New Silverstone Alta F1

I
Hey here's a random question (and I suspect the answer is "no", but I'll ask all the same): I've mostly bought cases that were "inverted" (window on the right side) ever since I first bought an FT02. Is the Alta F1 able to be rearranged or bolted together in such a way that it could be disassembled facing the other direction?
Wish it did too. I would buy it immediately if you could
 
The front panel contains the I/O ports cutout so you wouldn't be able to use the I/O ports if you did rearrange front panel to the rear of the chassis!
 
The front panel contains the I/O ports cutout so you wouldn't be able to use the I/O ports if you did rearrange front panel to the rear of the chassis!
Appreciate the info on it. Well it wouldn’t be the first time I try something I’ll-advised with a dremel tool :p
 
Whelp, appears the EVGA 3090 FTW3 Ultra falls into the category of doesn't work in this orientation, so on the lookout for a new case.

It is a gorgeous looking case though, especially after I replaced the AP141's with the ARGB versions, its a lovely subtle effect (photo attached massively overstates it, its about 50% less bright than that) that ties into the front facscia RGB really well. Combined with the other downsides of the case (tempered glass showing the cable mess up top, tempered glass right hand side showing cable mess behind (even if you can do work to minimise it), the above back of motherboard fan placement being pretty unuseable for almost anything, the 'fan filter' bending (one of the plastic bits broke on mine as well) and I think you might be right to discontinue this case.

What could work well however is rotate the motherboard into a traditional ATX position, but keep the bottom fans as they are. Move the psu somewhere else, front or bottom is my guess), and optimise top 2x140mm fan placement for a 280mm radiator. So you keep the stack cooling idea but in a layout that works with modern GPU's I guess.

I'm thinking of the Seta Q1, but no tempered glass side panel. The A1 maybe, but there's enough downsides to the A1 over the Q1 to not be a clear winner. If I can get my hands on an FT04, maybe also, although I'd have to rearrange my room to get the window to face the right side, but it'd be nice to get back to the beautiful rounded aluminium of the FT series.
 

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Whelp, appears the EVGA 3090 FTW3 Ultra falls into the category of doesn't work in this orientation, so on the lookout for a new case.

It is a gorgeous looking case though, especially after I replaced the AP141's with the ARGB versions, its a lovely subtle effect (photo attached massively overstates it, its about 50% less bright than that) that ties into the front facscia RGB really well. Combined with the other downsides of the case (tempered glass showing the cable mess up top, tempered glass right hand side showing cable mess behind (even if you can do work to minimise it), the above back of motherboard fan placement being pretty unuseable for almost anything, the 'fan filter' bending (one of the plastic bits broke on mine as well) and I think you might be right to discontinue this case.

What could work well however is rotate the motherboard into a traditional ATX position, but keep the bottom fans as they are. Move the psu somewhere else, front or bottom is my guess), and optimise top 2x140mm fan placement for a 280mm radiator. So you keep the stack cooling idea but in a layout that works with modern GPU's I guess.

I'm thinking of the Seta Q1, but no tempered glass side panel. The A1 maybe, but there's enough downsides to the A1 over the Q1 to not be a clear winner. If I can get my hands on an FT04, maybe also, although I'd have to rearrange my room to get the window to face the right side, but it'd be nice to get back to the beautiful rounded aluminium of the FT series.
Thanks for sharing information about case + GPU compatibility.

For current resolution - did You tought about putting the case on its back (PSU on bottom)? You just would need some case feet, to make distance for PSU intake. Even in that orientation this case is far above competition as you got additional back fans (in standard orientation top fans) - no dust for GPU through PCI slot covers. Only downside would be weak access to side panels release buttons and reset button, but overall you woul have Power button, USB and audio ports on top - back part of case, so if You would put case side to You, there would be benefit from this :) .
 
Please let's make one thing crystal clear:

Concerning ALL GPU coolers used in last, this and next generation:
The internal wick structure of EVGAs coolers play the nicest concerning this particular vertical orientation.
If this kind of cooler doesn't even work anymore , then ...

Add bluntness:
No fricking body will produce GPU coolers which will play nice with this orientaion anymore, EVER!

I tried to make it work for over 4000 days and the last 1000 i just had to compensate with raw 180mm fanpower.

