Silverstone FT03... matx

Silverstone sells a replacement USB3.0 panel for the FT03 that connects directly to the USB3.0 header on the motherboard. You have to call them to order one though.
 
So I just got this Titanium FT03 not too long ago and wanted to get the intel all in one watercooling unit. So weeks after I got my 2700k, Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen3, and some SSDs I have finally got the Intel Watercooling. I should have done my research before starting this, because to my surprise there is a support piece that wont let the rad fit in the top 120mm fan spot, so I had to do a push and pull config and since I didnt have the long screws for it I had to use the hdd case screws to get it to work.
Please excuse the HTC Arrive camera, not too great. The D50s battery was dead.
WP_000017-1.jpg

WP_000026.jpg

WP_000027.jpg

WP_000028.jpg

WP_000029.jpg

WP_000031.jpg

WP_000033.jpg

Took out the WD Black 2TB, was way too loud so I put it in an external enclosure and put it on my network.
WP_000039.jpg

Took these with the D50
DSC_0977.jpg

All closed up!
DSC_0979.jpg

Just got these desks last weekend, havent decided how I want to set everything up. Need to make a bracket that will eliminate the middle pole because its just two desks put together. Also the Pink Dell is my mothers, just putting music on it.
DSC_0980.jpg


Let me know what you guys think.
 
Heya!

Nice rig! The Titanium version is definitely the prettiest so good choice ;)

I was jsut wondering: Is this a Seasonic X-460? I am waiting for Ivy Bridge to get myself some nice silent gear and put it into the FT03. And I was going for the X-400/460 as well but I am just worried because you have to fit it into the case against Seasonic's mounting instruction.
So if this is one of the fanless PSU models how does it cope with the heat? Any issues?
 
thanks! Yeah I really liked the titanium look online, but looks a lot different in person. Still nice though.

And no its the x650. Can't hear the damn thing and the fan doesn't even run unless over 20% load. Best PSU ever!
 
The titanium model looks good in your pics.. In all the other pics. I've seen of the thing it always has a brownish tint to it.
 
haha, welcome in lilimon04 :D

I agree, Silverstone's "Silver" is a bit wierd. I have a Silver SG06, which is great, except they cover most of the wonder alumi with a dreadful silver paint...
 
hey guys, first post here.
I've got a FT03 build, and I just ordered a Be quiet Dark Rock pro cpu cooler for it off ebay. I was just wondering: anyone else tried to put this cooler in the case ? I will most probably have to take cpu case bracket off though
 
Synomenon said:
The titanium model looks good in your pics.. In all the other pics. I've seen of the thing it always has a brownish tint to it.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah it is very different from pics online.
jeremyshaw said:
haha, welcome in lilimon04 :D

I agree, Silverstone's "Silver" is a bit wierd. I have a Silver SG06, which is great, except they cover most of the wonder alumi with a dreadful silver paint...
Click to expand...
Thanks, have wanted a FT03 since they announced them way back and when I saw they had titanium I had to have it.
 
By the way, I added silicon pads on the removable cover for the non hot swap hard drives in my build, and that seems to have stopped low freq vibrations I was getting; I got 3 mm thickness for 2 samsung F4 (although this will vary with the thickness of your drives). I'm also thinking that the silicone should help with heat dissipation for the hard drive (kind of a giant thermal pad, even though I left one of the adhesive covers on). Has anyone else attempted anything like this.
 
my hot swap drive produced a good amount of vibration and noise, so i slipped in a sliver of neoprene to make sure everything was nice and snug. Everything is nice and quiet now :D
 
Chluz said:
hey guys, first post here.
I've got a FT03 build, and I just ordered a Be quiet Dark Rock pro cpu cooler for it off ebay. I was just wondering: anyone else tried to put this cooler in the case ? I will most probably have to take cpu case bracket off though
Click to expand...

It's too large to comfortably use with a beefy video card IMO. It will fit but it will be cumbersome. Given the top plate of that cooler it might actually not work with video cards with a backplate.

I have a 6990 and a NH-D14 they are actually putting pressure on one another. Additionally, since the PCI-E release mechanism is under the card and the rear of the case is not removable, switching or removing video cards is also extremely challenging (I had to use a knife carefully in between the D14 and 6990 just to reach the release mechanism of the card).

It's really a hassle and I sometimes wish I just went with an H80 or something.

This is what it looks like right now:

a5d7b68c_ft03.jpg


The NH-D14 is all banged up and scratched with some bent fins just from being cumbersome and my tinkering around with the case. Wouldn't go for such a big cooler in this case unless you don't plan on upgrading for a long time or you're extremely patient and careful.

So these are the situations I would avoid having together for this case:
1. Very large CPU cooler (NH-D14, Silver Arrow, Dark Rock Pro, et alia)
2. GPU with a backplate (non-backplate GPUs like my old GTX 580 are fine from my experience)
3. Frequent moving around, upgrading or tinkering
 
@lillimon04: I was wondering whether you noticed any of the glitches that some people report to see with their FT03s (especially the silver version):
  • How is the paint quality? Users of the silver seemed to have issues with this?
  • Are there any issues with a misalignment of the I/O-panel at the top? Again, I saw silver version owners complain about this
  • Is there any bare metal exposed at the internal mains power cable? Seemed to be a generic problem? However on the one picture of yours it looks properly covered.

