Silverstone Fortress FT05 Case Review

By David Shields

Manufacturer: SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Name: Fortress Series FT05
Model Number: SST-Ft05S
UPC: 84476101167 EAN: 470007221679
Price As Tested: $180 (MSRP)

Full Disclosure: SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd.

Silverstone is known for creating high quality PC cases with top notch cooling and premium materials, chiefly the Raven and Fortress series towers. Recently, Silverstone updated their Raven series line with the RV05, and now they’ve released the newest chassis in the Fortress lineup, the FT05. Designed to combine supreme elegance with powerful cooling potential, the FT05 comes in a pair of sleek colors and utilizes a motherboard tray rotated 90° to accommodate a vertical airflow design.

While the Raven and Fortress series appear to be very different, they often use the same interior design. This is certainly the case with the RV05 and the FT05 cases. With this in mind, how can consumers decide which chassis suits their needs? In this Benchmark Reviews article, I will discuss the differences between the RV05 and FT05 and potential reasons to pick one over the other before delivering my final rating of the FT05.

Model No.	SST-FT05S
Materials	Aluminum outer shell, steel body.
Dimensions	221mm (W) x 483mm (H) x 427mm (D).
Cooling System	180mm Fan x 2, 600/900/1200rpm, 17/25/34dBA downward compatible with 120mm Fan x 3, or 140mm Fan x 2.
External I/O	USB 3.0 x 2, Audio x 1, MIC x 1
Expansion Slots	7
Storage Capacity	Slim slot-loading optical x 1, 3.5″ x 2, 2.5” x 2.
Compatibility	Fits Graphics Cards up to 312 mm long 162 mm of CPU cooler clearance Cable management space: 19 mm Full ATX PSU (w/ HDD cages 175 mm, w/o 304 mm).

If you hate seeing plastic on your cases, good news! The only plastic on this chassis is the removable top panel cover, the flip up panel over the IO ports, and the carry handles on the top. The remainder of the FT05 is a solid mix of aluminum for the outer bodywork and steel for the main structure. You can buy this case in silver or and black, with a side panel window available for both versions. Regardless of which version you choose you’ll also get a reflective mirror strip around the front and sides. On the front mirrored strip you also get a nice bright Silverstone logo lit in white, along with the red HDD activity LED.

If you don’t get the side panel window, then your panels will look just like this – a plain sheet of aluminum. Each panel has a layer of sound dampening material on the inside, and are removed by first taking off the top cover and then releasing the latch under the rim. However, the panels are pretty flimsy and bend. To get an idea, look at my photo of the rear of the case and you’ll see that the side panel is actually bulging out slightly. I felt like the panels on the RV05 were sturdier and offered more clearance for cable management.

The back panel is identical to the one on the RV05. An opening is provided at the top for cables to reach the motherboard backplate, while a magnetic dust filter is provided for the PSU intake. This dust filter is attached via magnets and to get it off you just pull down and out from the side of the case.

The bottom of the case features a solid panel with four foam feet. On the RV05 this panel was left open to facilitate open airflow, but the FT05 takes in air from a gap in between this panel and the main body.

Finally, the top panel is covered by this plastic panel that simply slides in place between the side panels. Yes, its unfortunately plastic, and after sliding it on and off a few times I starting noticing a little damage and cracks on the joints that hold it in place. Clearly not the sturdiest design, and a real disappointment given the attention to the rest of the exterior.

Overall the FT05 is sturdy, and has plenty of aluminum and steel. However, the side panels especially felt flimsier than the ones on the RV05, and I’d even go as far as to say the plastic bodywork on the RV05 was better built than the steel on the FT05. It’ll last you a while, but you better hope it doesn’t take any knocks.

As discussed earlier, the FT05 has the same interior design as the RV05. This is a good thing, but also a bad one as well. When I reviewed the RV05 I rated the interior design highly, but also noted it had some issues. As this is the same design, the FT05 has the same problems. Furthermore, the design of the FT05 introduces additional problems when constructing a system. To start off though, I will note one improvement in the design. On the RV05 the external I/O ports were covered with a simply rubber cover, but here Silverstone has opted for a flip up plastic cover instead. Also, the dual fan controllers have been moved to here so that you no longer have to remove the top panel to get to them like you did on the RV05. I opted to keep the stock 180mm fans and connect them to these control switches. At high speed the fans moved quite a bit of air, but were quite loud. At low power they were inaudible, but only created a slight breath of air.

Without the side panels and top cover you can see the standard assortment of expansion slots, the motherboard I/O hole, and the 120mm exhaust mount. The dual arches at the top have holes in them so you can reach the screws underneath, and also function as very sturdy carry handles. Just like on the RV05 though, to remove / install hardware in the expansion slot you have to first remove the slot cover then it’s a little awkward to reach the screws themselves. This design makes little sense to me, and simply over complicates installing GPUs and other expansion cards.

The bottom of the FT05, just like the RV05, can mount dual 180mm fans, dual 140mm fans, or even triple 120mm fans. In my RV05 I was able to install a 240mm radiator in push / pull configuration. I’m not sure if you could go push / pull with the space provided in the FT05, but you could definitely get a radiator installed. The included 180mm fans push plenty of air but are quite loud at medium and high settings. In fact, you may as well not have sound dampening padding at all…it doesn’t do anything except get in the way.

