[OcUK Staff Builds] rjkoneill's FT01

My Fortress arrived yesterday! Box is HUGE :eek:

Beautiful looking case in the flesh I must say. Hoping to get working on it sometime during the week and if I remember i'll take some pics and do a bit of a worklog. I have a couple of plans for the 5.25 bays, but not sure if I can make it work, time will tell...
 
rjkoneill said:
cool - looking forward to seeing it

you going for water or air cooling?

did you get the black or silver model?



you should see the size of the box for the TJ07 then!
Click to expand...

I can't begin to imagine how big a TJ07 box is! :eek:

Going for air cooling for now, then possibly water at some point, but will see how it copes with air first.

Got the black model, a Zalman fan controller like yours, and using a Kama Bay where you have the Lian-Li grille. I did buy a Silverstone hot swap HDD bay that I thought I could use, even though it's designed for the Kublai, but alas - it didn't fit :(

No great shakes though, I ripped the front grille off it and replaced the Kama Bay grille with the one off the Silverstone. It looks so much better.

I'll post some pics at some point. Always mean to take some as I go, but for some reason get carried away buiding and forget!

One thing I did notice is that the side panels are not a very snug fit and i'd be a little worried about them rattling, so I plan to apply some foam pads to rule that issue out. Also had a bit of a problem with gaps at the front when I fitted the Zalman and the Kama above it, but I am just going to block it with some black foam, and you will barely be able to see it. Nice case otherwise though, very nice.
 
Diggsy said:
I can't begin to imagine how big a TJ07 box is! :eek:

Going for air cooling for now, then possibly water at some point, but will see how it copes with air first.

Got the black model, a Zalman fan controller like yours, and using a Kama Bay where you have the Lian-Li grille. I did buy a Silverstone hot swap HDD bay that I thought I could use, even though it's designed for the Kublai, but alas - it didn't fit :(

No great shakes though, I ripped the front grille off it and replaced the Kama Bay grille with the one off the Silverstone. It looks so much better.

I'll post some pics at some point. Always mean to take some as I go, but for some reason get carried away buiding and forget!

One thing I did notice is that the side panels are not a very snug fit and i'd be a little worried about them rattling, so I plan to apply some foam pads to rule that issue out. Also had a bit of a problem with gaps at the front when I fitted the Zalman and the Kama above it, but I am just going to block it with some black foam, and you will barely be able to see it. Nice case otherwise though, very nice.
Click to expand...


that kama bay hybrid sounds like a cool idea - would be interesting to see!

i was thinking of getting that bay and modding it but glad i didnt now!

good luck - looking forward to seeing your pics!
 
Ok, i'll definately take some pics, but i'll do them tomorrow in the daylight. Night time pics are rubbish without a DSLR.

EDIT - Here is one quick snap. Very little done to it, and still not sure if i'm 100% happy with the Kama hybrid yet. It looks a lot better in the flesh than the photo though, you can't see the outline of the Kama in the flesh. The flash obviously shows it up a lot more. I'll try to take one without the flash tomorrow.

IMG_0179.jpg


I am going to see if I can find somewhere that sells mesh like what's already installed on the case. That would be the perfect solution.
 
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looks good -
i tried to get the matching mesh but i went for the lian li bay as it had a dust filter so made it easier to clean

i did think about the kama bay

you putting a rad behind it?
i only ask because it upset the airflow in my case a bit

but i needed a space for my rad :D
 
rjkoneill said:
looks good -
i tried to get the matching mesh but i went for the lian li bay as it had a dust filter so made it easier to clean

i did think about the kama bay

you putting a rad behind it?
i only ask because it upset the airflow in my case a bit

but i needed a space for my rad :D
Click to expand...

The Kama has a dust filter too, which I have left in place for now. I have one in my current case and it's actually pretty easy to maintain as you can just vacuum from the front and it gets most of the dust out.

I have found the same mesh, albeit at a slighly higher price than I wanted to pay, but it is a large sheet (300 x 1200mm).

I would need to paint it or have it powder-coated. I am now trying to source a filter large enough to fit the 3x 5.25" bays. If I can find that, then chances are the Kama Bay will be removed and i'll try to fit the new mesh the same way as it's fitted on the lower part of the case.

If I get it right, I know it'll look great, but it's going to be pretty tough getting it just right. I might even leave the Kama in place to give me something to guide the new mesh around, then remove it afterwards. We'll see what happens.