Would be nice if you could answer these questions :)
 
friend'scatdied said:
It's too large to comfortably use with a beefy video card IMO. It will fit but it will be cumbersome. Given the top plate of that cooler it might actually not work with video cards with a backplate.

I have a 6990 and a NH-D14 they are actually putting pressure on one another. Additionally, since the PCI-E release mechanism is under the card and the rear of the case is not removable, switching or removing video cards is also extremely challenging (I had to use a knife carefully in between the D14 and 6990 just to reach the release mechanism of the card).

It's really a hassle and I sometimes wish I just went with an H80 or something.
Click to expand...


Fair point. Although the noctua is a whole 7 mm larger than the Dark rock pro :) (you gotta pay somewhere for these 14 cm fans ;))
At the moment I don't have a very good video card, just a basic HD 4850. You don't even want to know what the dark rock is going to be cooling .... suffice to say I'm waiting for Ivy bridge :). I'm probably going to upgrade to a HD7850 when they come out though. Anyways, I'll try and take pictures when the cooler is installed with the HD 4850
 
Johnny McEuter said:
@lillimon04: I was wondering whether you noticed any of the glitches that some people report to see with their FT03s (especially the silver version):
  • How is the paint quality? Users of the silver seemed to have issues with this?
  • Are there any issues with a misalignment of the I/O-panel at the top? Again, I saw silver version owners complain about this
  • Is there any bare metal exposed at the internal mains power cable? Seemed to be a generic problem? However on the one picture of yours it looks properly covered.

Would be nice if you could answer these questions :)
Click to expand...

I actually have the Titanium one, not the silver one.
My paint in and out is great quality.
The IO panel was perfectly fine on mine.
And there was no exposed metal on the power cable, but it is a bit loose when plugging in the wall power plug.
 
Thanks for the answer.
Yeah I know that you bought the Titanium one. I asked because I wanted to know whether Silverstone resolved some QC issues with the Titanium version (eg the bare metal contacts of the power lead as seen in this picture)
Actually I was tempted to buy the silver one when it just came out but owners of the silver version complained about issues with the paint (something I didn't see owners of the black version complain about).

But meh, waiting for Ivy :)
 
Johnny McEuter said:
Thanks for the answer.
Yeah I know that you bought the Titanium one. I asked because I wanted to know whether Silverstone resolved some QC issues with the Titanium version (eg the bare metal contacts of the power lead as seen in this picture)
Actually I was tempted to buy the silver one when it just came out but owners of the silver version complained about issues with the paint (something I didn't see owners of the black version complain about).

But meh, waiting for Ivy :)
Click to expand...
No problem! I definitely don't have that metal contact problem. Its all covered up.
Well I highly recommend the case. Not very hard to work in and great build quality other than the plastic top cover. Not a fan of it at all. Mine isn't flush with the top by a few mms and the power bar on top doesn't look straight for some reason. I always find my self accidentally pressing the power button.
 
I've gone through four silver ones and haven't had any paint issues. The issue I keep coming up with is the top cover not sitting right. On all of them, including the one I have now the top cover won't sit straight. You can see the edge of the front panel sticking out from below the top cover.
 
Has anyone received anything other than a v1.0 FT03? Just got a new one from Amazon and the sticker on the box says "v1.0" just like the one I have from when they were first available.
 
Chluz said:
Fair point. Although the noctua is a whole 7 mm larger than the Dark rock pro :) (you gotta pay somewhere for these 14 cm fans ;))
At the moment I don't have a very good video card, just a basic HD 4850. You don't even want to know what the dark rock is going to be cooling .... suffice to say I'm waiting for Ivy bridge :). I'm probably going to upgrade to a HD7850 when they come out though. Anyways, I'll try and take pictures when the cooler is installed with the HD 4850
Click to expand...

Ok, so I installed the cooler.
Pictures are below. Now I'm lucky, because on this motherboard the top pci expres port is a 1x pci port. As long as the backplate is not to big on the gpu I think it should also fit on a mobo with x16 on teh top port.

I'm happy as well coz my 92mm noctua fits !!! barely though. It doesn't touch the fins, but there is about 1/10 of a millimeter between them...;)

When I turned it on, the cpu was idle at 21°C, very very quiet... but its only coolking an athlon II 250 on the other hand . I know this cooler is way overkill for this cpu, but I'm plannig to upgrade later this year to ivy bridge

EDIT : I've got a quetion for friend'scatdie, what motherboard do you have in the pic you posted a couple of pages back ? it looks like the cpu socket is way more out left than on my AM3 mobo. Do CPU socket positions vary that much ?


IMG_0077 par Chluz, sur Flickr


IMG_0078 par Chluz, sur Flickr


IMG_0073 par Chluz, sur Flickr
 
Last edited:
Chluz said:
EDIT : I've got a quetion for friend'scatdie, what motherboard do you have in the pic you posted a couple of pages back ? it looks like the cpu socket is way more out left than on my AM3 mobo. Do CPU socket positions vary that much ?
Click to expand...

