New Case Fortress FT01B-W

Diggsy · 17 Mar 2009 at 16:38

EdGey said:
one prob i have with this case..

the top fan filter - how are you meant to get it out to clean it? you have to bend it, so dust would go everywhere.

They shoulda made it so it puls out the side.

i havnt had a look to see if it can be turned around but it seems like a silly thing to do having it the way it is.

Yes that is this cases biggest caveat, but I plan to just vacuum it from the outside. If that doesn't work, then I am going to look into modding it somehow to make it easier to remove.

I think even if it was in some way fitted on the motherboard side of the fan (even with screws) it would be much easier to maintain.

I did contact Silverstone to ask for spares, but at the moment they have no plans to sell them.

sharpygsxr · 17 Mar 2009 at 16:46

i was thinking about this earlier in regards to the top fan im wondering if the fan housing can be removed and rotated 90 degrees so that the fan filter points out of the case as opposed to the drive bays.

Diggsy, did you need to remove any foam or just give it a good squeeze to shut the case again?

For me the biggest prob was the area at the back of the harddrives, but your build means im gonna have another go at it for sure

Diggsy · 17 Mar 2009 at 16:57

sharpygsxr said:
i was thinking about this earlier in regards to the top fan im wondering if the fan housing can be removed and rotated 90 degrees so that the fan filter points out of the case as opposed to the drive bays.

Diggsy, did you need to remove any foam or just give it a good squeeze to shut the case again?

For me the biggest prob was the area at the back of the harddrives, but your build means im gonna have another go at it for sure

No point rotating the fan housing, as there is no opening at the rear to remove the filter, but this is certainly something Silverstone could look at for a revised version of the case.

Regarding the foam, I didn't remove anything. Just used some little sticky cable tie-downs and made sure the cables were as tight to the back of the motherboard area as possible. The side panel has to be 'encouraged' on, but the foam compresses pretty well and I didn't notice any bulging from the fitted panel.

Just get some small cable ties and use the holes at the pillars either side of the rear of the hard disk bays to tie the cables to. With a bit of time and effort you can make a great job of it.

There are plenty more detailled pics in my thread, and if you need any more, just shout.

sharpygsxr · 17 Mar 2009 at 17:08

cheers mate im gonna have a go at it again now, i got a pack of those sticky pads and some black cable ties

Diggsy · 17 Mar 2009 at 17:20

sharpygsxr said:
cheers mate im gonna have a go at it again now, i got a pack of those sticky pads and some black cable ties

No worries, just take your time and press the cables down as flat as you can.

Infernum · 17 Mar 2009 at 18:05

Hi, Will I have enough room for a 2x 260GTX sli setup in here?

RJC · 17 Mar 2009 at 18:21

Very nice

Diggsy · 17 Mar 2009 at 18:39

dmarcisz said:
Hi, Will I have enough room for a 2x 260GTX sli setup in here?

Yes, look at rjkoneills thread. He has 2x 280 in SLi.

rjk · 17 Mar 2009 at 18:39

Diggsy did a great job of hiding his cables

my life was made easier by using a non modular psu

that way the cables all went straight behind the motherboard tray

and i fed them to where they needed to go

i tried to hide the rest of the mess with as much watercooling and graphics cards as i could

Diggsy said:
Yes, look at rjkoneills thread. He has 2x 280 in SLi.

link in my sig mate

Infernum · 17 Mar 2009 at 18:44

Wooot! Thanks, I read your build before, but I saw you decided not to use 2x gfx in sli so that is why I asked this. Now I just need my GFX card and CPU cooler question answering!
If you are knowledgeable about these things and want to help, here is my post: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17988470

willy · 17 Mar 2009 at 19:29

rjkoneill said:
my life was made easier by using a non modular psu

How could be easier with non modular :confused:

rjk · 17 Mar 2009 at 20:05

because you place the psu face down
[fan into dust filter]

and the cables are right next to the hole in the bottom of the motherboard tray

so you put them all behind the tray - hiding them all

with a modular psu the cables tend to be across the entire front of the psu and not just coming out of one corner

so you have to sweep them all over

look at this pic to see what i mean
[excuse my dirty case...

rjk · 17 Mar 2009 at 20:10

dmarcisz said:
Wooot! Thanks, I read your build before, but I saw you decided not to use 2x gfx in sli so that is why I asked this. Now I just need my GFX card and CPU cooler question answering!
If you are knowledgeable about these things and want to help, here is my post: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17988470

just replied to your threads

Infernum · 17 Mar 2009 at 20:21

Thanks

Shame this case is sold out here, although I have found it in stock and cheaper on another site!

Diggsy · 17 Mar 2009 at 20:25

dmarcisz said:
Thanks

Shame this case is sold out here, although I have found it in stock and cheaper on another site!

Yeah, price is a little high here. I got mine elsewhere too, delivered for a good bit less than the price here before delivery.

sharpygsxr · 17 Mar 2009 at 20:33

ok im back after my little cable tidying exercise, lets see what you guys think of this.

Heres the backpanel now

btw im using a modular psu, which i put fan facing down like RJ's

And how it looks inside now, im well chuffed with it

Just liek Diggsy said it took a little gentle persuasion but its all back together and no bulging, the kep was getting the fatter cables flat, also i basically disconnected everything and re wired then in order to make sure as few as possible cables overlapped.

A little twisting of sata cables kept them hidden too

Diggsy · 17 Mar 2009 at 20:40

That looks SO much better. Last thing I would recommend if the cables are long enough is to stick one of the cable tie-downs under the 5.25" bays and tie your PCI-E cables to it to make them even neater.

But, great job so far.

EDIT - how are you finding the HDD noise? I had to remove mine from the plastic cage as the vibrations were driving me nuts. I'm stuck between bungee and laying them on foam now. Tried both and the difference compared to being in the plastic cage is incredible.

sharpygsxr · 17 Mar 2009 at 20:45

the pcie cables are quite tight in that pic, it even had me a bit concerned as they were notibly bending the sockets up a bit so they have as much slack as possible in that pic, i dunno if they would reach to under the bays without putting them in front of the mobo tray.

Diggsy · 17 Mar 2009 at 21:01

sharpygsxr said:
the pcie cables are quite tight in that pic, it even had me a bit concerned as they were notibly bending the sockets up a bit so they have as much slack as possible in that pic, i dunno if they would reach to under the bays without putting them in front of the mobo tray.

Must be quite short cables. Just leave well alone then, looking good anyway.

willy · 17 Mar 2009 at 21:16

rjkoneill said:
because you place the psu face down
[fan into dust filter]

and the cables are right next to the hole in the bottom of the motherboard tray

so you put them all behind the tray - hiding them all

with a modular psu the cables tend to be across the entire front of the psu and not just coming out of one corner

so you have to sweep them all over

Oh i see what you mean now. Good job i have non modular then

Just wondering did you have to use 8 Pin to 2 x 4Pin PSU extension Cable? Is it long enough as i have Corsair 650TX and i'm assuming will be the same length

sharpygsxr said:
SNIP

That looks much better now.

So placing hdd inside the hdd cage will cause vibration and noise?