New Silverstone FT02

Internally the gpus are getting the coolest air they would ever get inside of a case; the only way they'd be any cooler is if they were running shroudless on a test bench/open air setup.
This is something I've been wondering about. I suspect the FT02 combined w/ a GPU that uses a beefy heatsink (vs the ducted shrouds we see on the ATI/Nvidia reference designs) throws down some nice acoustical and thermal performance. I'd like to see a vid card heatsink that uses at least a single 120mm fan, and if given the right design, a pair of 'em.
 
BTW- anyone gotten their hands on a silver FT02 yet? Maybe w/ pics of an installed system? I really like the sIlver exterior, but the interior is kinda fugly w/ all the black plastic bits. Curious to see what it looks like.

Ask and you shall receive.:p

What to see a Silver FT02?

How about this. What to see a Silver FT02 with a Lian Li bezel mod tutorial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyAfvtjrfq0

This is not my rig but it's Very Nice.:D
 
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Ask and you shall receive.:p

What to see a Silver FT02?

How about this. What to see a Silver FT02 with a Lian Li bezel mod tutorial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyAfvtjrfq0

This is not my rig but it's Very Nice.:D

I finished mine last week, haven't had time to get pictures up but I'll try to do so tomorrow.

Decided to forgo a bezel mod and just bought a silver DVD-RW from Performance PC's.
Looks good to me, not perfect but the vinyl paint is pretty damn close.
 
I really like the silver but the lack of an S-W is really disappointing.

I skimmed through that video to finally see some sort of shot of the bezel. Looks good. I take it he just hot glued it to the drive? (skipping around at one point I saw what looked like a hot glue gun) Don't understand why the guy couldn't have just took a few pictures and posted [stock photo of a hot glue gun] + [stock photo of a silver LL bezel] = [his photos], but whatever. :D

I contacted SS and got a reply about getting a replacement window, and filled out the RMA request but haven't heard anything back yet. Guess I'm really not counting on much; if it shows up, it shows up...if it doesn't, it doesn't.
 
I really like the silver but the lack of an S-W is really disappointing.

I skimmed through that video to finally see some sort of shot of the bezel. Looks good. I take it he just hot glued it to the drive? (skipping around at one point I saw what looked like a hot glue gun) Don't understand why the guy couldn't have just took a few pictures and posted [stock photo of a hot glue gun] + [stock photo of a silver LL bezel] = [his photos], but whatever. :D

I contacted SS and got a reply about getting a replacement window, and filled out the RMA request but haven't heard anything back yet. Guess I'm really not counting on much; if it shows up, it shows up...if it doesn't, it doesn't.

Zero - a page or two page I mentioned that I emailed Silverstone support about the silver windowed version as well. I was told that they were contemplating not even selling them here in the US b/c they have typically not sold well here. The rep also told me that he would either bring just a few of the silver windowed panels to the US or "re-work" some of the solid silver panels to have windows. He told me to check back with him in about 4-5 weeks for their availability.

I don't have enough motivation to get a black FT02 because of the RV02B-W sitting on my desk. The ONLY reason I'd get an FT02 at this point is to get a silver windowed case in the house.
 
I rather mod the side panel anyways. That way it can be flush with the case. It will add to the cost but I think it's worth it.
 
Thanks for that link WorldEx, and I'd definitely love to see pics of your case mtbush. LOTS OF PICS! ;)

That dude spent almost the whole video talking instead simply showing us the case, but hey, gotta cut the guy some slack since he's German yet spoke English throughout making the blurry low-rez more bearable. And once he got off his ass and showed us the front panel w/ his bezel mod, DAMN if that case doesn't look sexy. No closeups tho? argh...

I like the interior of the black versions better, but the silver models have the far superior looking exterior to my eyes.
 
I rather mod the side panel anyways. That way it can be flush with the case. It will add to the cost but I think it's worth it.

How do you plan to mod the plexi to sit flush??? Just wondering cuz i was going to do the same, but have never done it before.
 
How do you plan to mod the plexi to sit flush??? Just wondering cuz i was going to do the same, but have never done it before.

