The Silverstone Fortress bears a name with the meaning of being exceptionally robust and withstanding the onslaught of everyday use. The thick bent aluminum piece spanning the bottom front and top certainly honor that name and its meaning. At a price tag of just under 200 € one should not expect anything else. The case manages to cram seven hard drives into a very compact chassis, where others manage just four or five such bays. On the other hand the Fortress lacks a 3.5 inch bay, which means that such an adapter will set you back another 15-20 € - increasing the overall price of the enclosure. Such adapters are usually included with cases of this price range. Silverstone has gone all out on providing a good looking case with a sturdy exterior, while the side panels need to be handled with a certain degree of care, so they won't bend out of shape.
The interior of the Fortress manages to impress in some areas, but also does away with interesting functionality we are used to seeing in enthusiast enclosures. On one hand you get the afore mentioned space for an above average amount of hard drives and an excellent locking mechanism for the large drive bays. On the other hand the Fortress lacks essentials or simply teases you with possible functionality. The screws for the mainboard expansion slots are hard to reach without the proper tools and the screw-less systems turn out to require screws in some form or another. Considering the price of the Fortress it is clearly aimed at the enthusiast crowd, but it lacks any possibility to install a large radiator and does not have a cutout in the mainboard tray to offer easy removal of cooler backplates without having to take out the entire mainboard itself.
This leaves us with an interesting case, which tries to sport the very successful genes of the TJ07 in a new, compact shape. These smaller dimensions also means less space to work with and less possibilities to truly innovate. All things considered, the Fortress manages to surprise in many areas, with a few small glitches here and there. So if you you are eying the TJ07, but think it is too large, take a look at the Silverstone Fortress - it may be just the case you are looking for.