Silverstone Fortress FT02B Vs Silverstone RV02W-EW

{T5K}TT · 15 Mar 2011 at 10:46

Hi,

I'm confused about the difference between the Silverstone Fortress FT02B

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-066-SV&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

and the Silverstone RV02W-EW Raven 2 Evolution

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-073-SV&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

Other than colour, and external case design (just aesthetics), are there any internal differences which aid cooling, and/or system building, like better cable management, that kind of thing?

Both have the air penetrator fans, and shift the motherboard 90 degrees to the right.

Thanks for help.

Somnambulist · 15 Mar 2011 at 13:00

The original RV02 had 8 expansion slots and held less drives. It looks like they've changed that with this Evolution update, so the cases are pretty much the same now.

The only difference that seems to remain is materials and the FT02 having some foam noise dampening internally.

{T5K}TT · 15 Mar 2011 at 15:06

Somnambulist said:
The original RV02 had 8 expansion slots and held less drives. It looks like they've changed that with this Evolution update, so the cases are pretty much the same now.

The only difference that seems to remain is materials and the FT02 having some foam noise dampening internally.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, the noise reduction system seems different.

Also, seems they updated the HDD loading system in the new Raven RV02, to be more like (same?) as the FT02.

Somnambulist · 15 Mar 2011 at 17:52

I'm not sure. At one point I was going to get one of these; preferred the looks of the FT02 and the RV02 was that little bit longer, which would have made it overhang my desk, which coupled with it having feet rather than the flat bottom of the FT02 made it a no-no. I don't think the noise reduction of the Fortress makes a massive difference given the fans for both are at the bottom and the tops are basically open vents. Probably depends on the quietness of your hardware.

If you can afford either, get the one you like the look of more! I quite like the white Raven, but I still think the FT02 is one of the best looking cases out there.

Marvin · 15 Mar 2011 at 19:06

The internal structure of the two cases is identical. IE: they both have a steel frame which is the same, with the same features, fans and the rest. The FT02 has a 4-5mm one piece aluminium fascia that wraps around the case, and a different top panel. The RV02 has plastic panels all round, and traditional feet. AFAIK, the side panels are identical too - they are steel on the FT02, so I think they're the same. The FT02/RV02 is one of the best all round air cooling cases there is, and are surprisingly quiet with the AP181 fans, especially hooked up to a fan controller.

{T5K}TT · 15 Mar 2011 at 23:49

Marvin said:
The internal structure of the two cases is identical. IE: they both have a steel frame which is the same, with the same features, fans and the rest. The FT02 has a 4-5mm one piece aluminium fascia that wraps around the case, and a different top panel. The RV02 has plastic panels all round, and traditional feet. AFAIK, the side panels are identical too - they are steel on the FT02, so I think they're the same. The FT02/RV02 is one of the best all round air cooling cases there is, and are surprisingly quiet with the AP181 fans, especially hooked up to a fan controller.

Nice information, thanks.

I've read good review after good review of these cases. Either seems very capable of supplying excellent cooling. The FT02 must surely be one of the best looking cases around. That said, the Raven looks good too.

One thing I've noticed is cable management around end of the vga card. Is there a neat way to feed the vga power cable between the fans? I've seen builds with the vga power cable running over the middle AP fan. Seems less than ideal.

Also, I'd like to use a Thermaltake Frio cpu cooler with an Asus P8P67 Pro board. Would this cooler fit do you think?

Steves1982 · 16 Mar 2011 at 08:48

I bought an FT-02 recently and have been very pleased with it.

For cooling it is excellent, I run the 4 fans from a Kaze Server fan controller. I have set the fans to 600RPM and the case is almost silent and tbh I haven't needed to turn them up any higher than that yet and that's with a 2500k at 4.6GHz and 2 x 6950s overclocked and unlocked to 6970s.

As for the GPU power cable there isn't much you can do about not running them over the middle fan. There is no room to feed them through the sides or in between but I'm not too worried about it.

Pics halfway down this page if you want to have a look:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17185358&page=155

{T5K}TT · 16 Mar 2011 at 09:23

maximusmi2 said:
I bought an FT-02 recently and have been very pleased with it.

For cooling it is excellent, I run the 4 fans from a Kaze Server fan controller. I have set the fans to 600RPM and the case is almost silent and tbh I haven't needed to turn them up any higher than that yet and that's with a 2500k at 4.6GHz and 2 x 6950s overclocked and unlocked to 6970s.

