Silverstone Fortress FT02 (P182 killer?)

Anatorax · Post by **Anatorax** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:03 am

Hi, guys! I really enjoyed reading your comments. I am thinking of getting the case, I just love how it looks.

I have few questions though.

1) Is it possible to take the HDD cage out in order to put a long, lets say 48-cm radiator on the three fans? Can I just unscrew it or I will have to cut the case?

2) How are the I/O ports fixated? Screws? Glue? I may need USB 3.0 soon and I thought of changing those ports for some other panel that Lian Li has. I would hate to put a 5 25" front panel just for that.

3) I would really appreciate if someone could measure the distance for cables between the motherboard tray and side panel. I found a few quite interesting cable holders and I wonder whether I could use them.

4) How good are the 180 mm fans? Are there any other quieter (worth switching to) fans on the market?

And overall would it be a sensible improvement in terms of silence over Xigmatek Midgard?

Thanks in advance!

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:19 pm

Anatorax wrote:Hi, guys! I really enjoyed reading your comments. I am thinking of getting the case, I just love how it looks.

I have few questions though.

1) Is it possible to take the HDD cage out in order to put a long, lets say 48-cm radiator on the three fans? Can I just unscrew it or I will have to cut the case?

2) How are the I/O ports fixated? Screws? Glue? I may need USB 3.0 soon and I thought of changing those ports for some other panel that Lian Li has. I would hate to put a 5 25" front panel just for that.

3) I would really appreciate if someone could measure the distance for cables between the motherboard tray and side panel. I found a few quite interesting cable holders and I wonder whether I could use them.

4) How good are the 180 mm fans? Are there any other quieter (worth switching to) fans on the market?

And overall would it be a sensible improvement in terms of silence over Xigmatek Midgard?

Thanks in advance!

1) doesn't look like it will unscrew. The cages are bolted in.

2) quite hard to reach and I think they are fixed. It appears to be sealed off from the rest of the case

3) a bit over half an inch from memory

4) The fans have good flow at the slowest speed, but I think they make a bit of hum. When you turn them to high speed, there is a pretty obvious low frequency hum. Turn the fans back to low and the hum drops, but I can still hear it. Although it might be the HD in my system as well, can't discern which is the major cause of the hum.

If you takes the fans you'll have to cut the leads that connect to the fan speed switches at the top of the case. Silverstone has a new better flowing 180mm fan, which might be quiter when running at lower RPM
There are mounting holes in the trays thee for fans from 120-140mm. Some quieter 120mm fans out thee, but probably not as good with airflow. I'm not willing to try test it out just yet

They can be undervolted further to reduce noise I suppose.

brett80 · Post by **brett80** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:27 am

CoolColJ wrote:The stock fans are not that bad, but the S-Flex 20db model I have here is quite a lot better, but the 1200rpm slipstream I tried in palce of the cases top fan seems to make this faint rattle...

You can take the fans out, the 180mm ones, but once you do, you will lose the speed control as the wires are not detachable. There are holes in the fan holders that can take 120mm fans

You mean its not possible to replace 180mm stock fans for the newer SS 180mm AP Penetrators and keeping speed control?

I think I'll go with the SCYTHE S-FLEXâ„¢ "E" for replacing the top stock fan.

About the NH-D14, what do you think on replacing the bottom fan NF-P12 for another NF-P14? would it be any improve on noise/airflow?

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:39 am

brett80 wrote:
CoolColJ wrote:The stock fans are not that bad, but the S-Flex 20db model I have here is quite a lot better, but the 1200rpm slipstream I tried in palce of the cases top fan seems to make this faint rattle...

You can take the fans out, the 180mm ones, but once you do, you will lose the speed control as the wires are not detachable. There are holes in the fan holders that can take 120mm fans
You mean its not possible to replace 180mm stock fans for the newer SS 180mm AP Penetrators and keeping speed control?

I think I'll go with the SCYTHE S-FLEXâ„¢ "E" for replacing the top stock fan.

About the NH-D14, what do you think on replacing the bottom fan NF-P12 for another NF-P14? would it be any improve on noise/airflow?

the wires that connect from the fan controller to the fans go under a sticker on the fan, and from a quick look last time, appear to soldered on. I'll have to double check

The NH-D14 is honestly overkill to some extent. I have my i7 930 running at 4.1 ghz, cpu volts at 1.25, and the heatsink never gets hot, barely warm! And I have both stock fans running at 50% of the ULNA adaptors through a fan controller! Granted, I might have a highly binned golden chip here

In this case at least, there is so much air rising from the top, I don't think more airflow through the heatsink is going to help much

I don't know if the top fan helps all that much. Even on the side where the PCI slots are, there is only a 4670 GPU with a open heatsink design, and a lot of airflow comes out there. You could run a passive video card fine in this case, as long as not all your slots around the video card are not populated I suppose

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 5:28 pm

CoolColJ wrote:The NH-D14 is honestly overkill to some extent. I have my i7 930 running at 4.1 ghz, cpu volts at 1.25, and the heatsink never gets hot, barely warm! And I have both stock fans running at 50% of the ULNA adaptors through a fan controller!

