Silverstone FT03... matx

I think this is great idea. I can imagine something like this can also be used on the FT03-mini too. Well done!
 
wow, that came out very nice, do you plan on painting it or using some sort of plastic conditioner to shine it up?

How much in materials did it actually cost?
 
WiSK said:
I think this is great idea. I can imagine something like this can also be used on the FT03-mini too. Well done!
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Probably, although the mini itx already has an intake fan in the bottom, and no psu in the way. So in that case it might be better to stick it underneath rather than above.

The CAD model came in at 400 grams exactly. However, the actual printing software estimated it at 670 grams of material and 280 grams of support. According to the printing software thats 180 pounds worth. But to be honest I don't think it used up that much. I recon the cost was more around the 130£ mark. Still, its very very expensive to rapid prototype. Mind you this was done with a dense plastic material. It can probably be done cheaper with rapid prototypers that have less dense materials, since the radiator is not that heavy anyways. I was talking to the guys in teh workshop about it, but there arn't that many ways of doing this unfortunatly. And unless you're a skilled carpenter and can do it out of plywood, they couldn't think of anything else.

I am thinking of painting the surface to give it that same look as the metal panels. Plus since the machine had to deposit support material under the initials, the shine is not the same in that area. I have to be carful though, as I'm sure certain solvents don't play well with this plastic :)
 
Just a note on a problem I had with my FT03:

I've had ongoing vibration issues - the system vibrates a lot and I put it on some foam feet to dampen. I figured it was the cheap fans that came with it and I ordered a pair of AP-15s to replace them.

Well, my cabling was pretty complex and all tied down and hidden so despite having the fans for a few months, I never got around to installing them.

Then I started getting weird memory errors and Guild Wars 2 would not run in surround (video would flicker and system would act strange)

I downclocked the memory to 1333 and this seemed to help, but I decided I should take the system down, blow out any dust and take a look.

I really should have taken a picture of this, but when I got it on the table and removed the panels, I noticed that the heat spreader for one of my 2 dominator DIMMs was almost entirely detached and was very close to falling away from the memory (who knows what could have happened).

This is what I found:

1. The top fan had a broken fan blade. No piece was found in the case so I am assuming it happened before I put my system together and I just missed it. This was the source of the vibration.

2. I'm quite sure that the vibration literally shook the heat spreader loose from my memory - very fortunate nothing shorted out or entered a spinning fan.

3. I installed the AP-15s. Just a little louder than I prefer, but not bad - not an unpleasant sound and I have the case sitting behind my monitor array so that helps too.

I'm an idiot for ignoring the vibration for several months and I'm wondering what it might have done to my 2TB drives (a Caviar Black and a Seagate).
 
DoubleTap said:
1. The top fan had a broken fan blade. No piece was found in the case so I am assuming it happened before I put my system together and I just missed it. This was the source of the vibration.
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Not surprised. The frame of one fan broke just from my pushing the fan wires back into the retaining clip and another was making noise after less than 2 months.

Believe me when I say that Silverstone could just simply not include fans with the case and that would INCREASE its retail value.
 
I personally found my fans in my FT03-T to be very high quality - perhaps I got a better batch idk.

I tweaked my system a lot trying to fit to Antec 620s in the case to cool GPU and CPU and constantly removed/added stock fans in different configurations - never had any of them break or anything.
 
Here's mine;

Asus Rampage IV Gene X79
i7 3970x - Corsair Hydro H80i
16gb Corsair Vengeance LP
EVGA GTX 680 SC Signature 2gb
Corsair AX860 PSU
2x SP120 & 2x AF120 Corsair fans

photo.jpg
 
Hey guys, I'm thinking of upgrading my video card to a 660 TI in this case, and I've heard it's better to stick to blower-type cards for this.

However the after market coolers always cool better, and are quieter (which is one of my main goals with this build.)

Will using one of the after market coolers really make an impact on my system temps? I'm looking at this asus in particular: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121656

I'm running a push-pull with a Dark Knight II Night Hawk, 2600K @ 4.0ghz, and Noctua 120 PWMs all around.

Hopefully someone with first hand experience can chime in. I don't mind temps going up a few degrees, but >10 would be too high.
 
Sashkita said:
Here's mine;

photo.jpg
Click to expand...

Could you tell me how you managed to route the PSU cable behind the bottom left 120mm fan housing? I tried a couple of different ways and so far haven't figured out how others have been able to get it to fit because the hole cut out for routing cables back there is about 1-2mm too small for the PSU plug to go through.
 
Unscrew the fan housing? One screw at front, two screws at the back.
 
WiSK said:
Unscrew the fan housing? One screw at front, two screws at the back.
Click to expand...

No, I know how to unscrew the fan housing and take it out but that didn't help with me being able to route the cable in behind it on the back side. There is a couple of cable routing holes cut out behind the fan housing but both are too small to fit the head of the PSU plug through.

Would be great if I could see a shot of his FT03 behind the motherboard tray so I could see exactly where he routed all the cables through.
 
Sashkita said:
Here's mine;

Asus Rampage IV Gene X79
i7 3970x - Corsair Hydro H80i
16gb Corsair Vengeance LP
EVGA GTX 680 SC Signature 2gb
Corsair AX860 PSU
2x SP120 & 2x AF120 Corsair fans
Click to expand...

