Another Silverstone Fortress Build

Diggsy · 2 Mar 2009 at 10:54

@ N16h7m4r3 - Thanks, and yep, that tray is hiding a lot of mess!!

@ reflux - Thanks, I think the red plate looks great too mate. It's a 260 btw.

LukeTW · 2 Mar 2009 at 14:50

Diggsy said:
@ LukeTW - I have no idea if it's making any difference or not, as I installed it from the start of the build. I am considering removing it though, as the fans are barely turning. I think that's probably partly to do with my wiring though, as I needed 2 extension cables to get it to my fan controller. I might bypass the controller 1st and see what happens.

Whether you have it as an intake or exhaust will depend on your setup. What I noticed is that my PSU below gives out very little heat, so the BS-08B should be able to draw in relatively cool air from outside and blow it onto the GTX, which IMHO is better than it competing against the GTX for airflow. If it sat higher than the GTX in the case, then I would say exhaust every time, but with it sitting below I can't help but think it is better suited as an intake. The problem I have with it though, as I said is it seems to be putting out very little air. Time to bypass the fan controller and see what happens before I ditch it.

Thanks, i have one fan as an exhaust and one blowing cool air on it (well trying

)

Diggsy · 5 Mar 2009 at 16:38

A little bit of an update. The HDD noise was really starting to bug me, and I haven't even started to use the system as my main one yet!

So I decided to attempt to bungee the drive and see what would happen. There is just enough room to bungee it, yet keep it in the proper enclosure, which is perfect. The difference in seek noise is just unbelievable!

So, I have it bodged in for now with white elastic, but I am currently looking at either getting good quality black elastic, or I have some old black blocks of foam lying around which I might be able to use to hold the drive in.

Will update with some new pics once I have this sorted.

Blackhawk47 · 5 Mar 2009 at 20:43

That looks awesome mate, well done. Looks like a really nice case to build in.

Good Job

datawrite · 23 Mar 2009 at 22:31

First time i have seen this. Very well done mate. Great cable management. Lots of fans too! Awesome build.

HighlandeR · 23 Mar 2009 at 23:20

Simply stunning I can only imagine something like that must have taken u the entire day of just cable tieing and managing alone !

Even after ive spent a whole day and night managing and hiding my wires I could never get it ever as neat/tidy as you have done !

Diggsy · 24 Mar 2009 at 00:10

HighlandeR said:
Simply stunning I can only imagine something like that must have taken u the entire day of just cable tieing and managing alone !

Even after ive spent a whole day and night managing and hiding my wires I could never get it ever as neat/tidy as you have done !

Thanks. I actually built it over a couple of weeks, making some slight changes and carefully planning the cabling as I went. It's still not finished just yet as I have to finish the HDD's, but it was well worth the time and effort spent. It's by far and away the best build I have done yet.

I am also considering removing the Lian Li BS08-B as it doesn't seem to make any difference to GFX temps. Probably as much to do with the excellent airflow in the case already to be fair though. I might give it one last go with a more powerful fan before removing it though just to see if it helps any.

Look out for some updates over the next week or so and with any luck fully finished pics too.

freddie64 · 24 Mar 2009 at 10:26

Stunning!!!
Simply stunning.

Particularly the cable management.
Thanks for showing how you routed the cables round the back, may help others (me

) out a lot.

Look forward to more updates.

Blackwhite · 24 Mar 2009 at 11:22

Very nice mate.I like you cable managment.

Diggsy · 24 Mar 2009 at 19:08

Thanks guys, glad to hear my time spent cabling is inspiring others to do likewise!

It really is a great case for cable management. Yes the rear of the motherboard could be deeper, but nothing a little gentle persuasion can't fix

Diggsy · 26 May 2009 at 23:39

A few changes incoming. Finally got around to returning my Zalman PSU for RMA. That was dealt with very quickly I have to say.

Also I got fed up with the noise from my Samsung F1, so it's now wrapped up in a GUP Smart Drive 2002C.

All the HDD bays have been removed and the floppy drive relocated.

I will soon have a X-Fi Fatal1ty to go in as well.

Pics to follow once it's all sorted, but who knows when that will be, especially given that it's now almost June and I still haven't transferred my system across to the new rig. What a complete waste of cash that was! I could've got so much more for my money had I waited, but ah well.

Hammer09 · 28 May 2009 at 13:59

Awesome looking work, I too have just got a Fortress that I plan to build over the next few weeks.

Quick question, how do you do your cable branding and what products do you use?

DeadMan · 29 May 2009 at 22:09

Very impressive cable management a very clean build

.:SAmSuNG:. · 31 May 2009 at 03:16

Totally agreed very tidy.

Audigex · 31 May 2009 at 04:02

Loving the improvised fan mounts.

That PCI cooler may just be taking air away from the GPU though, does it make any difference if you turn it off?

Diggsy · 13 Jun 2009 at 10:59

Thanks a lot guys.

To answer some of the questions, the cable braid I used was purchased off the bay. The shop specialises in heatshrink and the quality was very good.

Regarding the PCI cooler, yes it made little to no difference, so it now sits gathering dust just like a lot of other trial and error purchases I have made over the years

soundb0y · 13 Jun 2009 at 13:00

Some great pics!

ollyprice87 · 16 Jun 2009 at 18:04

Could you message me with the details of the ebay shop?

Diggsy · 2 Jul 2009 at 14:17

Well, I have finally got the X-Fi Fatal1ty installed. Got some of the Akasa SATA cables too. They look much better quality than the cheap black cables I was using previously. Yes they are silver, but you can barely see any of the cable anyway, so it doesn't really matter. I may also give the 120mm below the 5.25" bays a go (ala magicroundabout).

I have still not ported everything across from my old system though, so the Fortress still sits unused in the middle of the room. I am so lazy at the mo

Will post some updated pics soon.

Diggsy · 2 Jul 2009 at 14:42

Okay pics as promised...

Floppy Drive repositioned...

Installation method

I had to cut a little square out of the rear in order for it to sit flush at the front...

X-Fi installed...

F1 wrapped up in the GUP Smart Drive...

That is just about it all finished. I was going to install another internal HDD, but could'nt locate another GUP Smart Drive at the right price, so changed plans and have decided on a 2nd external drive, this time through eSATA.