"That this particular vertical position will nevermore play a vital role should by now be evident to most.
It isn't an advantage. It has become a hindrance." - 11.18.2021 Carlyle2020

This overheats with ALL fans on max:
20211117_164153.jpg

I even tested two cards

By comparison this yanky setup is 8 to 10 degrees cooler with ALL fans running 80%
(everything finally below 80 degree C):
20211117_173247.jpg


@Silverstone: What to do if even the most hardcore fan cannot make the "OG" vertical position work anymore?



I suggest kindly keeping the 3x fans but putting in 2x GPU positions in the case (normal and vertical) if you are to fearfull to get rid of the "OG" vertical one.
And as you see i really don't care if a PSU gets fresh air anymore. Like i don't care about pressure, postive or negative.
I only care about airflow ! Because that's also the way the noisy sound flows!
From the bottom to the back. Any other way is suboptimal!
And you should utilize the backside of your cases better. Like putting in a place for an AIO maybe?

Warning:
The word "chimney" is a RED FLAG!
Your Technicians deserve so much better from the marketing dept. !



I am looking forward to your next ideas ! The last big one did make for a good base to tinker with :)
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Concerning the precisious AP fans:
The Moment Noctua delivers the new 140mm fans you can kiss your 180mm production goodbye. Cheap 3D printed 140 to 180 adapters will make sure of it. Who wanted louder fans in idle which can do 1500 instead of 1000 rpm? I mean you do see what i had to do to silcence them at least a little bit?
 

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Carlyle2020, thanks for sharing how you tinkered with the FT02, very cool! To our knowledge the reference (founders) cards should all still work OK in vertical orientation so there are definitely more options available. We've been improving our Air Penetrator 180mm fans the last couple of years with new motor IC/bearing so AP183 for example can spin down to 400rpm while Air Penetrator 184i PRO is capable of 0rpm~1200rpm via PWM. Please check them out if you haven't already.
 
I still wonder why this is so big secret about GPU's having such problems with such mounting orientation - none of YTbers still havent responded nor made any video about this issue. I was guessing that Steve from GamersNexus will be all over on this topic, that he will be first to respond but no - Hardare unboxed, LTT, GN - all went quiet, even while i'm still writing comments under their videos about it. I really wanted 6800XT to be paired with my Ryzen 5800XT, but it seems like there is no issue from devs, content creators, and AMD itself - no statement yet. Only poor users with all their problems...... Thats my last build, thats for sure, i'm happy that at least i got this case.
 
I still wonder why this is so big secret about GPU's having such problems with such mounting orientation - none of YTbers still havent responded nor made any video about this issue. I was guessing that Steve from GamersNexus will be all over on this topic, that he will be first to respond but no - Hardare unboxed, LTT, GN - all went quiet, even while i'm still writing comments under their videos about it. I really wanted 6800XT to be paired with my Ryzen 5800XT, but it seems like there is no issue from devs, content creators, and AMD itself - no statement yet. Only poor users with all their problems...... Thats my last build, thats for sure, i'm happy that at least i got this case.
they don't really care unless it will get video clicks which this niche problem won't
 
Since Silverstone also has some cases with inverted motherboard layout, I'd be interested to know: are there similar cooling broblems when the video card is upside down?
 
Since Silverstone also has some cases with inverted motherboard layout, I'd be interested to know: are there similar cooling broblems when the video card is upside down?

No there isn't, its effectively the same as when the card is in the normal ATX rotation.
 
How thick of a radiator can one put on the bottom? Plus can the hot air from a bottom radiator blow down and out of the case while the bottom fans blow cool air up into the case? Good place for custom loop pump and reservoir? Under power supply removing the drive cage?

280w Threadripper stock and 360w with PBO -> thinking 360mm thick radiator plus fans on bottom
350w Hybrid EVGA 3090 XC3 Ultra, radiator on top
1-2 additional GPU's, air cooled

Loved my Raven RV02B case, could not fit radiators in it so had to let it go at the time. Best built/quality case I've ever owned. 1080Ti's, 2x in SLI worked great.
 
How thick of a radiator can one put on the bottom? Plus can the hot air from a bottom radiator blow down and out of the case while the bottom fans blow cool air up into the case? Good place for custom loop pump and reservoir? Under power supply removing the drive cage?

