Silvestone Fortress vs Antec P180

yannis76

yannis76

yannis76

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Hi,

just a simple and quick question: Is it worth changing my P180 with the Fortress? I find the P180 very good but a bit tight in the interior for 3 disks and gtx260 and I am looking for an even cooler and silent solution. Furthermore, since I open the PC every month I would appreciate a more convenient (larger?) case.

All the reviews are positive for the Fortress except the missing 3,5 front bay and the cramped upper filter.

thank you in advance
 
I think the fortress looks better, personal preference obvously. Other than that i dont see much advantage. Cooling will be a bit better but its still a mid tower which equals slightly cramped internals. By the look of it yr not into the 'gamer' cases which only really leaves the uber expensive Lian Li full towers really plus the odd coolermaster nd silverstone which are expensive too. If you can sell your 180 it may be worth the 'upgrade' to the fortress tho
 
Unless I'm looking at wrong specs page - it seems the P180 is deeper and higher than the Fortress, and the Fortress is a little wider.
 
monkehhh said:
Unless I'm looking at wrong specs page - it seems the P180 is deeper and higher than the Fortress, and the Fortress is a little wider.
Click to expand...

I have also seen the specs and made the same conclusions. However looking at some Fortress installs it seems much better (!). P180 has one more problem. Because its divided into two chambers, there are difficulties passing the cables of th PSU from down chamber to upper level. There is a small hole between them which is also closed if you add another card eg sound card.
 
monkehhh said:
Unless I'm looking at wrong specs page - it seems the P180 is deeper and higher than the Fortress, and the Fortress is a little wider.
Click to expand...
P18x is actually rather big for mid tower... made 900 look really tiny when I saw them both.

P190/193 have more depth for easy fitting of long graphics cards but separate chambers cut down free space especially for accessing HDDs.

goujon945 said:
By the look of it yr not into the 'gamer' cases which only really leaves the uber expensive Lian Li full towers
Click to expand...
A70 and 71 are actually cheapest full towers outside cheap gamer bling blings and not much above Fortress.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-094-LL
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-106-LL

E-ATX size and inside layout allows really easy access to 3.5" and 5.25" devices and graphics card without anything being in front of others:
A71-kesken_s.jpg

After adding ~3kg of Bequiet Noise Absorber combination mat (foam and bitumen mass damping layer) everywhere around the case hearing HDD seek noises requires listening from close when door is closed.
Like you have probably noticed with P180 solid door is good for muffling noises.
 
I didn't realise the PC-A70B was that good for cooling. Definatley one to look at for the OP. I still prefer the look of the Fortress but the Lian Li does seem to tick all the boxes
 
What about the new Coolermaster ATCS 840? It seems to be the perfect but big case and my only concern is the noise...Has anyone compared it to P180 or Fortress?
 
yannis76 said:
Coolermaster ATCS 840? It seems to be the perfect but big case and my only concern is the noise
Click to expand...
Direct forward noise escape path is blocked but these plastic HDD caddies/trays, like in ATCS and Fortress, are all very questionable.
Hard plastic doesn't do anything to insulate vibration and if there's any loose such light material could start rattling from slightest vibration. Now most of these advertise to have some tiny rubber grommets but as these trays often wrap really tightly around the drive there's plenty of places where tray can touch drive (unlike in P180) and there's still the possibility of vibration because of tray's light weight. To top of that they increase the size of airflow obstacle inside HDD cage.
In one other forum someone complained about Raptors being very noisy in CM HAF which uses exactly similar mounting (as ATCS) and I suspect those trays were vibrating along the drive with the rest of the case... Difference between drive on hand/soft surface and one hard mounted into case/drive cage can be big even with "quiet" drive so difference with acoustically bad drive must be huge.

goujon945 said:
I didn't realise the PC-A70B was that good for cooling.
Click to expand...
Seventh case fan, PCI cooler is actually missing from that pic. (sixth is exhaust in top HDD cage)

That combination mat lining is just quite mandatory for realizing full noise containing potential unlike in Antec P180.
But as I wanted more space and device bays with good access to anything for not needing to update case (previous case, CM Stacker, had space but leaked all noise out) there wasn't much to choose from. And even with added ~3kg case weights still ~2kg less than lot smaller P180.
 