This thing is a little beast! Great job!
 
burningrave101 said:
Could you tell me how you managed to route the PSU cable behind the bottom left 120mm fan housing? I tried a couple of different ways and so far haven't figured out how others have been able to get it to fit because the hole cut out for routing cables back there is about 1-2mm too small for the PSU plug to go through.
Click to expand...

I didn't route the PSU cable through the small hole, it goes through the standard oval hole and passes right next to the top right corner of the 120mm fan (there is a gap there that is big enough for the cable to pass through)..
 
iI managed to force it through that circled small hole, just a bit of soap and pushed it through (it deformed the plastic casing around the head of the kettle leads slightly, but nothing much)
 
What's the general concensus on what's better to cool the graphics cards? 2x 80mm fans on the bottom or the single 120mm? Thanks!
 
You'll do better with a 120mm for noise and flow, I tried 80mm and it generated too much noise when cranked up enough to make a difference.
 
I'm looking to mount 2 SSD's in my FT03, but I'm having a hard time finding some mounting brackets that would hold 2 back to back. They don't have to match up with the existing screw holes, as I can drill new ones. Anyone know of brackets that would work for this?
 
Hi, I just finished building mine, here's are still some pictures :D
show-image_org-13011621265890.jpg
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I5 3750k
Corsair H80i+2 Enermax T.P. Silence
Asus Maximus V Gene
Asus Hd7950 TOP V2
Corsair Dominator Platinum 16 Gb
Corsair Force GT 128/ Segate Momentus 1TB 7200rpm+ 32Gb Sandisk ready cache
Be Quiet Pure Power 630w
 
Love all of the Builds here..Will be adding mine soon for sure,,

PS..i'm stealing some of the great ideas here :D
 
I am struggling with the sound from my 7970 CFs. Been running for over a year but I want to flash the GE bios and crank them up.
Need more cooling and lower the noise.

Thinking about Red Team Mod the GPUs but no room for more 120mm rads.
Possibly getting a FT02 and new ATX board for better air cooling.

Thoughts?


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So I ended up ordering the internal USB 3.0 upgrade kit (Part G11303260) so that I could use the internal USB 3.0 headers instead of having to use the external ports. The product link is one that I got straight from Silverstone. Things to note:

1) The USB header cable and connector is quite thick and pretty long. I wasn't able to have it follow the same holes in the case as the power/reset/etc cable bundle which would have routed it through the back of the case behind the motherboard. For now it's running down the front of the case, stuffed into the empty optical drive space before it connects to the motherboard.

2) The front panel audio cable is much shorter than the original.

3) What you see in the above link is what you get. A raw PCB with the USB and 3.5mm jacks which is quite different than what the FT03 comes with (hard plastic with the ports sticking out the top). However it installs the same and uses the same screws to secure the ports.

4) However, the buzzing that was present before when I connected my headphones is no longer there. Woohoo! :D.
 
I'm going from 680 SLI to 780 SLI - that's about an extra 100W of heat before any OC - I'm hoping the case can handle it and keep the cards cool enough to avoid throttling.

First card arrives Wednesday and I'll install it then - I won't get the second one until I sell my 680s...

After that, it looks like it might make sense to go to an intel Hex core - hopefully later this year when IB-E drops.

I don't have any thermal problems right now, but I'm wondering how this case will do at that level.

I have AP-15s running at the top and down by the video cards - can't use a fan below the CPU cooler - there just isn't enough room so I'm hoping a self contained LC will let me add back the intake fan and make it all work out...
 
what kind of temps and noise are you seeing on the 680's? What are you using for cooling?
I am thinking about adding 2x H60 for each GPU using DWOOD or RedMod.
 
passinos said:
what kind of temps and noise are you seeing on the 680's? What are you using for cooling?
I am thinking about adding 2x H60 for each GPU using DWOOD or RedMod.
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I was using 2 stock 680s and the lower system fan was a Gentle Typhoon AP-15

Temps were usually around 80c or a little higher - nothing of concern.


I just got my first 780 last night - the second one will be here today!

I put the first one in the second slot (farthest from the CPU) and it just BARELY fits - not more than 2mm of clearance, but it does fit!

I put it there because I figured it would be easier to go in that order and I wanted to make sure they would fit without me having to go to 80mm fans.
 
Wow, thats awesome. I went straight to 80's to get my 7970's in there. should have tried with 120.
Got temps a little lower by cutting a whole near the outside card intake with a 120 blowing in.

Still need to do something with water to make this rig quieter.
 
I really think the fans are important. The AP-15s seem to push a lot of air without being very loud and since that one fan mounts at an angle, you need something with good bearings or it will die very quickly.

Now don't get me wrong, when I play a demanding game, the cards do spin up and you can hear them - I used to be an obsessive SPCR reader and I've gone to great lengths in the past to build fast+silent but I found that fast+silent=BIG so now I build small+fast and use a headset that seals out a lot of the noise.

With the 780s, I think they will self regulate to stay at 80 but they will throttle so I'll have to keep an eye on it. If it's a big issue, then I might go to an FT02 or something like that.
 
I am running Noctua's 80mm up near GPU slot, 2x80's at bottom, 120mm custom hole on left at 2nd SLI/CF card, plus the 120 ontop of CD drive and finally Push/Pull 120 on the H80.
My is load playing BF3 at 5760x1200.

Thought about the FT02 or RV03 myself for better noise.

Those 780's are looking nice, were the 680's 2gb or 4gb?.
Congrats.
 
They were the reference style 2GB.

I paid for rush service and next day air from Newegg but it looks like they dropped the ball.

Should have been here by now and they just picked it up.
 
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