-to-top cooling design. Keep the dust filters and cable routing, but ditch the Al unibody in favor of aesthetics that are still understated but less costly. Price it for ~$139 initially and I'd bet the thing will sell very well. As volume moves the price could drop to $119 for further market penetration.
 
Just a heads up for anyone that was waiting for amazon, the black with window just showed up. Only had 3, well now 2 :)
 
Thanks for the heads up, looks like I got the last one, I should have it by tomorrow, nice 3.99 next day prime shipping FTW :)
 
That review is laughable.. it lists one of the pros of the case as "no sharp edges so you wont cut yourself building the pc"

really?

Yup, saw the same "review" and didn't bother to post it. No numbers in the thing, it is more a first impression than a review. No cooling number or comparison numbers to other chasis. Not really worth more than a cursory glance.
 
That review is laughable.. it lists one of the pros of the case as "no sharp edges so you wont cut yourself building the pc"

really?

I sliced my hand about 10 years ago when custom building machines in a shop. Trying to punch out a 5 1/4" bay my hand slipped and blood was all over the place. Took 5 stitches to close it up. Some cases bite back.
 
Whoa Silverstone, £178 is too much:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=1115547&source=froogle

I hope this is just early-day rip-off prices from etailers looking to fleece early adopters, and not representative of typical etail pricing.

The FT01 was about £140 and could be had for as little as £125 on a good day, and while i was expecting the FT02 to be a little more, nearly £180 is taking the piss as far as i am concerned.

I am planning a new Thuban/SSD/Fermi rig for April this year, and i was intending to put it all in this case, but at £178 i may well look elsewhere.
 
UK price looks to be about £20 ($33) above the US, after you do the exchange rate conversion and add VAT. Disappointing really for a computer part, look for other brands if you want price parity.
 
For everyone complaining about the price - you have a few choices:

1) wait for the price to drop.
2) buy it second hand from various forum F/S/T threads, Craiglists, eBay, etc.
3) or . . . don't buy it.

If none of the above are acceptable to you because you want it so badly right now, then bite the bullet and just buy the damned thing even if you think it's $25 or even $50 overpriced. Come on, peeps - you'll piss more than that away today just eating out. Just eat some Top Ramen for one day and get the case you want and get it right now!!!

For me, I like the case but have one I already like so I don't have to have it this second. If/when I see a "good" deal for it, I'll pick it up. Regardless of whether I get one or not, I won't kill me either way.
 
For everyone complaining about the price - you have a few choices:
...
2) buy it second hand from various forum F/S/T threads, Craiglists, eBay, etc.
...
I doubt (legitimate) people are going to be reselling this case anytime soon which makes this option virtually nonexistent.


What we've seen of CES thus far has definitely been a disappointment though and makes the FT02 an easier choice now that the chassis options are pretty much set for the next 6 months.

I wish we had some solid info on the dimensions of Fermi. If I knew for certain it would fit in the FT02, I'd probably just buy this case and be done. The FT02 is still $20-50 overpriced vs the competition, but it doesn't look like that situation is going to change too much between now and summer. Even if some spiffy new case design shows up at CeBit or one of the other shows, it probably won't be on store shelves till summer at the earliest.
 
Has anyone seen actually data on the thermal performance of this case? I've heard complaints about the RV02 where performance was actually not all that good, that it had inferior cooling to many of the popular full towers out there (HAF, P80, etc.). I can imagine that the cooling of this case would be similar.
 
I doubt (legitimate) people are going to be reselling this case anytime soon which makes this option virtually nonexistent.


What we've seen of CES thus far has definitely been a disappointment though and makes the FT02 an easier choice now that the chassis options are pretty much set for the next 6 months.

I wish we had some solid info on the dimensions of Fermi. If I knew for certain it would fit in the FT02, I'd probably just buy this case and be done. The FT02 is still $20-50 overpriced vs the competition, but it doesn't look like that situation is going to change too much between now and summer. Even if some spiffy new case design shows up at CeBit or one of the other shows, it probably won't be on store shelves till summer at the earliest.