280w Threadripper stock and 360w with PBO -> thinking 360mm thick radiator plus fans on bottom
350w Hybrid EVGA 3090 XC3 Ultra, radiator on top
1-2 additional GPU's, air cooled

Loved my Raven RV02B case, could not fit radiators in it so had to let it go at the time. Best built/quality case I've ever owned. 1080Ti's, 2x in SLI worked great.

Pretty well much as thick as you like as long as your card is under 300mmm. Rotating the airflow in a WC setup is a bit silly, don't be afraid to exhaust air into the case as the delta between your fresh air and hot air should still be sufficiently cool. But I think you'd have trouble getting enough airflow if you are trying to push air in from the top.
 
Pretty well much as thick as you like as long as your card is under 300mmm. Rotating the airflow in a WC setup is a bit silly, don't be afraid to exhaust air into the case as the delta between your fresh air and hot air should still be sufficiently cool. But I think you'd have trouble getting enough airflow if you are trying to push air in from the top.
I usually keep cases for a long time and having options for longer video cards is preferred. The issue of some vertical mounted GPUs having poor cooling makes this case design not as useful as before. I prefer not to dump hotter air into a case if possible. This design needs better water-cooling support/options. Having location for a radiator on the back side of the case would seem to be very useful.
 
I usually keep cases for a long time and having options for longer video cards is preferred. The issue of some vertical mounted GPUs having poor cooling makes this case design not as useful as before. I prefer not to dump hotter air into a case if possible. This design needs better water-cooling support/options. Having location for a radiator on the back side of the case would seem to be very useful.

It's pretty obviously not a watercooling case, I'd suggest not trying to chase sommething it isn't. The Alta, whilst gorgeous, is already a flawed case, and trying to take it even further outside of its design spec is just throwing good at flawed.
 
It's pretty obviously not a watercooling case, I'd suggest not trying to chase sommething it isn't. The Alta, whilst gorgeous, is already a flawed case, and trying to take it even further outside of its design spec is just throwing good at flawed.
I would not call it flawed at all but limited on water cooling options. Looks to be a great air cooling solution with exception of newer GPU coolers with some having less efficiency with being vertically mounted.
 
My 3090 fe temps max out at 70c in the afta. The temps would probably be lower if the adjacent pci card weren't choking the intake fan on the 3090.

Overall I like the afta but I feel like the build quality is much worse than my previous case, the fractal define 7 xl. The afta costs more, has rough metal edges that scratches easily, no instructions manual or screws in the box. Also, the dust filter is super annoying to take off and on
 
I have writed email to ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI with ask, to make tests in 90 degree orientation, with video outputs facing up - resoult is worse than i expected. Only MSI made test, but with PCI riser (they did not understand my ask) and dont want to re-test it, their answer is also unclear, as they stated, GPU is working with same temps as horizontal mounting (so they mounted it horizontal-vertical instead just vertical). I told them about problem, cases with such layout and thats what we have....
Gigabyte did not tested cards, they replied just they guarantee their cards work ok, and if user meet some trouble, he can write to gigabyte support.
ASUS ignored my ask.

Thats power of users, here is why brands making the cases should come in. I saw on some small case with vertical laout GPU compatibility list, and there was listed OVERHEATING GPU's in that orientation. It seems nobody care, and users ends up with hardware failured, or DIY fixes without any support, or... Spend MORE money for swapping GPU's or cases further.
 
So here is update on this case from 7 months usage i can throw some salt at this case as its pretty situational.
First of all, i'll show you how case was standing till week ago.

P_20220306_203319.jpg
My GPU temps have increased to 86 degrees / 103 hotspot.
Now, i'm a person, who clean room every week, so dust acumulation wasnt never an issue in filtered case - Alta F1 isnt exception - but after 6 months i took out all components and saw most of dust on CPU cooler. I use air compressor to clean dust from components (it have same pressure as canned air) and there was pretty much dust on CPU cooler - i could literally saw dense haze of dust coming off the cooler while blowing air on it. This however wasnt an issue to GPU - while it heatsink fins are vertical in this layout and i would suspect more dust on GPU, there was much fewer.