I saw Fortress by close and I was not very impressed by its looks. The interior was impressive but its faults cannot be ignored (atx non removable, no 3,5 external case)
I also saw HAF922 which was ok (a bit flashy...)
I really liked some Lian Li because of the small wheels and big comfortable depth.
I dont know...I am really looking for something trully better than P180...More silent, better cooling and more space and toolfree. Any other ideas?
 
yannis76 said:
I dont know...I am really looking for something trully better than P180...More silent, better cooling and more space and toolfree. Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Antec P190/193 has similar (HDDs in cramped compartment) design but enough depth for E-ATX motherboard and longest graphics cards. As far as noise containing ability goes it's not as good as P18x because of that big hole in side panel next to graphics card. (which is pretty much the noisiest part in gaming PC)
P18x's capabilities aren't any coincidence:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page1.html

None of the standard cases available can match P18x's noise containing ability, those thick multilayer panels resist vibration very well and layered structure also helps to contain noise.
Outside those you have to look for required size case with most silencing friendly design (no direct noise escape paths, door, working soft HDD mounting etc) and then be ready to do at least thorough mass damping for getting to near acoustics of those multilayer panels.

Tool-less 5.25" bays can be actually acoustically bad... which shouldn't have been surprise to me. (hadn't thought about that aspect)
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034042761&postcount=31

I really liked some Lian Li because of the small wheels...
Click to expand...
Yeah... you can kick case forward on the floor instead of carrying it. :p
In the end more bling bling than real feature.


Here's one adapter for changing 5.25" bay to 3.5":
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-111-LL
 
But why is Fortress better? Its not bigger for that huge VGA, it doesnt have a removable tray or at least a hole in the back for installing those big heatsinks...
Its does some benefits like the toolfree 3,5 and 5,25 bays, but that's all...
 
Been doing some research myself and tbh Im hoving over the order buttom with the Silverstone Fortress...appears very quiet and a competent layout of internal design.

The Lian-li has laso been recommended but is about £100 more.

The Fortress is at the forefront of my mind - end of week may order ;)

Other wise as quoted by PAQ they are currently awaiting release of a i7 case see quote

http://www.paqt.co.uk/

In my PaQ case the average thickness of the acoustic foam attached to the inside of the case is around 1/2"; and in consequence heat loss through the surface of the case is effectively zero: most acoustic materials are reasonably good thermal insulators.


All the heat comes out the back in the form of hot air as Herbert says. The new PaQ 5U case (not yet released so not on the website, but available in small numbers while I gear up production) is targeted at i7 sytems. It has three 140mm fans running in parallel at 450- 670rpm for case ventilation - plenty of air but a serious shortage of noise. The case is not cheap, of course - silence, truely, is golden - but the headline price does include the PSU, CPU cooler and UK VAT + delivery.
Click to expand...

Other recommendation was the Antec 182 but dont know much about this unit.
 
I'll add another vote for the Fortress, it's great to work with, very sturdy and quiet, and provides very good cooling. And all this in a midi-tower sized package that has a very high quality look and feel. If you don't have the room for a full tower or don't need masses of extra space for huge radiators then this has got to be on your shortlist.
 
2 other I came across today

Antec 1200

Due to size (which is not an issue) looks like it may suit me and the other which i am open to suggestions is the

Coolermaster Storm Sniper (which has a funky name and looks nice- 'not important to me) but again may be accomodating internally.

Any views or should i be sticking with the Antec 193 bearing in mind i want to use either the

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA775)
and
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366).

Overclockers customer support did mention the fortress would accommodate my components and the coolers but i am a little doubtful as to air flow and the vibrations from the HDD mounts maybe a minor niggle.

The PAQ cases will they accomodate the coolers Pete?
Let the responses roll please
 
To OP if youre really after beating the P182 for noise and cooling then imo you want to be looking at a high end WC set up, I doubt any other cases are going to be a marked improvement over the P182, so either stick with what you have or start saving for a WC case and set up
 
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