That's part of the point I'm making . . . if you want one NOW - you're not going to be able to find them second hand for at least weeks or months. By then, maybe the retail price will settle a bit as well. Point is - you want it now, you get to pay the price premium.
 
I agree with ya there. I'm pretty darn patient when it comes to purchasing things, but most people are probably better off just buying now. This case will probably see only a $10-30 price drop between now and summer.

Has anyone seen actually data on the thermal performance of this case? I've heard complaints about the RV02 where performance was actually not all that good, that it had inferior cooling to many of the popular full towers out there (HAF, P80, etc.). I can imagine that the cooling of this case would be similar.

I forget where the various reviews are (I know several are listed in this thread), but the RV02 does very well on cooling. It's not the best, but it's always in the general ballpark of top performing cases like the Cooler Master Haf 932/Antec 902 etc. Some reviews show the RV02 doing worse by 2-3 Celsius, some show it leading by a degree or two.

The main weakness (air cooling-wise) of the RV02/FT02 is if you use multiple vid cards sandwiched together from poor motherboard spacing. In that situation, you're usually better off with some sort of side-panel fan intake or ducting. I'd bet that is mainly due to the reference coolers found on cards like the Radeon 5800 series or Geforce GTX 260 etc. If instead you used a non-reference design that didn't rely on a ducted shroud, the RV02/FT02 would probably do much better, and even if not, the vid card squishing issue is just as dependent on mobo choice, so it's hard to fault Silverstone.


Overall, the FT02/RV02 have very few flaws outside of pricing concerns. If the price doesn't bother you, your mobo has well spaced slots for multi-GPU, or you're only using a single vid card, just buy one. As long as you're not trying to watercool, these cases are damn good
 
UK price looks to be about £20 ($33) above the US, after you do the exchange rate conversion and add VAT. Disappointing really for a computer part, look for other brands if you want price parity.

Blame your government, the price without VAT is lower than the US price.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Silv...Black-Aluminium-Full-Tower-Case-Window-No-PSU = £144 = $234

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...er+Cases+-+ATX+Form)-_-Silverstone-_-11163161 = $240 = less than what you pay if you cheat on your taxes like we do in the states :D

So, long story short: start a revolution centered on taxes. It worked for us!
 
the price without VAT is lower than the US price.
Well, there we are: the price is already fluctuating. I went with a US price of $230 x 0.6 = £138 to make the pre tax price comparison. That said other FT02 SKUs from the same UK retailer are still £152-£154 + tax. Anyone in the UK wanting this should keep an eye on the Scan 'Today Only' page, Silverstone products are on there very frequently.

For the record I wasn't complaining particularly, merely highlighting the difference as is for R3MF's benefit. UK is frequently gouged by foreign companies for no reason other than they know they have been able to get away with it for decades, in Japan they call the UK "Treasure Island." At least now we have the internet and the tide is turning, many PC components are only a few % different so it's always worth shopping around.
 
my complaint centred around silverstone's statement that the FT02 would be a "little" more expensive than the FT01, and I mentioned this fact along with the hope that the price difference between expectation and current-reality was due to zero-day price gouging.

i am hoping that "little" will become much more little between now and april once zero-day price gouging has passed.

my comment stands with apology or change.
 
Put my stuff in my new FT02 (black with window) today. In the past I've owned a few Lian-Li's and had been using a Silverstone TJ-10.

The fit and finish are what you'd expect from Silverstone, it's built very well. There isn't much aluminum though, I think it's only the U shaped uni-body and everything else is steel. But paint finish is really nice inside and out.

I didn't run any scientific tests comparing it with my TJ-10 but the FT02 performs better running games and stress test in my experience so far. The case moves a lot of air with the 3 180mm intake fans. Turning off the one exhaust fan you can still feel lots of air exhausting, even at the 5V setting (the FT02 comes with a 5/12V toggle for the 3 180mm fans).The case really generates good positive airflow.