Take a router, grinder, sander, file, whatever, and remove the outer edge that would normally overlap onto the exterior for bolting to the side panel. Bam, you now have an interior-mounted, flush window. My original plan, if we buy an ft02, was to leave enough gap that I actually have a mesh screen between the window and side panel. This would allow the mesh to sit flush w/ the steel side panel. So the sandwich would be:

plexi --> mesh --> side panel

Problem is I couldn't find any EMI mesh that I liked (anyone seen anything they found attractive?), so more likely is that I'll just toss on a mirrored window, and use interior lighting to allow for internal viewing.
 
Thanks for that link WorldEx, and I'd definitely love to see pics of your case mtbush. LOTS OF PICS! ;)

That dude spent almost the whole video talking instead simply showing us the case, but hey, gotta cut the guy some slack since he's German yet spoke English throughout making the blurry low-rez more bearable. And once he got off his ass and showed us the front panel w/ his bezel mod, DAMN if that case doesn't look sexy. No closeups tho? argh...

I like the interior of the black versions better, but the silver models have the far superior looking exterior to my eyes.

Yeah, you have to hold your breath to the end but when he turns the case around, WOW.

For the window, just cut the shape you want or take it to a professional fabricator, make sure the edges are smooth and mount the window with 3M tape. Done. You can buy a window here, they do custom cuts.

www.delviesplastics.com
 
Yeah, you have to hold your breath to the end but when he turns the case around, WOW.

For the window, just cut the shape you want or take it to a professional fabricator, make sure the edges are smooth and mount the window with 3M tape. Done. You can buy a window here, they do custom cuts.

www.delviesplastics.com

I actually have FrozenCPU less than 15 minutes from my apartment so I was thinking of asking them to do the hard stuff.

Great review at hardwarcanucks: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...tone-fortress-ft02-mid-tower-case-review.html This on actually has numbers too.
 
yennie - Yeah I saw your post, that is disappointing. That's why I said getting an S-W would be really practically impossible. The cost of shipping one overseas from a foreign retailer to the US would be ridiculous.

GL guys on modding a flush window. :)
Easier than you think. Acrylic does not cut or drill well, trust me. I've used it before and I've drilled large and small holes for acrylic tops on arcade joystics... plastic is a major PITA to get anything to work with without melting or cracking/shattering. The best way to cut it without issue is to use a special knife to cut about 1/2 way into the depth and then breaking it on the end of a table. Modders usually use jigsaws...I've cut windows with a jigsaw, it's not fun. Hard to keep it from melting or sticking on the blade. You'd need a bandsaw with a very good blade to get a clean cut on acrylic. It's also expensive if you buy anything other than a thin 1/8 or 1/4 sheet thick of clear acrylic. Plexi, lucite, lexan are all more expensive. If you live by a modder shop have them do it...have them put the wear and tear on their machines. Or have someone do it online...I have yet to see a merchandiser offer to do special stuff like routing it or rounding the corners though.
 
yennie - Yeah I saw your post, that is disappointing.

GL guys on modding a flush window. :)
Easier than you think. Acrylic does not cut or drill well, trust me. I've used it before and I've drilled large and small holes for acrylic tops on arcade joystics... plastic is a major PITA to get anything to work with without melting or cracking/shattering.

Exactly, that's why I told him to use 3M tape for the flush look. I did the same on my Lian Li P50R. Looks Perfect.
FrozenCPU window mods uses screws and mounts the window on the outside which I don't like, make sure they use 3M tape instead of the screws.
 
It's pretty flush, I used the red 3M tape when I modded my CM 340 and did a window. It's about the best you can do without having a routed window though for sure, I definitely agree there.

Lian Li does the same thing...my V1000 BW was (factory) mounted on the inside with screws. The SS is the first time I've seen a window mounted externally.
 
I have my case in hand and have been planning everything out when I came across something that struck me as very odd. The 180mm fans sit on a filter which sits on a plastic stand which creates about a 1.5" gap from the filter to the air vents (cheese holes) in the bottom of the case.

The problem is that the left and right sides of the plastic stands (there are three of them) do not touch the bottom of the case but instead leave a 0.25 to 0.50" gap. Because of this, the fans will operate below peak performance because they will be recirculating the hot air from the case. While this is somewhat minor, the other issue is not. I bought this case not only for the great thermal performance but also because I hate dust and really liked their filters. However, with a gap in the stands, the case will then become incredibly dusty because the hairballs and what not will just travel through the gaps!

So I am left wondering, what in the world is the purpose of the filters if the dust and crap can enter through the sides of each stand?!