As for the GPU power cable there isn't much you can do about not running them over the middle fan. There is no room to feed them through the sides or in between but I'm not too worried about it.

Pics halfway down this page if you want to have a look:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17185358&page=155

Thanks for the reply.

Good looking build. I see vga power cables clear the fans by a gap, which seems good.

How long are those graphics cards? What is the maximum length the FT02 and Raven RV02 can have fitted?

roman59 · 16 Mar 2011 at 09:27

Just looked at your case photos Maximus nice build.

One quick question though how much clearance is there between your cpu cooler & your xms3 ram?

I am thinking of swapping out my H70 & putting one of those coolers in my machine but I am using all 4 ram slots on my Gigabyte P67 UD5 motherboard with the Xms3 ram also.

What I did on my FT02 for the gpu power cables was route them so they lay between the sides of the bottom fans & the side panel, they then just rise up to the gpu midway & dont lay on top of the base fans.

Cheers

Marvin · 16 Mar 2011 at 10:56

{T5K}TT said:
One thing I've noticed is cable management around end of the vga card. Is there a neat way to feed the vga power cable between the fans? I've seen builds with the vga power cable running over the middle AP fan. Seems less than ideal.

That is one of the downsides, though if you had longish GPU cables you could run them in front of the fans and then up - that way they wouldn't obscure the fans.

In fact, as roman59 says...

{T5K}TT said:
Also, I'd like to use a Thermaltake Frio cpu cooler with an Asus P8P67 Pro board. Would this cooler fit do you think?

I'm using a Thermalright HR02 in mine, which is 165mm tall. The official Silverstone specs state that a 167mm cooler is as tall as they can do, so if the Frio is less than that, you'll be fine.

Steves1982 · 16 Mar 2011 at 11:59

roman59 said:
Just looked at your case photos Maximus nice build.

One quick question though how much clearance is there between your cpu cooler & your xms3 ram?

I am thinking of swapping out my H70 & putting one of those coolers in my machine but I am using all 4 ram slots on my Gigabyte P67 UD5 motherboard with the Xms3 ram also.

What I did on my FT02 for the gpu power cables was route them so they lay between the sides of the bottom fans & the side panel, they then just rise up to the gpu midway & dont lay on top of the base fans.

Cheers

The cooler is well clear of the ram but the Viper fan only has 2-3mm clearance so not much room really.

I thought about running the cables between the panel and fans but the AX750 cables are very firm and don't bend easily. Also they are quite long so I think in my case it would look worse as I wouldn't be able to fold them away easily.

Steves1982 · 16 Mar 2011 at 12:01

{T5K}TT said:
Thanks for the reply.

Good looking build. I see vga power cables clear the fans by a gap, which seems good.

How long are those graphics cards? What is the maximum length the FT02 and Raven RV02 can have fitted?

The cards are about 10.7" I believe.

I think the cases will accommodate anything up to a 12" GPU.

roman59 · 16 Mar 2011 at 12:49

Thanks for the info on the cooler, at least I know that it will just fit with all 4 sticks fitted on the motherboard.

Cheers

Marvin · 16 Mar 2011 at 13:02

A 5970 just fits in the FT02. I installed one yesterday...

There's about 3mm of clearance between the end of the stock cooler and the fans. Of course, the fans are removable, so removing one would make it easier to put the 5970 in (was a bit of a wiggle due to the DVI connectors sticking out).

Somnambulist · 16 Mar 2011 at 14:08

Yeah, with the first revision of the cases you had to take the grill off the fans to fit the longest cards, but with revised versions with the AP fans you have 2-3mm to play with.

{T5K}TT · 16 Mar 2011 at 15:16

Just thinking of where a vga card has it's power supply socket (at the back or side), I imagine is a factor to take into consideration. Right now, my (old) vga card, an ATi 4870 HD (I plan to be replaced it with a Gigabyte 560 soc, once they come in stock) has the power supply socket at the back. The ATi card is 9.5" long, and I have to allow another 1.5" - 2" for the cables at the rear, which are fairly stiff.

I've noticed that the ATi 5950 has this nice feature, as does the Gigabyte, check pics:

http://www.*****.net/content/item.php?item=28624

I'm definitely in the market for a good case, around the class and quality of the FT02, as I see it as a long term investment. I'd not like to be restricted to specific vga cards just because the power supply socket needs to be at the side. I'm not sure if longer cards have power sockets at the side by default. Anyone know?