I've never been great at cable management, and invariably once I got all my routing and zip ties done I'd have a reason to go back in have to undo everything. This is my first case that was cable management friendly and it's so easy. Granted the back panel is a mess for now since I just wanted to get it built, but out of sight, out of mind...I'll clean it up I promise! You do have to be somewhat tidy on the back panel, there isn't a lot of room to work with. You have to get your wires, plugs etc. to lay down or you can't put the panel back on without it bulging.

Anyways my system: Asus P5E, e8400, GTX 280, 2 hard drives, DVD drive, and a 5.25" fan controller for the CPU cooler (Thermalright TRU) & exhaust fan.

pic link:
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp263/amansir/FT02.jpg?t=1263783242
 
Just wondering how deep this thing is compared to other full tower cases?

I know it is deeper but cant see it in my head.
 
Put my stuff in my new FT02 (black with window) today. In the past I've owned a few Lian-Li's and had been using a Silverstone TJ-10.

The fit and finish are what you'd expect from Silverstone, it's built very well. There isn't much aluminum though, I think it's only the U shaped uni-body and everything else is steel. But paint finish is really nice inside and out.

I didn't run any scientific tests comparing it with my TJ-10 but the FT02 performs better running games and stress test in my experience so far. The case moves a lot of air with the 3 180mm intake fans. Turning off the one exhaust fan you can still feel lots of air exhausting, even at the 5V setting (the FT02 comes with a 5/12V toggle for the 3 180mm fans).The case really generates good positive airflow.

I've never been great at cable management, and invariably once I got all my routing and zip ties done I'd have a reason to go back in have to undo everything. This is my first case that was cable management friendly and it's so easy. Granted the back panel is a mess for now since I just wanted to get it built, but out of sight, out of mind...I'll clean it up I promise! You do have to be somewhat tidy on the back panel, there isn't a lot of room to work with. You have to get your wires, plugs etc. to lay down or you can't put the panel back on without it bulging.

Anyways my system: Asus P5E, e8400, GTX 280, 2 hard drives, DVD drive, and a 5.25" fan controller for the CPU cooler (Thermalright TRU) & exhaust fan.

pic link:
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp263/amansir/FT02.jpg?t=1263783242


Looks good. What type of temps are you getting w/ the TRUE. I'm thinking of ditching my H50 and going back to air when my case comes this week.
 
Put my stuff in my new FT02 (black with window) today. In the past I've owned a few Lian-Li's and had been using a Silverstone TJ-10.

The fit and finish are what you'd expect from Silverstone, it's built very well. There isn't much aluminum though, I think it's only the U shaped uni-body and everything else is steel. But paint finish is really nice inside and out.

I didn't run any scientific tests comparing it with my TJ-10 but the FT02 performs better running games and stress test in my experience so far. The case moves a lot of air with the 3 180mm intake fans. Turning off the one exhaust fan you can still feel lots of air exhausting, even at the 5V setting (the FT02 comes with a 5/12V toggle for the 3 180mm fans).The case really generates good positive airflow.

I've never been great at cable management, and invariably once I got all my routing and zip ties done I'd have a reason to go back in have to undo everything. This is my first case that was cable management friendly and it's so easy. Granted the back panel is a mess for now since I just wanted to get it built, but out of sight, out of mind...I'll clean it up I promise! You do have to be somewhat tidy on the back panel, there isn't a lot of room to work with. You have to get your wires, plugs etc. to lay down or you can't put the panel back on without it bulging.

Anyways my system: Asus P5E, e8400, GTX 280, 2 hard drives, DVD drive, and a 5.25" fan controller for the CPU cooler (Thermalright TRU) & exhaust fan.

pic link:
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp263/amansir/FT02.jpg?t=1263783242

What a god damn thing of beauty. Just spent 5 minutes staring at that.
 
Looks good. What type of temps are you getting w/ the TRUE. I'm thinking of ditching my H50 and going back to air when my case comes this week.

Love to know you impressions of the h50 and how everyone thinks the h50 compares to other high end air for temps in this case. I have always used air in the past and am between the h50, the new coolit system, a zalman 9900 (?), the megahelam rev B, and ultra 120. Hard to decide between them all. Any opinions or thoughts that apply to this case and these fans?

