Hardware SilverStone Fortress FTZ01 Review

I do own the Raven RVZ01 and I am still impressed with this case. I found that the ideal setup for my system (i7 4790k + Gainward 680 GTX Phantom - no OC) is to pull fresh air in via the graphics compartment and exhaust via the CPU/MoBo compartment. I have ditched the 140/13 mil fan that came with me Raijintek Pallas in favor of a standard 120/25 mil fan mounted to the case's sidepanel with rubber rivets facing outwards.
I wouldn't be able to post temperatures out of memory but both them and the noise level are so subtle that I keep forgetting to look them up...

 

It's essentially a nicer looking shell for the RVZ01's chassis. Which if it came out with the RVZ01 would be fantastic, but right now is up against both the smaller RVZ02, the Node 202 from Fractal Designs, and a plethora of boutique ITX cases that are even smaller with the same hardware support.

 

But the RVZ02 looks nasty with that awful, cheap looking plastic side grill.

What I don't like about this case is again to do with the vents. I really don't like the look of the screw-in grill plates used on both sides for the dual vent and the single vent on the other side, especially as the other single vent is a more discrete 'punched-hole' style vent.
It would have looked much better and more consistent to have both grill plates on the same side and then the discrete vent as the single vent on the other side, or even better... ALL vents should have been of the 'punched-hole' type from the start. The aesthetics of those vents are enough to put me off buying the case.

 

Exactly. With a standard 25 mil fan there is less than a 3 mil gap between the top of the heat sink and the fan anyway.

And I would agree, the standard side panel fan grills do even look worse than the plastic parts. Hence my plan is to dremel them out and stick a hex mesh on top. I already bought some racing grill which usually gets used to pimp rides. On this occasion, the CPU compartment will see an upgrade to a 140 mil fan which uses the 120’s mountings thus increasing airflow and/or reducing noise even more

Actually, I found the Node 202 very interesting but the reduced height is an issue to me: It would not allow my setup as described above. Additionally, my next GPU (most probably a 980 Ti, MSI, Gigabyte or so) will see the stock fans removed whilst retaining the heat sink. Then, the side intake will get two standard 120 fans which are 25 mil thick. The plan is to use the card’s pwm signal but draw power form the power supply directly. This would also not be possible in the Node 202 or RVZ02!

 

Pah, I've got one with a slim 240mm radiator cooling the CPU and GPU quite happily. It's certainly awkward and requires some patience, but Silverstone have a guide on recommended components for putting in 1x120mm and 2x120mm radiators.

It does mean some sacrifices - low profile RAM, notably - but it will go in. They recommend barbs for a reason.