Fan Stand:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7493/dpp0002k.jpg

Fan Stand + Filter:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7025/dpp0003t.jpg

Fan Stand + Filter + Fan:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5827/dpp0004r.jpg

Fan Stand + Filter + Fan + Side Shot of Gap:
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/2918/dpp0006.jpg
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/803/dpp0001.jpg

Installed in Case:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5033/dpp0007m.jpg
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/2435/dpp0008.jpg

If anyone was thinking that when all three fans are installed they are flush with each other and seal the gaps, this is not the case; and even if it was, the gaps would still exist on the front and back fan.

Finally, I am left wondering about one more thing that I did not realize until I took the FT02 apart. If there were no gaps in the sides of the plastic stands, the dust would be trapped in the area between the filter and the bottom of the holes in the case. It seems almost pointless to ask this but... did SilverStone really think that sliding out a filter would remove hairballs and what not trapped in the 1.5" high space between the filter and bottom of the case? To properly clean the FT02 we will have to: 1) remove the graphics cards and anything else in the way; 2) remove the filters; 3) unscrew the fans; 4) vacuum out the pocket of crud sitting in the plastic tray. That is poor design.

Please keep in mind that I own this case so my goal is not to trash talk it. Rather, I am just really surprised at the problems it has when it comes the filter and dust design.
 
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^^^ Great observation.

I was thinking sometime about removing that filter assembly so a 5970 will have more room. Fix the fans directly to the bottom of the case and the attach the filters to the underside of the case so they could still be removable with Velcro or something. This will free up the extra 1" your talking about so the case could fit the 5970 nicely and eliminate any gaps where dust can enter the case. Any thoughts?
 
I wouldn't call that a glaring design flaw, I would call that nitpicking. :p
You wouldn't notice the gap if you didn't take the fan/filter brackets off.
Is there a tiny gap fan to fan? Sure. The majority gap is the left of the front fan and the right of the rear fan though.

Those things aside - my case has run for weeks and other than cleaning off the little dust accumulation on the filters, the case is not dusty at all. And trust me - I can vouch for a case being shit for dust, living in a 5 cat 1 dog house (including 3 long haired cats). You may see that and think it's a problem, but trust me...real world performance, it's not an issue. How are the fans going to recirculate hot air? The hot air rises, it doesn't sink. My system Folds 24/7 and it still runs cooler than any other case this system has been in; if the heat was recirculating, trust me I'd know it. Yenniedn would also, he's got just as hot of a system inside of his RV02.
 
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Like I said already, the hot air recirculation is not an issue; it does happen, but it is not a design flaw. However, I still say that the dust filtering in the FT02 is very poor design.

A better design, as WorldExclusive has already pointed out, would be to ditch the plastic trays and place the filters underneath the case. They could even be held in place with small magnets for easy removal. Then simply mount the fans on the base of the case without the stupid trays.

This does several things:

1. It keeps the dust out of the case. Instead of trapping it in a 1" high defective tray, it is out of the case.
2. It gives plenty more room for longer graphics cards, like the 5970 now that the fans are at least 1" lower.
3. It allows us to mount whatever fan we want instead of being confined to 180mm with these silly trays.
4. It saves money because, again, they don't need to make the trays anymore.

It should not be hard to make such a mod. I was thinking about rare earth magnets; you can get 75 x 0.25" disc ones here that hold up to 1.25lbs each. They could be superglued to the bottom of the existing filter and simply placed on the underside of the case. However, I don't know if that would interfere with the components in the case so your Velcro idea is probably better. Although, have a look at this...

After tackling the filter, all we would need to do is mount the fans. The 180mm fans will likely have to be ditched because of those raised bevels on the bottom of the case. This leaves us with 140mm and 120mm fans. In all honesty, it looks like a 140mm fan would completely cover the holes in the bottom of the case which means if you went with a 140mm fan you could ditch the filter we discussed above and simply attach a 140mm filter to the fan itself. Heck, the 140mm fan could even be mounted underneath the case! That would be pretty sick.
 
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I decided to upgrade my PC situation and have purchased a FT02.

Here is my story so far if it helps anyone on deciding on if the FT02 is for them.