Any personal experience with these and their cooling/noise?
 
Put my stuff in my new FT02 (black with window) today. In the past I've owned a few Lian-Li's and had been using a Silverstone TJ-10.

The fit and finish are what you'd expect from Silverstone, it's built very well. There isn't much aluminum though, I think it's only the U shaped uni-body and everything else is steel. But paint finish is really nice inside and out.

I didn't run any scientific tests comparing it with my TJ-10 but the FT02 performs better running games and stress test in my experience so far. The case moves a lot of air with the 3 180mm intake fans. Turning off the one exhaust fan you can still feel lots of air exhausting, even at the 5V setting (the FT02 comes with a 5/12V toggle for the 3 180mm fans).The case really generates good positive airflow.

I've never been great at cable management, and invariably once I got all my routing and zip ties done I'd have a reason to go back in have to undo everything. This is my first case that was cable management friendly and it's so easy. Granted the back panel is a mess for now since I just wanted to get it built, but out of sight, out of mind...I'll clean it up I promise! You do have to be somewhat tidy on the back panel, there isn't a lot of room to work with. You have to get your wires, plugs etc. to lay down or you can't put the panel back on without it bulging.

Anyways my system: Asus P5E, e8400, GTX 280, 2 hard drives, DVD drive, and a 5.25" fan controller for the CPU cooler (Thermalright TRU) & exhaust fan.

pic link:
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp263/amansir/FT02.jpg?t=1263783242


What's your temp on ur cpu? I have the same chip and using H50, idle temp is 41 and load temp is ~58. This is quite high for me.
 
Love to know you impressions of the h50 and how everyone thinks the h50 compares to other high end air for temps in this case. I have always used air in the past and am between the h50, the new coolit system, a zalman 9900 (?), the megahelam rev B, and ultra 120. Hard to decide between them all. Any opinions or thoughts that apply to this case and these fans?

Any personal experience with these and their cooling/noise?

Will do. Check the link out, I'm thinking about push/push configuration. I don't want to negate the positive air pressure.

My only concern is that part of my Vreg tower will block the second fan.

http://blog.corsair.com/?p=987

 
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Looks good. What type of temps are you getting w/ the TRUE. I'm thinking of ditching my H50 and going back to air when my case comes this week.

It's running 3-4c cooler with Orthos-blend (3.6 from 3.0stock), Scythe fan @ about 1100rpm topped out at 38c, in the TJ10 it usually gets up to 42. I know the wolfdales have a bad rep for temp sensors but mine has always been consistent even if it's not accurate.

And it's a TRU not a TRUE....heh this thing is ancient but never saw a good reason to replace it, I'll probably pick up a Venemous X when I get an i7...hopefully soon.

Very happy with the case so far. I've never owned a case with a window before, I want to get some light in there without it looking too cheesey. I see Silverstone has some blue LED lit 180mm fans, I wonder if they'd look cool as soft lighting coming from the bottom to illuminate the case? I don't want strobing disco lights though haha


What's your temp on ur cpu? I have the same chip and using H50, idle temp is 41 and load temp is ~58. This is quite high for me.

I'm just @ 3.6Ghz with stock voltage more or less...so I don't know if that helps for comparison? but as I mentioned above 30/33 idle 38/38 orthos blend
 
Amazon had one FT02B (no window) in stock, which is what I've been waiting for. I bought it immediately. With free Prime shipping and an Amazon GC, I only paid $179. When it arrives I'll post a pic and temps comparison with my current case (P182).
 
Amazon had one FT02B (no window) in stock, which is what I've been waiting for. I bought it immediately. With free Prime shipping and an Amazon GC, I only paid $179. When it arrives I'll post a pic and temps comparison with my current case (P182).

Thanks the temps would be highly appreciated.
 