What really was interesting for me, was putting the 180 fans INSIDE the case (not under componnets chamber, but inside) to see how it would impact the GPU temps. So i bought cooler master H500 PSU shroud (shorter, with trapeze shape, moving more air on the GPU) to make a place for 180mm fans inside components chamber.
P_20220310_135052.jpgP_20220310_145518.jpgP_20220310_145449.jpgP_20220310_151417.jpgP_20220310_151424.jpgP_20220310_193759.jpg
And guess what...... 180mm fans wasnt fitting the fan holes inisde components chanber, as their frame was sticking to motherboard tray, forcing them closer to glass panel. I was so mad, drilled new holes on fans but still - there was no way of putting 4 screws on those fans as there is rail ending (for 140mm mounts) and holes for screwdrivers are placed. After placing 3 screws on both fans there were too close to side panel and panel's bottom rail wasnt getting into place - there was no way of closing case. Imagine how i was mad now.

So i putted 3 x Noctua NF-A14 PWM CH.BK.S fans on bottom, NO FANS ON TOP, as i saw 3 x 140mm fans are performing better than dual 180 here. I didnt used default case fans as these are very loud on onything above 5V, one of 3 fans is making ticking noise. Resoults were worse. I mean much worse. CPU jumped from 73 degrees to 87 degrees under prime 95 load (small FFT). GPU was 92 degrees on 3D mark - throttling has started.
Then, fully demotivated i swapped fans for layer before, those 3 fans on top, dual 180 on bottom and still have problems with GPU (at least CPU have settled back on 73 degrees). I had to increase GPU fans as only solution. Differently from games (tested before cleaning and after with RDR 2 and Cyberglitch 2077) hotspot was raising to 103 degrees, memory 106 degrees and all that withexac same fan curve as when i first setted it (35% @60 degree, 45% @70 degree, 55% @80 degree) with 70 Power target, -30 memory clock, -30 core clock. That is insane. What i have discovered on close inspection of GPU is that one thermopad is squeezed and have no contact with heatsink.

yw3ey43yq34w.jpg
Unnecessarly i tried to form it but no luck - only on its border it have some small contact i have formed, but deeper, all along there is 0,5mm - 1mm gap. Thats very worry as i didnt squeezed card in hands before, i am very gentle with hardware. That raise the question - is that orientation of GPU is making HEATSINK sag? How to prevent it, where to put any support?

Finally we come to service area, behind motheboard tray - with my PSU, that have all sleeved cables i have to bend the glass panel to close it (we all know how bending the glass is save) - there is too few space behind motherboard . There should be at least 2cm more between glass panel and motherboard tray. When i route the cables, i never cross them with each other, so 24 pin cable isnt above or under any other fat cable from PSU. I have ordered slim cables as i dont know how much time this glass will hold up.

Thats all my experience with the case for now. Its not ideal, it have many downsides (whole case shold be much wider to accomodate dual 180 on bottom INSIDE, and all even fattest cables from PSU.

That said, this is my 2 cents about it. It definetly need revisiting and creating revision 2, necessarily without second glass panel (metal only, even spaced) and rubber grommets (specially on back - from where all the cables come from - that would increase the pressure of exhaust fans).
 

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So here is update on this case from 7 months usage i can throw some salt at this case as its pretty situational.
First of all, i'll show you how case was standing till week ago.

View attachment 453545
My GPU temps have increased to 86 degrees / 103 hotspot.
Now, i'm a person, who clean room every week, so dust acumulation wasnt never an issue in filtered case - Alta F1 isnt exception - but after 6 months i took out all components and saw most of dust on CPU cooler. I use air compressor to clean dust from components (it have same pressure as canned air) and there was pretty much dust on CPU cooler - i could literally saw dense haze of dust coming off the cooler while blowing air on it. This however wasnt an issue to GPU - while it heatsink fins are vertical in this layout and i would suspect more dust on GPU, there was much fewer.

What really was interesting for me, was putting the 180 fans INSIDE the case (not under componnets chamber, but inside) to see how it would impact the GPU temps. So i bought cooler master H500 PSU shroud (shorter, with trapeze shape, moving more air on the GPU) to make a place for 180mm fans inside components chamber.
View attachment 453546View attachment 453549View attachment 453548View attachment 453551View attachment 453552View attachment 453554
And guess what...... 180mm fans wasnt fitting the fan holes inisde components chanber, as their frame was sticking to motherboard tray, forcing them closer to glass panel. I was so mad, drilled new holes on fans but still - there was no way of putting 4 screws on those fans as there is rail ending (for 140mm mounts) and holes for screwdrivers are placed. After placing 3 screws on both fans there were too close to side panel and panel's bottom rail wasnt getting into place - there was no way of closing case. Imagine how i was mad now.

