SilverStone Fortress FT01 Case Review :: System Build

• EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW motherboard
• SilverStone Strider series low noise 1000W PSU
• ATI Radeon HD 3850
• WD Raptor 36GB SATA HDD
• LG 16x DVD-RW drive
• Intel E5200 CPU
• 2GB Corsair Dominator DDR2-1066MHz memory

System build

5.25" screw removal

Optical drive insertion

HDD and rack

The system build is important to see how a system is put together with the case and standard components. In this case we used an EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW motherboard which is a full ATX motherboard, a HD 3870 X2 to see the clearance with a long video card, a WD Raptor SATA HDD, an Intel E5200 CPU and 2GB of DDR2-1066 memory from Corsair.

HDD inserted in rack

Mounted on rack

HDD inserted in bay

Motherboard mounted

The motherboard and video card installation went without a hitch. The 10.5" long HD3850 fit in the case without interfering with the graphics card. The case has plenty of standoffs and screws in the bundle to fully use them. There is plenty of airflow in the case with the front and top fans providing more intake air than the exhaust air coming from the rear fan.

System put together

Front of completed

Rear of completed

Cable management

Installing a 5.25" drive is a breeze with the tool-less clip. Just unscrew the cover (the case is uni-body so there is no tabs to push out), push the tab open, insert the 5.25" drive and push the tab into place. Installation of HDDs is easy as well: open a lever pull out the HDD tray, insert the HDD into the tray, screw it in place and return the HDD enclosure back into the rack.