Wow I didn't even think about going through Amazon with the free Prime shipping.
[hmm..]
I may snag a silver FT02 in the morning....going to have to ponder about that for a bit. :)
Rather have silver+window but have dremel, will mod. :D (also have the dremel straight/circle cutter attachment to make a nice neat cut)

edit
Well I don't feel like doing the prep work on the silver so I just ordered the BW. :p
My wife's gonna kill me :D if anyone needs a case hold on a few days i'll be having a liquidation sale that would make yenniedn proud :D heh heh
thank god for the free 3mo prime trial..paid the $3.99 for 1 day delivery tomorrow :)
 
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Wow I didn't even think about going through Amazon with the free Prime shipping.
[hmm..]
I may snag a silver FT02 in the morning....going to have to ponder about that for a bit. :)
Rather have silver+window but have dremel, will mod. :D (also have the dremel straight/circle cutter attachment to make a nice neat cut)

edit
Well I don't feel like doing the prep work on the silver so I just ordered the BW. :p
My wife's gonna kill me :D if anyone needs a case hold on a few days i'll be having a liquidation sale that would make yenniedn proud :D heh heh
thank god for the free 3mo prime trial..paid the $3.99 for 1 day delivery tomorrow :)

Cool . . . maybe I'll buy one of them :)

BTW, where the hell are the silver windowed FT02's???
 
That's what I want to know. I really wanted silver because (IMO) it stands out a lot more, but then again having to DIY my own bezel and window wouldn't have been fun...get a new case, I want to enjoy it, not work on it to make it right. ;)

I hate to sell my baby but I'm going to have to....(V1000BW PlusII)
HAF 922 will be going as well. Luckily I can RMA the Lancool K7B and even after eating restocking fee I'll probably make more back than I would by reselling it. Actually now that I think about it...probably not. :eek: Guess I'll just resell that outright as well.
 


Thanks for the link. :cool:

Gotta love SPCR for doing respectable reviews (even if they did reference to the RV02 review for some data, can't blame 'em) versus all these other sites that simply post pics w/o installing any hardware or skip temp/dB testing and yet still have the nerve to call their half-ass marketing job a "review".

I really wanted silver because (IMO) it stands out a lot more, but then again having to DIY my own bezel and window wouldn't have been fun...get a new case, I want to enjoy it, not work on it to make it right. ;)
I feel the exact same way. Silver is da hotness, but in addition to all the other tweaking/modding, I'm not sure I want yet one more thing to fuss over. Plus, the silver interior looks bleh vs the black FT02.
 
Thanks for the link. :cool:

Gotta love SPCR for doing respectable reviews (even if they did reference to the RV02 review for some data, can't blame 'em) versus all these other sites that simply post pics w/o installing any hardware or skip temp/dB testing and yet still have the nerve to call their half-ass marketing job a "review".


I feel the exact same way. Silver is da hotness, but in addition to all the other tweaking/modding, I'm not sure I want yet one more thing to fuss over. Plus, the silver interior looks bleh vs the black FT02.

On a side note, just spoke w/ FrozenCPU about my black FT02 that their custom sleeving. The original case they were going to use was pretty banged up, so they had to get another.

Just watch out when ordering, you may want to request them to open the box and inspect the unit before shipping.
 
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(Apologies if this has been posted already, I just found it myself)
Pro-Clockers review

I'm hoping I have enough black sleeving left from prior mods and don't have to order more to sleeve the FT02...either that or hopefully I find someone local that carries it and don't have to order online. :eek:
 
Just canceled my order @ FrozenCPU. Just spoke w/ Mark(owner) who said that Geoff made a mistake and my case would not go out until Friday 1/22 (one week later after I ordered)

Mark offered no apology or reason why it would take till Friday, he was extremely unprofessional for a business owner, dude went as far as hanging up on me in mid-sentence. I understand that FrozenCPU is highly regarded, and I used them in the past but I never will again.

So you may want to think twice before ordering a FT02 from FrozenCPU.
 
Got mine in today, haven't opened it yet. Going to get some sleeving first, I'll put up impressions in a day or so once that comes in and I get some things sleeved. I'll put up temps, Trigeminal, I promise. :)
 
Just ordered the last FT02S off Amazon, also scored free Prime shipping.
Should be arriving on Saturday.
 
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