Silverstone FT05 initial build review - not impressed

Quartz

Quartz

Quartz

Soldato
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I've just transplanted my system into my Silverstone FT05 case and I'm seriously unimpressed with it, particularly from a cable management perspective. Well, cabling generally.

I'll start with the size: there needs to be more space behind the motherboard tray - 1 cm would do. There needs to be more space between the motherboard and the PSU on one side and between the motherboard and the front of the case - only about 5mm for each.

Then there's the cables for the front panel (Power, Reset, Audio, USB 3). Why are they loose? Why aren't they pre-routed round to the bottom or the far side? Bring them out where they're needed. This is cost-cutting laziness.

And the 8-pin cable for the CPU has to be fitted before you mount the motherboard, which can cause problems if your PSU is not modular and you've not already fitted it.

Then there's the placement of the SSDs on the back of the motherboard tray. One has to be mounted face up and the other has to be mounted face down. And I'm going to have to route cables over them, and through where the optical drive tray should be. This will make maintenance most interesting. And why aren't the fixings tool-less? They just require a couple of clips.

Anyone wanting to use an optical drive is going to have a very interesting time routing cables. As will someone using the 3.5" bays.

I suppose I could just leave the cables in a heap in the bottom, but they would impede air flow. Currently they're in a mess behind the motherboard tray while I figure out how to best route them. It's a good thing I've got some mounting points with adhesive backs so I can route the cables properly. Hmm... I don't suppose OCUK sell a suitable set of replacement flat cables for my modular 460W Silverpower PSU?

Next there's the base. The bottom of the FT02 is curved fore and aft, which makes it much easier to move around; why couldn't they have kept this?

Enough griping. This is not a bad case; it's just not a premium one, though it's trying to be one, and could have been one with just that little bit of extra effort. There's been a lot of attention paid to detail with respect to lots of things, particularly access to screws and general ease of access. Those flimsy-looking plastic things on top are strong enough to hold the system. And at 9 kg the case is much lighter than the FT02's 15kg. The folding shield over the USB 3 and audio ports is a very nice touch, though I would have liked to have seen it cover the Power and Reset buttons as well. The general quality of the case is good.

Enough for now; more later.
 
I fully agree with most of these comments, I have the Raven RV05 and I was expecting some issues with the build coming from a TJ09 where cable routing was completely forgotten for the sake of styling. Split the 3.5" bays so only one was used, spare cable lengths are crammed behind this, re-routed as many cables as possible to go round the back but it's very cramped. Even worse on the RV05 the fan controller is UNDER the top grille which has to be removed to change fan speeds. Lovely case and I'm happy with it for the £60 I paid, but more thought could have gone into it.
 
ft02 also had issues with the space for running cables behind the motherboard tray, side panel was always a tight fit. Would have thought they would have made it a bit wider to accommodate cables easier. Also, pics of it?
 
The FT-02 cable management is pretty tight alright. It can be done though. I can post pictures of the back of my case if wanted
 
I own some FT-02's and 1 Raven Evolution, the FT-02's are used as server cases.

All of the cases are fine, apart from cable management on the back (motherboard side), there is not enough gap so the side panel always expanded out. The only other issue is Seasonic X PSU cables are only just long enough to reach HDD location.
 
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Reading between the lines - you've had an FT02 and now the FT05. I keep going between the two - FT05 appeals but the space in the 02 seems nice.

If you've had both - knowing what you know now which would you pick starting fresh? Assume the drive restrictions in the FT05 aren't a problem.
 
No reading between the lines necessary - if you check out my link, it says I started with a FT02. It boils down to a question of space. The FT02 is big - really big. If you need the space the FT02 provides for HDDs and GPUs then go for the FT02. If you don't, consider the FT05.

In my FT05 I can't use 3.5" HDDs (had to remove the cage), am limited to two 2.5" devices, can't use three GPUs as the PSU comes up right next to the motherboard and the final GPU slot is the last slot so a two-slot GPU would overhang, have to remove the motherboard if I want to work with the 8-pin CPU power cable (removing my Nofan is not sufficient), and the position of the PSU means there's little room for cable management on that side of the motherboard. There's just not enough room for cable management behind the motherboard - flat cables might help here. Also, they've removed the curved base of the FT02 which made that case easier to move on a carpet - granted the FT05 is much lighter, but the ability to slide makes life much easier. The FT05 does have a bigger space behind the CPU which makes working with CPU backplates much easier.

The FT05 has been squeezed down just that bit too much. It's a good case but not a premium one. It's not a case for a tinkerer: the cumulative niggles are just too many. OTOH if you want to fit everything and then forget about it, then the FT05 is just fine.

I'll try and take some photos later.
 
Thanks - that's really useful info. The RV05 is the other wildcard. Looks aside I'm not sure on the differences between it and the FT05. I think it might just be construction material (plastic on the rv05) and the lack of acoustic foam padding on the panels.

Oh - and the price of course :)

I hadn't spotted the link in your sig. That's a really interesting build you've done. Nice to see something that stands out.
 
The RV05 is physically bigger on the outside, instead of the flat base it has large plastic feet that raises the case up off the ground, it also angles the case insides slightly to add a bit of "drama". The only advantage I've seen for this is the PSU fan will always have an air supply if the case is pushed up against a wall. All the plastic and angles does add a bit of "chunk" to the case.

The biggest downfall of the RV05 compared to the FT05 is the fan controller. The switches are located behind the front panel so to adjust it you have to remove the top of the case, it's much better on the FT05.

I was hoping to get a FT05 but the RV05 was half the price at the time.
 
I own a raven 3 i've never touche dthe fan controller ? meant to leave the 180mm's on lowest setting imo why would anyone need to regularly access the fan control ?
 
I find on low with an overclocked hex core (on air) and 2 amd cards with the wrong type of coolers for this case in crossfire it can get a bit warm, so if rendering (can take a few hours) or gaming I like to notch it up to medium.
 
eztiger said:
Do you have any pictures of your completed build?
Click to expand...

Better late than never!

Outside view:

FT05_Outside_view_zpsvsrg8ueu.jpg


Inside view:

FT05_Inside_view_zpsqyklgtcz.jpg


Close-up of cabling at bottom:

FT05_Main_Cabling_2_zpsyvborgz6.jpg


Those are a couple of adhesive clamps from B&Q keeping the cables sort-of-tidy.

The horror story at the back:

FT05_Back_zpsqm7cvi9e.jpg


I could not keep the 3.5" drive bay and decided to remove the optical bay as well.
 
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