So i putted 3 x Noctua NF-A14 PWM CH.BK.S fans on bottom, NO FANS ON TOP, as i saw 3 x 140mm fans are performing better than dual 180 here. I didnt used default case fans as these are very loud on onything above 5V, one of 3 fans is making ticking noise. Resoults were worse. I mean much worse. CPU jumped from 73 degrees to 87 degrees under prime 95 load (small FFT). GPU was 92 degrees on 3D mark - throttling has started.
Then, fully demotivated i swapped fans for layer before, those 3 fans on top, dual 180 on bottom and still have problems with GPU (at least CPU have settled back on 73 degrees). I had to increase GPU fans as only solution. Differently from games (tested before cleaning and after with RDR 2 and Cyberglitch 2077) hotspot was raising to 103 degrees, memory 106 degrees and all that withexac same fan curve as when i first setted it (35% @60 degree, 45% @70 degree, 55% @80 degree) with 70 Power target, -30 memory clock, -30 core clock. That is insane. What i have discovered on close inspection of GPU is that one thermopad is squeezed and have no contact with heatsink.

View attachment 453566
Unnecessarly i tried to form it but no luck - only on its border it have some small contact i have formed, but deeper, all along there is 0,5mm - 1mm gap. Thats very worry as i didnt squeezed card in hands before, i am very gentle with hardware. That raise the question - is that orientation of GPU is making HEATSINK sag? How to prevent it, where to put any support?

Finally we come to service area, behind motheboard tray - with my PSU, that have all sleeved cables i have to bend the glass panel to close it (we all know how bending the glass is save) - there is too few space behind motherboard . There should be at least 2cm more between glass panel and motherboard tray. When i route the cables, i never cross them with each other, so 24 pin cable isnt above or under any other fat cable from PSU. I have ordered slim cables as i dont know how much time this glass will hold up.

Thats all my experience with the case for now. Its not ideal, it have many downsides (whole case shold be much wider to accomodate dual 180 on bottom INSIDE, and all even fattest cables from PSU.

That said, this is my 2 cents about it. It definetly need revisiting and creating revision 2, necessarily without second glass panel (metal only, even spaced) and rubber grommets (specially on back - from where all the cables come from - that would increase the pressure of exhaust fans).
Glad I've bought FT02, TJ-11 and TJ-04e instead ;-)

BTW, the problem occurs with AP18x or only with non-silverstone fans?
Tony Ou mentioned in the some of the announcements it's possible to replace shipped fans by 180mm fans(that there are holes ready), but in the testing they found that they are sub-performing.
 
Glad I've bought FT02, TJ-11 and TJ-04e instead ;-)

BTW, the problem occurs with AP18x or only with non-silverstone fans?
Tony Ou mentioned in the some of the announcements it's possible to replace shipped fans by 180mm fans(that there are holes ready), but in the testing they found that they are sub-performing.
Yeah I saw that post of Tony, but now I see what real problem was (mounting holes in case). There is no other real reason if we take stock case, as third 140mm would blow air into PSU shroud which is blanked (no air vents). 180 pomps simply more air on bigger area, and as component chamber is relatively small, these fans would blow off whole area, and today GPU designs, with heatsinks blowing hot air into the case (not out of case) 180 are performing better, but are limited because of height, on which are mounted on this case. Whole problem with 180mm fans in this case is their only one mounting height - if there would be possibility to mount them as I tried, whole problem would not exist.
I have no opportunity to check other 180mm fans as I simply don't have any - you know how much are these cost...

I was near to buy real deal 200mm from Noctua but I'm really happy I didn't as I would have spent money into big nothing, as there is no screwholes for it in the case (there was -30% in price some time).
 