Dropping in a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R and a watercooled 5970. The PowerColor watercooled 5970 fits if you remove the protective grill on the middle fan. It uses an EK waterblock on front and the stock ATI backplate on back. This stock backplate is longer than the actual printed circuit board by about an half inch. EK also makes a RAM sink (~$20) for the back of the 5970. I now have that on order. This will be shorter than the 5970 PCB and will allow installation without having to remove any fan grills. The radiator mounts that come with the FT02 are NOT very versatile:mad:. I was going to install a 2 x 120 type radiator but the mount only supports 3 x 120 type which will collide with my 5970. I could make my own brackets but decided on running a couple of hoses outside the case and run them to a 4x120 type radiator and also cool the processor. CPU waterblock, radiator, and fans are now on order. I know this is going to be a bit of a kludge from what I originally envisioned.

Things to think about.

1- radiator mounts are designed for 3x120 type radiators
2-Air cooled ATI HD5970 cards do fit with center fan grill removed.
3-Watercooled ATI HD5970 cards do fit without grill modification if you have EK's RAM sink on the backside.
4-only radiator solutions with a ATI HD5970 installed is a single 120 fan type at the top of the case at the existing 120mm fan location or with a custom bracket for a 1 or 2 x 120 type at the bottom.
5-pump locations are limited as there are few flat surfaces that are not occupied with something. A 5 1/2" bay type may be your best bet if that is an option for you. Under the power supply is tight even with a shorter one like a 7" Corsair HX850W as the cables come out right where you would want it.

My 2 cent suggestions to Silverstone if you are reading this... Make the case 2.5 inches taller and make a 3x180 radiator an optional add in. Provide stealth plates for popular DVD / Blue Ray mechanisms. Sleeve your stock case cables. Add a eSATA drive top doc similar to other drive docs instead of the wimpy 3 USB / audio connector. Add a front USB Firewire memory card audio port 5 1/2 inch bay insert with nice flip up mesh cover that matches the top. Add radiator hose ports somewhere (I would put them up top some where that there is a air hole grid now).
 
Got mine today and i must say the case is great. beautiful looks and great performance. one problem I have though is the room on the back part of the board left for cable management. its just simply not enough. I'm okay with the foam being there but the space that you have to put your cables in (in my case, most the the cables) is not as good as the space i got in my HAF. Also it feels like the front bottom fan is pulling in cooler and more air than the other two fans. All set to the same speeds but the font one just seems better, is it just me?
 
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Like I said already, the hot air recirculation is not an issue; it does happen

Doesn't happen to me.
I'm curious how you think this happens. Hot air rises and the airflow path goes upwards. Where is air going out sideways and then recirculating to the bottom? I don't get it. Not trying to argue - just trying to say thermal design wise the case is flawless. Prove them wrong. :) Give an example.

However, I still say that the dust filtering in the FT02 is very poor design.

I get no dust inside of my case therefore I would not call it a poor design.

A better design, as WorldExclusive has already pointed out, would be to ditch the plastic trays and place the filters underneath the case. They could even be held in place with small magnets for easy removal.

Due to the low clearance between the unibody frame and the case floor, slide out trays would be better. I do wish they were on the outside of the case so you didn't have to remove the side panel to get to them, but that doesn't bother me when I only have to do it occasionally.


1. It keeps the dust out of the case. Instead of trapping it in a 1" high defective tray, it is out of the case.
2. It gives plenty more room for longer graphics cards, like the 5970 now that the fans are at least 1" lower.
3. It allows us to mount whatever fan we want instead of being confined to 180mm with these silly trays.
4. It saves money because, again, they don't need to make the trays anymore.

1. Again I have no dust in my case therefore I would not call it defective. Defective insinuates that it doesn't work; the truth is, it does work. On the simplest level (definition), it's not defective.
2. I can almost guarantee you there won't be any more cards as long as the 5970 and besides that the % of people who own those compared to cards that do fit is very low.
3. I have no issues with their fans. They're quiet and you can control the speed. They move a lot of air. I expect them to also last a long time.
4. Probably true, but we're probably also talking a dollar or two at most and you won't see that taken off the MSRP.

Heck, the 140mm fan could even be mounted underneath the case! That would be pretty sick.

I would rather it be inside of the case. You put it on the outside, 1) you eat up the clearance underneath the case. 2) you'd have to have a grill on it so nothing got chopped up or stuck in the fan which leaves even less clearance. 3) that would ruin the sleek aesthetic of the outside of the case, having a fan on the outside.