Asus Maximus IV Gene-Z. Not sure about the CPU socket positions but they should be relatively consistent. The Nexus fan in the top exhaust bracket is just 80mm so that might influence the perspective a little bit. It does touch the NH-D14 though and press up against it but the Nexus rubber fan mounts are less firm and more stretchy than the Noctua mounts so it just shifts out of position a little bit.
 
I am about to move my system from a 600t to this case. I currently have 6870's but was wondering if it would be better to just get a GTX 580 matrix. The reason for the matrix is I may be able to get one at a good price locally. I saw online somewhere that that card won't be good for the FT03 cause of the way it gets rid of heat.
 
Pingis said:
I am about to move my system from a 600t to this case. I currently have 6870's but was wondering if it would be better to just get a GTX 580 matrix. The reason for the matrix is I may be able to get one at a good price locally. I saw online somewhere that that card won't be good for the FT03 cause of the way it gets rid of heat.
Click to expand...

It's still going to be better than having two 6870's in crossfire (temperature wise), so go for it!
 
Aaaargh! Just got a Rampage IV Gene to put in my FT03, but it's not gonna work unless I swap out my 8GB Vengeance sticks with low profile RAM.

My FT03 with H70 (old picture just to show how the H70 looks in there):
sidecd.jpg



Rampage IV Gene:
rampageivgene1.jpg




Because of the layout of the RAM slots on the Rampage IV Gene, I won't be able to use my H70 (was actually going to get a H80 or Antec 920). Same issue if I switched to a SilverStone TJ08E.

Can anyone recommend a standard air cooler that's not massive and will cool at least as well as a Corsair H60?
 
Last edited:
I don't know how you guys have such good cable management. It was a nightmare fitting everything in. Gotta get a better psu.
 
Pingis said:
I don't know how you guys have such good cable management. It was a nightmare fitting everything in. Gotta get a better psu.
Click to expand...

A well thought out modular PSU really helps (basically, Seasonic or Silverstone). Some (like several Antec "semi modulars") had too many excess cables and unreasonably long ones at that, too.



And I agree with the above. The Rampage IV GENE is :eek:
 
It is a nice board. Stuck now trying to figure out what heatsink to use on the board if I stick with the FT03. All the tower cooler have the same clearance issue with these damn Vengeance sticks.

Too bad they don't make 8GB low-profile Vengeance sticks...
 
Are the Corsair H60 or Antec Kuhler 620 good enough for a 3930K or 3960X? I could mount the radiator right up against the case wall and have the top fan on the outside (other side of the fan opening on the top). With that config., the whole assembly might clear the RAM.
 
Synomenon said:
It is a nice board. Stuck now trying to figure out what heatsink to use on the board if I stick with the FT03. All the tower cooler have the same clearance issue with these damn Vengeance sticks.
Click to expand...

Tower coolers don't have clearance issues with the Vengeance sticks. It is Vengeance sticks which has clearance issues with anything else than the stock cooler.
 
Ok, can't stick the radiator all the way up against the case wall either because of that diagonal piece of metal attaching the front frame to the top of the case:

sidecdr.jpg



If I want to stick with the Rampage IV Gene and Vengeance RAM, looks like I'm stuck using coolers like these:
top3.jpg
CNPS8900_Extreme_b_01.jpg


but won't these type of coolers interfere with the airflow in the case (all fans blowing up towards the top)?
 
Try a TRUE or Archon. ;)
They will perform nearly as well as the water cooler, and they are a tower cooler as well. Just don't double up on the fans, and you should clear the RAM just fine.

The Archon would be your best bet. It is really wide (140mm fan) to make up for lack of depth, so it should allow you to still use all 4 RAM slots with tall RAM. The only concern is if it's too wide and might interfere with your PCIe slot.

Here is an Archon on another X79 board. It clears all the RAM slots perfectly.

P1020158.jpg
 
Last edited:
Looked at the Archon, but it won't fit. My case has a 160mm height restriction on CPU coolers.
 
I took off the heatsink on the vengeance ram my brother got. You need to be carefull, but now no clearance issues (and no warranty... oh well :))
 
I've seen one post with a picture of a TRUE in the FT03.

The TRUE is only 160.5mm though. The Archon is 170mm.
 
Synomenon said:
I've seen one post with a picture of a TRUE in the FT03.

The TRUE is only 160.5mm though. The Archon is 170mm.
Click to expand...
Then try the TRUE Spirit 120 or the Venomous X (updated TRUE). They are still some of the best air coolers out there. Just don't use dual fans. The primary fan will come very close to the RAM, but it shouldn't block it.
I've got a TRUE on my AMD board which are notorious for having the RAM too close to the socket, and the fan is roughly 1mm from the edge of the first stick of RAM (heatspreaders still on). The x79 and z68 boards don't have the RAM closer than that do they?


You might lose about 8 degrees under load compared to a H80, but a TRUE Spirit still outperforms an Antec Kuhler 620 and a Corsair H60.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top