1.25v & 4.1 ghz stable(?) on that cpu is quite an accomplishment... assuming that you are putting a real load on it of course, i.e., prime95 or similar.

what motherboard?

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:55 pm

danimal wrote:
CoolColJ wrote:The NH-D14 is honestly overkill to some extent. I have my i7 930 running at 4.1 ghz, cpu volts at 1.25, and the heatsink never gets hot, barely warm! And I have both stock fans running at 50% of the ULNA adaptors through a fan controller!
1.25v & 4.1 ghz stable(?) on that cpu is quite an accomplishment... assuming that you are putting a real load on it of course, i.e., prime95 or similar.

what motherboard?

1.25v in bios and 1.232v in Windows. I do a fair bit of 3D rendering on all cores, and it's been 100% stable now that I have my settings dialed in. I've also run it on Prime95 with no issues.

Motherboard is a Gigabyte X58A-UD3R rev 2. Its good, but there are some annoying issues with the MB, long post time, and I can't get it to work in S3 sleep, fans stay on with S1 sleep

I've had it at 4.26ghz with 1.3 volts, it will crash at 4.3ghz at 1.3v under load. I've also booted into windows at 4.4 ghz, but it wasn't stable, but I don't want to increase the voltage any higher. So I think 4.4 at maybe 1.4 volts might the limit.
But my ram maybe the stumbling block. I have 2 sets of non-matched 6gb 1600mhz Corsair DDR3 kits. They run fine at 1600mhz on their own, but with both together for 12gb, I can't run them together over 1200-1300mhz. So I've had to knock down the ram multiplier to 6x and the ram runs at 1170+mhz now. I guess I could sell both kits and buy a matched 1600mhz 12gb set, but for alot more money.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:24 pm

perfect choices of overclocking software there... i've always liked gigabyte motherboards, but they aren't perfect.

i did a bit of reading, it looks like the 930's in general are better overclockers than the 920 that i have... technology marches onward!

you should be able to go up to 1.4v, no problem, the cpu cooler will take it... when i applied the indigo extreme, the cpu temp ran up to 100 degrees or so, with no apparent damage... really freaky to see the cpu burning up like that, but it'll give you a whole new outlook on what safe cpu temps are.

brett80 · Post by **brett80** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 12:22 am

CoolColJ wrote:And I have both stock fans running at 50% of the ULNA adaptors through a fan controller!

What ext. fan controller did you get, for managing or switching normal and ULNA modes on NH-D14 fans from outside the case?

I guess, using one of this ones http://www.lamptron.com/products/view/F ... roller_FC4 theres no need of ULNA adapter, since I would may switch it from outside, right? As my understanding, the ULNA is minded to leave it fixed, and if you want to speed up fans rpm, you have to get into the case.

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 3:13 am

brett80 wrote:
CoolColJ wrote:And I have both stock fans running at 50% of the ULNA adaptors through a fan controller!
What ext. fan controller did you get, for managing or switching normal and ULNA modes on NH-D14 fans from outside the case?

I guess, using one of this ones http://www.lamptron.com/products/view/F ... roller_FC4 theres no need of ULNA adapter, since I would may switch it from outside, right? As my understanding, the ULNA is minded to leave it fixed, and if you want to speed up fans rpm, you have to get into the case.

I have a NZXT Sentry 2. It's ok, the only reason why I went for this one is because it uses a touch screen, so no knobs to stick out and ruin the look of the case, since the case does not have a door. It's flush and looks quite nice with the LED display. But the settings are quite coarse, 40-100% in 10 % steps. Anything below 40% turns the fan off. You can run the fans off the included temp sensors, either they stay low, or jump to max speed when the set temp is exceeded, but I haven't bothered.

I basicly had the UNLA adaptor fitted, and took the leads from the fan controller and plugged them into the end of the UNLA cables, allowing me to undervolt them. The UNLA adaptor seems to run the fans at around 900rpm, so this allows me to drop them to around 600-700rpm.

If your fan controller can go down to 4-5 volts you probably won't need to use em. I was going to get a Scythe Kaze Server Fan controller, but it has knobs that stick out, although it's probably a better fan controller with a range from 3.7-12v and has RPM readout etc

I tried running the 180mm case fans from the fan controller, but it seems to work funky inline with the case mounted speed switches. I think the polarity is reversed or something. And I could only reduce the speed 1-2 increments before the fans slowed to a crawl.
I do have a Zalman Fanmate from my old PC that I may try, to set the case fans up so that when the switch is set to high the speeds are closer to the old low speed setting, and make the low setting even slower.

brett80 · Post by **brett80** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:25 am

I just dont like those ext temp sensors to check the temps, placed on surface of the chip.