I'm not saying it's a perfect case, I do wish there was more space behind the motherboard tray like the HAF which is ridiculous in this area. However I think your gripes are more personal opinion than anything yet you list them like they are flaws, no offense. Again I can state that for my system running 24/7 @ load (Folding), cpu running a Linux VM for -bigadv and both 260's running the GPU2 client - there is no dust in my case. You say the dust filters are poorly designed, faulty etc. and I say they do their job. ;) In my experience the case is perfect from a thermal/dust standpoint. I think you're over-analyzing it...use it for awhile, run a system in it and see how it works for you. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and find out that your current worries are not issues at all. :)
 
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@zero2dash

Hot air does rise, but it rises much faster due to the fans. So the fans are circulating the air throughout the case which does indeed cause air to flow under the gaps in the pictures. I did agree that this is not really a big issue because the majority of the air will come in from the outside, and will not be recirculated. However, the concept of hot air rising does not apply in this situation because the rate of rise is incredibly offset by the force of the fans themselves.

Regarding dust, how long have you been using your case? Clearly there are cases with no filters and dust protection. Clearly the FT02 and RV02 are better than those. However, for $230 I would expect a better design when it comes to dust. In 6 months, open up your case and you will find dust. While it will be less dust than other cases with no filters, it clearly could have been a lot less given a better filter design.

Here is my solution: solution which should arrive soon. I also picked up three 140mm to 120mm adapters and some Scyth 120mm fans to replace the 180mm fans. If everything works out, I'll have some pictures up next week.

Aside from the dust, I love the case. I do however wish it was about 1" longer because some of my 5.25" components will not fit into the bays since they are just slightly longer than 180mm.
 
I get no dust inside of my case therefore I would not call it a poor design.
This is empirical evidence and doesn't really mean much. It's like when one person says a case is "quiet" and another calls it "loud". Unless you have hard numbers from a dB meter, the definitions are blurred.


...there are cases with no filters and dust protection. Clearly the FT02 and RV02 are better than those. However, for $230 I would expect a better design when it comes to dust. In 6 months, open up your case and you will find dust.

Since you've torn it apart and we have pics (thanks for that btw, I haven't seen anyone else anywhere post pics of the fan/filter carriages/trays), I'd agree that the design should have been better for dust prevention, but for most users it'll probably be fine unless they sit their case on a (dirty/dusty) floor. Perhaps Silverstone's engineers wanted the carriages to act as risers, thus bringing the fans closer to the hdd/gpu/mobo. Or maybe it was a budget compromise where the engineers wanted to close off the sides of the front and rear trays while leaving the middle open, but the added cost of designing 3 distinct parts was nixed by management.

If we end up buying an ft02 (still waiting to see if anything new comes outta CeBit in early March), I'll be able to say within a week whether the dust filters are crap or not. We have to vacuum and dust 2-3x a week since we leave our windows open 8 months out of the year.
 
Regarding dust, how long have you been using your case?

[snip]

However, for $230 I would expect a better design when it comes to dust. In 6 months, open up your case and you will find dust. While it will be less dust than other cases with no filters, it clearly could have been a lot less given a better filter design.

3 weeks I believe?

I think the design is fine. And sorry, I can't wait 6 months. I clean dust filters routinely already and I don't plan on not doing that in the future. ;) Leave any case alone for 6 months and you're going to have a lot of dust, no matter how much dust filtering you have. I want my stuff running tip top especially given that my systems are at full load 24/7. :)


This is empirical evidence and doesn't really mean much. It's like when one person says a case is "quiet" and another calls it "loud". Unless you have hard numbers from a dB meter, the definitions are blurred.

It is what it is. I think given the fact that I've had a running system using all intakes plus a heatsink in push pull plus 2 dual slot cards, in a 5 cat 1 dog household - I think my experience is worth mentioning. I never said it would be everyone's experience because obviously people run different hardware in different cases with different fans in different environments, amount of pets, air quality, temperature, humidity, etc.

Take my experience for what it is. I share it as a counter-argument that the dust filtering in this case is poorly designed.