As with the RV05 the FT05 has a pair of SSD brackets on the backplate. But also just like the RV05, the brackets didn’t fit my Crucial SSD properly, which lead me to simply slide it in and have the brackets hold it in place without screws.

Cable management isn’t bad for a case this size. In fact, when taking interior space into account the FT05 has got great cable management…with two caveats. One, you only get two cable tie down points, which drastrically limits your options for arranging cables. Two, the sound dampening padding on the side panel further reduces cable space. In particular, I found I could not fit my power cable behind the panel without some effort. The RV05’s side panels were curved on the inside, so this wasn’t a problem with that case. Also on the backplate is the mounting for the slim slot loading optical drive. Due to the padding, cable clearance is limited to 19mm minimum as opposed to 25mm in the RV05.

Finally, you can see the full build inside the FT05. This is a full ATX motherboard mounted 90° along with a 750TI graphics card. The PSU is a HX750 from Corsair. Underneath the PSU is where the removable 3.5″ HDD drive cages go, but this PSU was a little large to fit with the cages in place. I highly recommend, if not insist, you get a modular PSU when building in the FT05, there simply isn’t room for extra cables. As far as expansion compatability, you get a nice GPU clearance of up to 312.42mm long and 166.88mm wide, 162mm of CPU cooler clearance,and room to fit a full ATX PSU (w/ HDD cages 175mm, w/o cages 305mm of space).

Building in the FT05 was an overall painless experience. Some problems, such as the noise padding, the wrong sized SSD brackets, and the trickiness of installing components such as the PSU and wiring the cables can pose some difficulty, but given the size of the interior you have to admit Silverstone has still done a good job designing and organizing the interior of the FT05.

Why should you buy the FT05 instead of the RV05? Well, if you like having more metal in your case, you want a smaller design with many of the same features, or you want a chassis that isn’t very flashy but still elegant, then the FT05 might be worth considering. Otherwise, you’ll probably prefer to buy a cheaper case with more expansion options. For the same price as this you could even get a Corsair 780T full tower case with far more room. In essence, you really do pay for the materials of the FT05 and not for it’s features. This might appeal to some, but many builders will likely be put off by this premium design. It’s a good case…if you want to shell out the money for what is basically an RV05 with more metal,

When I reviewed the RV05 I found that with a 240mm radiator in the bottom and a 120mm exhaust the cooling potential outdid larger cases like the Enthoo Pro and Corsair 780T. However, because of the reduced intake cleareance the FT05’s cooling performance is not quite as good. However, slap a 240 or even 360mm radiator in the bottom and you’ll have no trouble keeping your system nice and frosty. A note though – when choosing a graphics card I would recommend a blower card to keep it from circulating hot air back into the system.

This is certainly one of the most elegant cases I’ve seen in awhile. I wish they had used brushed aluminum instead of the rough coating they have, but this is a case that’ll definitely turn heads, especially if you add some lights with a side panel window. I’m actually more partial to the black version than the silver, and the mirror strip around the front and sides looks great. The logo on the front is also a nice touch, but for some strange reason Silverstone installed the red HDD activity light right behind it do your white logo will occasionally look red.

The FT05 has more metal than any other case I’ve seen. This is obviously good news to the many plastic haters, but as I’ve mentioned several times, I have had plastic cases sturdier than the FT05. I can’t help but feel a careless kick or drop will permanently dent the panels in some manner.

As far as functionality goes, my biggest issue is with the sound dampening foam. It’s thin, it gets in the way, and you have a large gap at the bottom and top of the chassis that’ll let all that noise out anyways. Of course, it may also be that Silverstones’s 180mm fans are quite loud. But if you have to buy quiet fans to turn down the noise then the padding is just redundant.

The FT05 is going to retail for $180 (non-window) and 185 (windowed) when released later this month. For a case that is basically an RV05 built into a slightly smaller body this is pretty pricey. Granted this is made mostly of metal, but even so its not the sturdiest metal I’ve ever seen. Also, many cheaper mid-towers provide many more features for less. Really, when it comes to buying this, your paying for what its made of, not for what it has inside. This may seem reasonable to some builders, but I’ve had plastic cases just as sturdy as the FT05 without the price.

Again, the Fortress FT05 is a solid buy. But at it’s price, I think Silverstone could have done a better job of checking some nagging issues, or even improved the build quality. If you want it, and you can afford it, go right ahead and buy it. But the majority of builders will likely pass over the Silverstone FT05 as the case for their next build.

Pros:

+ Overall solid construction of mostly metal.
+ Simple system construction and expansion despite size.
+ Looks great.
+ Included 180mm fans generate plenty of moving air.

– Despite being made of almost all metal, still feels flimsy.
– Sound dampening foam is not effective and interferes with cable management.
– Price for features ratio is a little skewed. You basically pay premium for the chassis materials.

• Performance: 9.00
• Appearance: 9.50
• Construction: 8.75
• Functionality: 9.00
• Value: 8.00

Quality Recognition: Benchmark Reviews Silver Tachometer Award.