Would rather prefer a system that be able to works on the system self temps, much more accurate and reliable, like the motherboard, or via software. Just set a desired temp, and the device may power the fans the lowest needed fot the temp set to be stable.; and auto-adjust real-time more or less power depending on CPU workload.

Wondering if exist such a device, hard or soft.

Anatorax · Post by **Anatorax** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:08 pm

Oh, btw, guys, I forgot to report: I actually got my hands on the special edition case that comes with the new fans (AP181). I also got a normal Silverstone 180mm fan to compare.

The new fans come with a different grill that is integrated and have higher maximum rpm. I used a Xigmatek Monocool controller to control the voltage. I came to the following conclusions:

1. On the max speed AP181 sounds like a helicopter taking of (the same kind of noise). But the airflow is also like from a helicopter. The air flows straight and I can feel the airflow even if I put my hand as far as 1 meter away from the fan. On the lowest setting it is almost silent, I have no complaints, but it starts getting audible pretty quickly as you increase voltage (I think with ~7V it gets audible). That is mostly due to the grill.

2. The normal fan nearly inaudible with ~10V, slightly audible on maximum. However, from my observations it seems that its airflow on maximum is barely higher that AP181's airflow on low. I tested it with a slip of paper cut in stripes and attached to the top of the fan - the angles were nearly the same with AP181 on min and normal fan on max with a bigger "dead" spot in the middle of the normal fan. I can imagine the normal fan pushing more air through, but it gets "sprayed" rather than directed in a straight line.

I didn't test the in-case temps, because I have only one normal fan, but I think an AP181 running on 20% would yield nearly the same result as a normal one on 50%, both equally quiet.

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:53 pm

brett80 wrote:I just dont like those ext temp sensors to check the temps, placed on surface of the chip.

Would rather prefer a system that be able to works on the system self temps, much more accurate and reliable, like the motherboard, or via software. Just set a desired temp, and the device may power the fans the lowest needed fot the temp set to be stable.; and auto-adjust real-time more or less power depending on CPU workload.

Wondering if exist such a device, hard or soft.

You can use the Motherboard fan headers to do that, but only PWM fans will change speed. Normal fans will run at full speed

brett80 · Post by **brett80** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 7:07 am

I've just replaced top fan of my FT02 for a Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm. Are there any proper Nidec or SanyoDekin 180mm fans for replacing 180mm stock fans to improve performance at airflow/noise ratio?

What about this ones?

Long Life Fan San Ace 172L

Oddly this ones seems to be pretty much the same, from Nidec,

SERVO D1751S Tube Axials

Anatorax · Post by **Anatorax** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:43 am

Hi, guys, I need your help. After initial fascination with the case I found quite a lot of little annoying defects in my case. For example:

1) the top front cover with power buttons and I/O ports is not properly aligned with the steel front. It is lower than the steel front by ~ 3 mm and is not horizontal (on the right side it is 1 mm lower and on the left one - 3 mm lower);
2) the power button is deeper on the left side than on the right one;
3) the right side panel is misaligned as well: it is in line with the front steel panel on the bottom, but is 2 mm "deeper" near the top;
4) the top cover is a bit wider at the front.

And this is the Limited Edition case! I payed a nearly 200 bucks for misaligned panels?! The panels in my Xigmatek Midgard for 50 bucks were aligned properly. Isn't Silverstone Fortress 2 Limited Red Edition be supposed to be like flawless costing 225 Euros?

I have searched the internet and found few more reports about similar defects. It can be just a couple of bad cases that passed the quality control by mistake. Or it can be a common issue. Could someone please check their case and post the result here?

I am a bit frustrated - I really like the case and was about to do some mild modding before I discovered the defects. If it turns out to be just some bad mistake I will just sell it on ebay and get myself a new one. If it is a common issue... I will still sell it, and go back to my Midgard.

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:11 am

Anatorax wrote:Hi, guys, I need your help. After initial fascination with the case I found quite a lot of little annoying defects in my case. For example:

1) the top front cover with power buttons and I/O ports is not properly aligned with the steel front. It is lower than the steel front by ~ 3 mm and is not horizontal (on the right side it is 1 mm lower and on the left one - 3 mm lower);
2) the power button is deeper on the left side than on the right one;
3) the right side panel is misaligned as well: it is in line with the front steel panel on the bottom, but is 2 mm "deeper" near the top;
4) the top cover is a bit wider at the front.