I would think that a company the size of Silverstone who has been in the PC case building and design industry for awhile, with the R&D they have and awards they have won...would know a thing or two about designing a case in a good way and not a "poorly designed" way. kiger sees the gaps as a problem, maybe they were intentionally put there; none of us know. I'd like to see Tony Ou respond to his criticisms, but he may be a busy man these days. :)
 
I've only browsed thru the last page of posts and wanted to chime in on the dust issue:

I've had my RV02 for about 4 to 5 months now and can say without a doubt that it is the BEST case when it comes to dust control. There is very little dust inside my case and I'm extremely happy about that. All of the previous Silverstone and Lian Li's I've had have gotten some noticeable amount of dust inside (and many of those cases cost way more than the $230 asking price of the FT02)!!! Of all the cases I've had, this RV02 is HANDS DOWN the winner when it comes to preventing dust.
 
Take my experience for what it is. I share it as a counter-argument that the dust filtering in this case is poorly designed.

No argument from me that the ft02 performs poorly on dust, just that your rationale wasn't anything conclusive, merely anecdotal.

I would think that a company the size of Silverstone who has been in the PC case building and design industry for awhile, with the R&D they have and awards they have won...would know a thing or two about designing a case in a good way and not a "poorly designed" way.
Did you even see the ft01? Please explain to me why the upper intake fan filter removal was an utter joke and ridiculed by reviewers and users everywhere yet the problem was easily fixed by modders in ~10-30 mins.

Every engineer makes compromises, and at times outright mistakes. If we as case enthusiasts can't nitpick over the details and push case manufacturers to improve, I doubt the Dell/Gateway crowd is gonna care. Look how long it took to (finally) get a huge selection of cases using 12cm or larger fans vs all that crappy 80-90mm nonsense. Too long IMO, like 10 years too long. I also think there's still not enough cases that do a good job of dust filtering, although I doubt that dust is a problem in the ft02.
 
Haven't looked into FT01 issues (because I never shopped for one) so I can't comment, sorry. :eek:
[after viewing the YT video]
They remedied that problem on the FT02/RV02. Lesson learned.

I never said their cases were perfect. :)
Design stuff like that happens sometimes and they don't catch it; Silverstone is not the only company that does this. ;)
 
Haven't looked into FT01 issues (because I never shopped for one) so I can't comment, sorry. :eek:
[after viewing the YT video]
They remedied that problem on the FT02/RV02. Lesson learned.

I never said their cases were perfect. :)

This after your speech about Silverstone's "size", winning awards, and their R&D knowing "a thing or two about designing a case in a good way and not a poorly designed way"...

I didn't expect nor care for you to admit you were wrong (which you were), but your rebuttal is pointless dodging at best. Adults know when to either admit they've lost, or stop talking.

Design stuff like that happens sometimes and they don't catch it; Silverstone is not the only company that does this. ;)
You just rephrased what I said in my prior post.

"Every engineer makes compromises, and at times outright mistakes"
 
You're right, the TJ07 was a piece of crap wasn't it? :rolleyes:
Before the FT02 the TJ07 was their flagship case, it was designed beautifully and it won review awards. Thus everything I said they did.

Do us all a favor and drop the attitude.
 
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You're right, the TJ07 was a piece of crap wasn't it? :rolleyes:
Before the FT02 the TJ07 was their flagship case, it was designed beautifully and it won review awards. Thus everything I said they did.

Do us all a favor and drop the attitude.

You interpret it as attitude and ask for favors, but that's you being defensive or immature. I don't care if you admit it to me, but at least be honest with yourself. You made comments, at length, about Silverstone's competency as it pertains to a "poorly designed" case. I showed evidence that actual owners of a highly regarded and expensive Silverstone case consistently complain that the ft01 has a glaring flaw. You admitted you were ignorant of this fact. Is this not comprehensible to you?

Bottom line: you didn't know you were wrong, and once confronted w/ evidence of the truth, became evasive and now defensive. Grow up. It's not like you're the only one who's been mistaken, ignorant, or made an error. We all do at various times, but unlike you, when I'm the one in error, I have no trouble admitting it. Go ahead, ask me random pinochle trivia.
 
Yay, an interwebs forumz fight! Back to your corners, boys. I declare both your e-peens to be of equal size. Let's move on.
 
@ coco

You insinuate that they don't know what they're doing, I offer counterpoints that they do have cases that are good highly regarded cases. You're acting as if they make 1 bad case so their HQ is a monkey pen in the zoo. I didn't know about the FT01 problems, I don't care about the FT01 problems - this is an FT02 thread and I'm talking about the design of the FT02 here. Neither you, me, kiger, or anyone knows why they put those gaps in there; I reiterate they may have been put there purposely.

