SilverStone Fortress FT03

[mlee49]

I have this case, with a full blown system in it, rather than the light one used in this review.

i2500k, asus p8p67-m pro, corsair vengeance 2x4gb, strider 850w gold, with pp05 short cable, corsair h70 water cooler, powercolor hd6870x2 in crossfire, 2 x ocz vertex 1 in raid0, wd 2tb black.

all in this small case, i love it.

i documented my build on my facebook album and can answer any questions.

you can find the photos and comments here... just click thru to my facebook album.

http://shylock.net/sandybridge

only thing that i changed since this build was, i replaced the twin 80mm noctua fans with a 120mm scythe s-flex 1600rpm, since the crossfire were running hotter than i would like.

Very nice system, I went for a blend of power where small in some areas and large in others. The ITX setup gave a dramatic edge to the inside but the large heatsink and 275 Co-op emphasized out other areas.

That is a pretty sweet case. I would love to build a little, powerful rig in an FT-03.

This case is great for packing a punch in small places. The size it takes up is very small since it's vertically stacked.

I want one of these badly but I am not sure I am willing to step down to a mATX setup yet.

I definitely know what you mean. I debated hard about switching over the main system to mATX.
Good thing there are more and more better mATX and below motherboard choices.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

I definitely know what you mean. I debated hard about switching over the main system to mATX.
Good thing there are more and more better mATX and below motherboard choices.

I just have trouble seeing myself giving up either 3 video cards or my PCI-E SSD drive.

 

[theshiv]

Can anyone answer a question about the standoffs:

I've never built a computer before, and I'm about to install the motherboard into the FT03. I always thought that you needed to install standoffs for conductivity reasons, but I'm running into a problem with this case.

If I install standoffs into the proper places, the mobo is too high for the i/o plate. Are the "built-in" standoffs sufficient??

Thanks!

 

[Cold Storm]

I've had that same problem with the case that I got... I just did this.. I didn't screw in the top stand offs and from that, I could allow the plate to work right with the mobo... But, I didn't keep it on long.. I hate using those plates.. lol..

That was my Asus Max III Gene board.. Never tried on my MSI board..

 

[mlee49]

Can anyone answer a question about the standoffs:

I've never built a computer before, and I'm about to install the motherboard into the FT03. I always thought that you needed to install standoffs for conductivity reasons, but I'm running into a problem with this case.

If I install standoffs into the proper places, the mobo is too high for the i/o plate. Are the "built-in" standoffs sufficient??

Thanks!

I noticed that when the motherboard doesn't fit into the i/o shield it's usually the i/o shield not pushed in all the way. Sometimes they may need to be firmly pressed in all the way before it will fit.

If the stand offs are still giving you trouble try re-mounting them, I cant think of any reason why they wouldn't fit correctly.