As for a rad, I am air cooling for now, having never water cooled before. I didn't plan to run water, but i'll see what the temps and noise are like before I make up my mind on that one.

I don't know what the 120mm fan is like as I never tried it (I have 3 Noctua NF-P12 fans to install - 1 in the rear, 1 on the Kama, 1 on the TRUE, all of which are superb) but what I will say is that those 180mm fans are very very quiet. I have them plugged into the fan controller, but I might just plug them straight into the board as there seems no point in running them at a reduced speed, plus it means having the Zalman LED's red all the time.

Also, regarding the large fans, I seem to have some sort of bearing vibration from the front one. Maybe it's just because everything isn't installed yet, but I'm not convinced. Will see what it's like when all is up and running, and if need be i'll return the fan for replacement.
 
yep - this has been mentioned before

and Diggsy has clarified this twice also

my psu is fine

no need to worry :D
 
Are there certain Cpu coolers that tend to work well in this case, taking into account the positive airpressure,and the fact that I've heard that certain coolers only just fit? I don't mind about the cost of the air cooler, just the less noise the better and good for overclocking. I'm assuming this also depends on the type of motherboard you get.

In relation to this, my next question is: what would be a good motherboard for this case,taking into account the cooler, and possibly either a Phenom II, i7 or a duo core chip, with a GTX 285 and the possibilty of SLI later on?

rjkoneil, it has been a pleasure reading about your mod build, and it has inspired me to buy a Fortress, even though, at the moment, they seem to be out of stock everywhere . :(

Any help for an absolute beginner is greatly appreciated.
 
They're certainly not out of stock everywhere. The e-tailer where I purchased mine still has them in stock, albeit the price seems to have gone up a bit.

EDIT - in fact they even have the non-windowed version in stock, although it's slightly more expensive and has a grey interior.
 
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hi guys

im back again with a little update - just some more minor adjustments and a few pics really

got a triple channel dominator fan on my ram now - it really fills up the case

my opinion is that you should not be able to see the motherboard in any high end computer as it should be obstructed by graphics cards and other such things :D

DSC00558.jpg


DSC00559.jpg


its linked up to the zalman fan controller and is really quiet even on full whack
i was dismissive of the old dominator cooler as it was a noisy pile of rubbish - but this one is a marked improvement

im thinking after a few weeks i might take it out and mod it :)

i got a solid SLI connector rather than the ribbon thing that comes with the board - i wanted it black so i am going to spray it when i get round to it


also i decided a while back that gaming at 1680*1050 was a waste for a pair of 280's
so i made a compromise - didnt want a huge monitor but 1920*1200 looked more and more appealing and it was too tempting to let my system stretch its legs properly

my new samsung 24" takes up similar space to my old 22" and is a joy to game on
whacking everything on max res with max AA&AF is very nice :)

DSC00566.jpg


im going to have to stop spending money now as i have a very poorly car and need to get it back into good condition so i can get to work!

enjoy - comments welcome as usual!
 
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Mr Doovde said:
Are there certain Cpu coolers that tend to work well in this case, taking into account the positive airpressure,and the fact that I've heard that certain coolers only just fit? I don't mind about the cost of the air cooler, just the less noise the better and good for overclocking. I'm assuming this also depends on the type of motherboard you get.

In relation to this, my next question is: what would be a good motherboard for this case,taking into account the cooler, and possibly either a Phenom II, i7 or a duo core chip, with a GTX 285 and the possibilty of SLI later on?

rjkoneil, it has been a pleasure reading about your mod build, and it has inspired me to buy a Fortress, even though, at the moment, they seem to be out of stock everywhere . :(

Any help for an absolute beginner is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

hi there

a noctua or thermalright ultra extreme cooler would work best - they are both expensive but you get what you pay for imho


any motherboard would fit well in the case [amd/intel]

depending on your budget... i would look at
£1000+ an i7 rig with an x58 board
less than £1000, a core2quad/duo rig with perhaps a q9550/e8500 and a p45 board such as the P5Q-E i used in the first few pictures in this log

the best thing for you to do is perhaps enquire in the general hardware section on here as there are a lot of knowledgable guys in the community who can point you in the right direction

otherwise - why not call OcUK up and speak to the sales team and see what they advise?
 
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