And again you also continue with the insults. I'm done with you and this OT nonsense.
 
On a different topic, a good bit of the rest of my build comes tomorrow while my San Ace fans come next week. Here is what I'm working with:

Case:
Silverstone FT02B

PSU:
CORSAIR CMPSU-850HX

CPU:
i7-920 (D0 verified @ MicroCenter)

CPU Heatsink:
Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard:
ASUS P6X58D

Memory:
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB

Video:
Sapphire Vapor-X 5870

Fans:
3 x SCYTHE S-FLEX™ "E" 120mm
3 x SilverStone SP-FF121 120mm Filters
Bitspower Plastic Fan Adapter 120mm to 140mm
DEMCiflex 140mm Magnetic Fan Dust Filter

Storage:
Enhance Technology x14 Multi-disk Storage Backplane
1 x Seagate Savvio 15K.1 73GB 2.5"
2 x Seagate Savvio 10k.3 146GB 2.5" (JBOD)
LSI SAS3081E-R PCI Express SATA / SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) Controller Card

Monitor:
NEC LCD2490WUXI-BK-SV (w/Polarizer)

Speakers:
Swan M10

Sound Card:
Auzen X-Fi Forte 7.1

Router:
Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 (w/Tomato)

UPS:
CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD 1500VA 900W 8 Outlets UPS

OS:
Windows 7 Ultimate Retail


This was kind of a spare no expense build since I haven't built a new PC in about 5 or 6 years and right now I'm using a Shuttle SFF 2.4ghz Pentium 4. By tomorrow the remaining parts will arrive, except two San Ace fans and the 146gb SAS drives, which will not arrive until next week. Plus, I need to hit up AutoZone or Michaels and pick up some various sandpaper because I would like to lap both the CPU and NH-D14.

My thoughts so far on the build are as follows:

1. I could have done better on the ram but I was unsure what would work in this board because the ASUS docs listed the dominators as the only 6gb set that would reach 1600. The other problem is that I have had to remove the heat-spreaders in order to make the NH-D14 fit so I really need to get Windows 7 installed so I can run a full bench to ensure the ram will run at the rated speed without the spreaders.

2. It is hard to find 5.25" accessories that are under 180mm. I already had a pretty nice SAS/SATA enclosure that fit 4 x 2.5" drives in one 5.25" bay and it was only 183mm. The problem however was that two of the SAS/SATA connections on the back of the enclosure were on the far right. This meant when I connected the cables to the enclosure it would not fit into the 5.25" bay because it hit up against the motherboard. I only knew of that enclosure but after some more searching on google I came across the X14 which not only looks sick but has all of the connectors in the middle of the enclosure! While I would be out another hundred bucks, I think down the road I will view it as money well spent.

3. I have removed the 180mm fans, the trays, and the filters. It appears that the intakes on the bottom of the case are 140mm. So I've picked up 3 Scythe S-Flex "E" fans along with three of these 120mm to 140mm adapters. I think they can be used in reverse too so it will completely cover the 140mm intake and allow me to mount the fans on top. If you scroll up you can see that I linked to some SilverStone 120mm grills too. They are just like the 180mm ones! Finally, I plan on putting three of these magnetic 140mm dust filters on the bottom of the case. If all goes well, I'll have a lot of pictures up next week.
 
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This was kind of a spare no expense build since I haven't built a new PC in about 5 or 6 years and right now I'm using a Shuttle SFF 2.4ghz Pentium 4.

Very nice stuff man, upgrading from a build that old will be a huge performance leap. I'm rather curious to hear your thoughts on your Asus mobo. I've been trying to figure out which USB 3.0/SATA 6 GB board to get from among the many choices and atm it's a toss up w/ your board and a pair of Gigabytes.

Also, even though you've already got your dedicated RAID card, just for kicks if you were in the mood you could get a fairly good 60GB OCZ Agility ssd for $129 after mir+f/s. Perhaps worth comparing vs your SAS disks?

Edit- ack, the ssds are sold out already =/ Sorry for the bait.
 
