Fortress 3 v PC-V354

Venares

Venares

Venares

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OK guys, I'm looking to shrink my rather humungous Fortress 2 system down to somthing more managble.
I've basicly narrowed it down to a choise between the Fortress 3 or the Lian Li PC-V354

So, Pro's / Con's.
Any thing else I should be looking at?
 
I love the looks of the FT03 but I hear it can be a little noisy.
If i had to chose between the 2, i would still choose the FT03!

BTW - if you're going to be selling your FT02 i may be interested.
 
Flimsy build quality and a lot of case vibration with the Fortress 3.

The PC-V354'S only real flaw is the size of cooler you can install.
This isn't a problem if you intend to use an H50/60/70 or Antecs variants.

Also well worth considering in M-atx is Fractal's Define mini.
While not as pretty as the other 2,it's certainly quieter.
 
I'd also take a look at the DaBox 100, as, to be honest, it's better than both, smaller, and can take a larger cooler than the V354.
 
Cooler wont be a problem as I plan to use a H60.
Biggest thing that puts me off the Fortress is the restriction of a full size DVD/BD drive.
Not good when your ripping all your stuff to a media server.

@khemist Whats the hard drive noise like, or indeed noise in general with the FT03?
 
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FT03 is a fantastic concept, but let down in it's execution.

There are just a lot of minor things that are not so great, and I consider it to be still somewhat of a prototype to test on the public.

I'll try to name some of these things: (lots of nitpicking! ;))

- Unnecessary 3.5" hotswap drive bay.
- Plastic side vent interferes with internal kettle lead on psu's with vertical sockets.
- plastic top vent.
- usb3 ports; no point when you can just access the top ones which are less than 10cm away.
- plastic shroud for the headers and power/reset buttons
- again, unnecessary audio and microphone headers - why, when the back i/o ports are just under the plastic roof?
- vibration between 3.5" hard drives and right side panel.
- internal kettle lead extension - the far end is not fully sleeved, leaving some exposed metal
- difficult to pick up the case becase of side panel attachment method.
- cables from the top can only be routed down the back (not right or left sides) because the plastic roof covers those cutouts in the top of the side panels.
- if on a desk, very likely to make some dents in the surface if you want to tip the case at an angle to access something (all exterior panels go right over the rubber feet, which looks nice but not so practical for me), or remove the front panel. Very minor thing, but affects accessibility to the case.

- Oh, did I mention - it's BIG. Not suitable for carrying around - and that is to do more with the design than it's size.

A more rounded design on the whole case, like lian li do for some of their cases would make a lot of difference, instead of the angles on the exteriors.
With some refining, a second version would be fantastic.

But don't misunderstand me - it is a fantastic case, and one of its kind on the market today. Hard to pass up, and I do like it a lot.
But there is lots of room for improvement. I would suggest some, but too late at night for me to have more coherent thoughts!

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I would certainly look at fractal define mini for a quieter (although larger) system.

Also for me FT03 > V354, because lian li still insist on 5.25" bays in their "SFF" cases, and loads of hard drives, and PSU part covering the CPU.

Lian Li SFF cases have better execution and finish, but silverstone have the better concepts.
 
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Curunen said:
- Unnecessary 3.5" hotswap drive bay.
- Plastic side vent interferes with internal kettle lead on psu's with vertical sockets.
- plastic top vent.
- usb3 ports; no point when you can just access the top ones which are less than 10cm away.
- plastic shroud for the headers and power/reset buttons
- again, unnecessary audio and microphone headers - why, when the back i/o ports are just under the plastic roof?
- vibration between 3.5" hard drives and right side panel.
- internal kettle lead extension - the far end is not fully sleeved, leaving some exposed metal
- difficult to pick up the case becase of side panel attachment method.
- cables from the top can only be routed down the back (not right or left sides) because the plastic roof covers those cutouts in the top of the side panels.
- if on a desk, very likely to make some dents in the surface if you want to tip the case at an angle to access something (all exterior panels go right over the rubber feet, which looks nice but not so practical for me), or remove the front panel. Very minor thing, but affects accessibility to the case.

- Oh, did I mention - it's BIG. Not suitable for carrying around - and that is to do more with the design than it's size.
Click to expand...

id probably buy one if silverstone made a cheaper version without these, but with the improvements youve listed
 
A lot of those points were extreme nitpicking, but I think it's just that I like the concept so much, and that makes any slight imperfections more noticable.
 
lol, I noticed all those little faults, you try to pick it up side panels come off.

But as I will have only one SSD and maybe a silent 6670 dont think I will have any noise issues.
 
the only thing that I think lets the ft03 down is the angled fan at the bottom that won't let you sli/crossfire big graphics cards, even though you can have a big card in the first slot
 
You can remove it and install two 80mm fans iv noticed most review lack to mention this but I guess two 80mm fans wont be the that quiet.
 
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