And this is the Limited Edition case! I payed a nearly 200 bucks for misaligned panels?! The panels in my Xigmatek Midgard for 50 bucks were aligned properly. Isn't Silverstone Fortress 2 Limited Red Edition be supposed to be like flawless costing 225 Euros?

I have searched the internet and found few more reports about similar defects. It can be just a couple of bad cases that passed the quality control by mistake. Or it can be a common issue. Could someone please check their case and post the result here?

I am a bit frustrated - I really like the case and was about to do some mild modding before I discovered the defects. If it turns out to be just some bad mistake I will just sell it on ebay and get myself a new one. If it is a common issue... I will still sell it, and go back to my Midgard.

1) mine is like that too, but it looks normal and by design to me

2) mine is slightly deeper on the right side, but not by much, you have to be really fussy to care!

3) Mine is like that on the both sides. I didn't even notice till you mention it, and it doesn't bother me at all. These side panels are flexible and do bend

4) I don't have mine on

phoenixrage · Post by **phoenixrage** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:34 am

I have a regular FT-02, just about to finish putting all the parts in. Should I swap the fans to the newer ones? I do have a fan controller so noise is not going to be an issue, but if the newer fans are better than whats in there. It would also help a lot to get rid of those damn wires that go up to the switches.

brett80 · Post by **brett80** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:03 am

Does anyone know how to do to attach the SS clear-cmos device, sepparately sold? FT02 has a metal cap on it, theres no way to easy remove...

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brett80 · Post by **brett80** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 3:43 pm

brett80 wrote:I've just replaced top fan of my FT02 for a Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm. Are there any proper Nidec or SanyoDekin 180mm fans for replacing 180mm stock fans to improve performance at airflow/noise ratio?

What about this ones?

Long Life Fan San Ace 172L

Oddly this ones seems to be pretty much the same, from Nidec,

SERVO D1751S Tube Axials

No one has any thought on this?

Jipa · Post by **Jipa** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:10 am

brett80 wrote:Does anyone know how to do to attach the SS clear-cmos device, sepparately sold? FT02 has a metal cap on it, theres no way to easy remove...

Screw driver and a reasonable amount of force.

phoenixrage · Post by **phoenixrage** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:42 am

finally got mine up and running.. not much air flow from the bottom fans, at least not as much as I was expecting..

my i7 930 w/ megahalems idles really low though (case is right beside an A/C vent).. my GTX480's idle in low 50's....

Touche · Post by **Touche** » Thu Sep 02, 2010 4:49 am

How does this case compare to Antec P18x regarding noise?

Three 180mm fans (even on low) + open top doesn't seem very quiet. My P182 has 3 Scythe S-Flex @ 800 rpm, Corsair VX450 and a quiet Powercolor PCS+ 4670 card. Would FT02 be louder with the same components?

teiresias · Post by **teiresias** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:56 pm

Is anyone here using this case with a graphics card (or pair of graphics cards) that DO NOT have external exhaust? I know the manual says to use a card that does external exhaust, but the common theme on cards with those cooling solutions is that they're louder than the other cooling solutions - at least with regard to GTX460 offerings.

I'd like to SLI a pair of GTX460s in this case, and I'm certain the graphics cards will be the loudest thing in there, but I'd rather not overdo it, but I also don't want to overheat anything either.

rotor · Post by **rotor** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:21 am

teiresias wrote:Is anyone here using this case with a graphics card (or pair of graphics cards) that DO NOT have external exhaust? I know the manual says to use a card that does external exhaust, but the common theme on cards with those cooling solutions is that they're louder than the other cooling solutions - at least with regard to GTX460 offerings.

I'm running a single MSI HD5770 Hawk. At the fundamental level hot air rises, and the open fan nature of the Hawk means that the heat can take whatever path it wants. At idle the air coming out the top of the case is at ambient temperature, and at maximum load (using Furmark) the air feels pleasantly warm, certainly not hot.

teiresias · Post by **teiresias** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:49 am

rotor wrote:
teiresias wrote:Is anyone here using this case with a graphics card (or pair of graphics cards) that DO NOT have external exhaust? I know the manual says to use a card that does external exhaust, but the common theme on cards with those cooling solutions is that they're louder than the other cooling solutions - at least with regard to GTX460 offerings.
I'm running a single MSI HD5770 Hawk. At the fundamental level hot air rises, and the open fan nature of the Hawk means that the heat can take whatever path it wants. At idle the air coming out the top of the case is at ambient temperature, and at maximum load (using Furmark) the air feels pleasantly warm, certainly not hot.

I figured it wouldn't be a big deal, particularly with the three intakes at the bottom of the case, I just wanted to see what other people were doing in that regard. Thanks for the input!

I don't plan on running any fullsize harddrives in the actual HDD carriers, so I might actually remove all of them to maybe give the front bottom intake more ability to push some air around without obstruction, as well.