@ coco

You insinuate that they don't know what they're doing
Actually, I proved that Silverstone didn't which you seem unable to grasp. However, in your clearly defensive mindset you somehow have twisted this into me accusing Silverstone of having poor engineering. That's a myth you are creating in your own mind because what I actually said was:

"Every engineer makes compromises, and at times outright mistakes."

Futher, the accusations of a poor dust filtering design were originally brought up by kiger and if you weren't being so childish you'd also notice that I said this regarding those same dust filters over which this whole back and forth began:

"for most users it'll probably be fine unless they sit their case on a (dirty/dusty) floor."

I guess the purple text for emphasis didn't register in your imaginary argument where you seem to think I'm slamming Silverstone.

I offer counterpoints that they do have cases that are good highly regarded cases. You're acting as if they make 1 bad case so their HQ is a monkey pen in the zoo.
At no point did I say any such thing as shown above. What I said was to rebuff your babbling about how Silverstone has been around for so long and has won awards blah blah "would know a thing or two about designing a case in a good way and not a "poorly designed" way.' Fact is, despite all the kudos you lauded Silverstone for, I demonstrated quite clearly that they, like any other manufacturer, are capable of oversight/failure/mistakes.


I didn't know about the FT01 problems, I don't care about the FT01 problems
You already told us as much, what's crazy is your defense of your prior ignorance.

Neither you, me, kiger, or anyone knows why they put those gaps in there; I reiterate they may have been put there purposely.
I agree with you, we don't know Silverstone's reasons. However, despite the fact that I already said that I don't believe the fan/filter trays/carriages will be a problem dust-wise, that doesn't mean it's not worth discussing. Maybe it never occurs to you that these sorts of discussions held in fora everywhere can lead to improvements in design thus benefiting us all down the road. Blowholes were around for 6-8 years before we started seeing OEMs like Antec/In Win/etc slowly trickle them into their cases.

this is an FT02 thread and I'm talking about the design of the FT02 here.
Beside the fact that you were already debating on Silverstone's engineering for a couple posts before I even entered the discussion, it is not unreasonable to talk about another case from Silverstone in a thread about their products. This is particularly true on the issue of dust filters and another case from the same product line a la the ft01. I notice you didn't have any trouble bringing up tj07 right?

And again you also continue with the insults. I'm done with you and this OT nonsense.
It's your nonsensical ignorance and childish ego that keeps you blind. From the moment I said your ft02 dust filter observations were "merely anecdotal" you've become increasingly defensive. Your judgment is so skewed atm that I could spend some time talking about all the great things I think Silverstone's done from an engineering or aesthetics standpoint (a long list, to be sure), but in your ire you'd probably translate it as me bashing your beloved new case. I could try to be gentle in my words to you, but you're acting like a brat and I'm not in the mood to babysit someone who can't act like an adult.
 
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@coconutboy

I have the board up and running now and it is working great; I cannot install Windows 7 and really put it through its paces until tomorrow night when the SAS enclosure comes because until then, I cannot connect my 73GB SAS drive.

As for SSD, I do not want to go down that road because I develop sites using MySQL and PHP and the number of 4k writes that such applications place on the drive is astronomical. It would likely kill a SSD in under 6 months. I have read about Seagate's new SSD which apparently is enterprise ready and can endure the writes, but no word on the price. Interestingly enough, my laptop has a SSD boot and I use FlashFire with it on XP. Granted, I do not develop on the laptop but I assume FlashFire will really extend the life of the drive. At the end of the day, the reason I like SCSI (even my SFF has a 15k U320 boot in it) is reliability. I have never had a SCSI drive die while I have had numerous IDE and SATA fail.

By the way, you and zero2dash need to take it easy. Let's talk about the FT02 and not each other; regardless of who is right or wrong. Heated debate about such things in a forum is fruitless.
 
Yeah, for lotsa dB access, I wouldn't trust an ssd either although, sadly, I've had a SCSI fail on me... once. ;)

Thanks for the Flashfire link, never heard of this but at a glance, it seems to be a sort of virtual memory manager/prefetcher? Guess I'll read the FAQ further.

Also, I'll chill out w/ zero. We can take it to PMs so as not to disturb the thread which I don't believe is his intent nor mine. Apologies for my behavior and derailing.
 
@kiger

Let me know how that 5870 Vapor-X performs in the FT02. I heard that coolers in the middle of the board may not cool well but the Vapor-X is open ended. I want to know if this is true or false.
 
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