Silverstone Fortress FT01

Results Analysis

The thermal results for the Silverstone are an extraordinarily mixed bag, with the FT01 producing a world beating performance in the CPU stress test with a CPU Delta-T of just 20°C , cutting the Cooler Master HAF 932’s reign at the top extremely short. However, the GPU stress test was a world apart from this triumph, with the FT01 delivering a very disappointing result with a GPU Delta-T of a whopping 48°C, which ranks the FT01 towards the bottom of our results charts.

We’re pretty sure this bizarre pattern is down to the FT01’s lack of a side panel fan intake combined with the positive airflow configuration and some unfortunate design decisions. Because the top 180mm fan is blowing a large amount of cool air directly down onto the CPU cooler, we see excellent CPU temperatures, and the single 120mm exhaust fan works well with this set up to draw hot air quickly out of the case.

However, the graphics card misses out on much of the cool air from the top 180mm, which is swiftly removed by the 120mm exhaust and because the front 180mm intake is significantly blocked by the large drive cage assembly the GPU performance suffers terribly as a result.

It’s certainly a very frustrating situation to have a case perform so well under one situation, and then so poorly in another, and could easily have been avoided by reducing the hard drive capacity of the FT01 in exchange for more space between the drives, thus allowing improved airflow from the front 180mm intake. Of course, the other option would have been to install a side panel fan, but that would mean destroying the FT01's sleek looks.


Thankfully the noise levels of the FT01 were much more consistent than the thermal results, with the low RPM cooling fans only just audible above the background hum of our office and very quiet on the whole. It certainly seems to be the way forward for case manufacturers to make case fans larger, allowing them to spin slower and make less noise and we expect that just as 120mm fans have replaced 80mm, we expect larger fans like the 180mm ones used in the FT01 to become much more common in enthusiast case design.

Final Thoughts

Looking at the Silverstone FT01, we see a real missed opportunity to deliver what could have been an extremely good case. To Silverstone’s credit, the FT01 is absolutely beautiful to look at – the understated elegance and style here is unquestionable, and if we were judging it by looks alone, it’d be getting a ten without question. The CPU thermal performance is also extremely good, beating the previous top spot holder by a full 2°C in the CPU load stress test.

Sadly though, there’s a lot that’s not so impressive with the FT01, and unfortunately most of it’s on the inside. The dust filters in particular are a real low point, with the cooling fans audible rubbing against them and in the case of the PSU fan very loudly thanks to the unnecessarily tight PSU mounting.

The top fan’s dust filter is another low point, requiring you to literally dismantle your whole set up to remove and clean it, and we’ve seen from our results that the hard disk drive cages, while offering plenty of storage, are overly cramped and have a very clear effect on the FT01’s performance, blocking airflow into the case and leading to some very disappointing GPU stress test temperatures.

While obviously not as expensive as its bigger sibling, the TJ07 which costs well over £200, the FT01 still weighs in at just over £150, and stock is hard to come by in the UK right now. However, you’re missing out on a lot of the increased functionality and better features of the TJ07, and the cost saving measures between the two doesn’t make the cut price FT01 that enticing – we’d rather have a case done right and pay a bit more than pay less and get an inferior product.

In this price range there’s literally a whole army of competition too, with fine examples like the Lian Li V1110 for just £20 more or the Akasa Omega for £25 less much more worthy considerations.

It’s sad, but the Silverstone FT01 is another example where a very fine case has been brought down by a number of small, but really noticeable problems. And while it might look gorgeous and tempt you in with those very impressive CPU results, the internal design flaws are more than enough to make you think twice before investing in this beauty.

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Build Quality
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Ease of Use
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

What do these scores mean?

Update - 07:45, 28th October 2008:

Silverstone has informed us that it has addressed some of our concerns with the Fortress FT01's build quality. The company says it replaced the fans and dust filters on all production models before they made it to retail - we've got some more information on the refinements in this news story.