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Yeah I saw that post of Tony, but now I see what real problem was (mounting holes in case). There is no other real reason if we take stock case, as third 140mm would blow air into PSU shroud which is blanked (no air vents). 180 pomps simply more air on bigger area, and as component chamber is relatively small, these fans would blow off whole area, and today GPU designs, with heatsinks blowing hot air into the case (not out of case) 180 are performing better, but are limited because of height, on which are mounted on this case. Whole problem with 180mm fans in this case is their only one mounting height - if there would be possibility to mount them as I tried, whole problem would not exist.
I have no opportunity to check other 180mm fans as I simply don't have any - you know how much are these cost...

I was near to buy real deal 200mm from Noctua but I'm really happy I didn't as I would have spent money into big nothing, as there is no screwholes for it in the case (there was -30% in price some time).
By OLX we know now you are Silverstone's traitor ;-)

BTW, why silver and not black? It has so many black details it would look more uniform and badass in black. I would even help you with selling it, but with silver, deal with it yourserf... ;-)
 
By OLX we know now you are Silverstone's traitor ;-)

BTW, why silver and not black? It has so many black details it would look more uniform and badass in black. I would even help you with selling it, but with silver, deal with it yourserf... ;-)
Yeah, I chosed silver as I have lot of silver/gray furniture accents in room, plus it "hides" dust on top (not so clearly visible as on black). I also like connecting 2 contrasting colours. Now I own O11 air mini (changed my mind in last minute from mesh II performance) in black, and every bit of dust is visible in first place.
 
Does anyone have the internal dimensions of the case? I'd especially like to know the inner measurements of the "top hat" compartment.
 
I was searching for info about this case and used this thread a lot. In case someone else cares:
The Gigabyte 4090 Windoforce fits the case (barely) with the fans in mounted inside the main chamber. The graphics card is touching the fans housing lightly and you have to take the fans out first to fit the card and push them in from the side.

I am skeptical about how much the unique vertical orientation actually matters for graphics card temps, but I can at least say for the Gigabyte 4090 Windforce the temps in this case are excellent.
I assume the older fortress cases tested in vertical orientation in this thread for 3090 just don't leave enough clearance above the card to push air away from the card and it is not about orientation, tho I am not sure and have not tested any other cards but the Windforce 4090.
 
Hi Guys,

I started following this thread more than 1 year back when i got Silverstone G1M. GPU was not working well, with I/O up orientation ~25 degrees more than regular. It was Zotac RTX 2070s i guess.
I bought myself Asrock challenger RX6700XT thinking that heatpipes and fins direction really matters. With that temp I/O up was ~5 degrees more than regular, so I kept it for some time.

Recently i was looking for upgrade and stumbled across XFX store in my town. RX 7900 XT was in my budget and price was good, but i was hesitant since i saw somewhere people were saying that MERC cards are not working in this orientation. I explained this to guys in the store, and asked them if they could test this for me. They were very cooperative and took regular PC put it on its face. We tested 2 cards - Merc RX 6800 XT, and Merc RX 7900 XT Black edition. In both cases temps in regular and I/O up position were identical. I paid and got the card. Now i'm very happy, i did slight undervolt, and junc temps under load dont exceed ~85 degrees, while fans spinning ~1200-1300 RPM.

PXL_20230310_134250955.jpg
PXL_20230310_134936128.jpg


My takeaway from this that heatpipe shape / fins direction will not define if cooler will work or no in this orientation. Most likely it has to do something with internal structure of heatpipes.

BTW i have seen video where guy testing Asrock Phantom RX 7900 XTX and its overheating like crazy. He thought its actual GPU issue, while most likely its case issue. So Asrock Phantom cards seems dont work in this position
 
One way to keep the GPU thermals in check with this vertical setup is to use MSI Afterburner to cap the GPU temp.

That is how I made my MSI RTX 3070 Trio work out OK in my Silverstone FT02.
Only lost a minimal amount of fps like this, with a 72 degree cap and a 90% limit power draw.
 
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Unfortunately PNY 4070 ti does not work with ALTA F1:
Horizontal (case turned on its back): ultra quiet, standard performance
Vertical (default position): fans at max speed, worse performance
qvGPpPO.png
 
From what I have seen on the O11 Dynamic EVO's Upright GPU mount - cards like the Asus ones that have vapor chamber cooling problems with the vertical position, work great when the card is flipped around so the ports are facing downards, ie upside down....

So if you have a riser cable, try pointing the card upside down and see if it helps, if you can't flip the PC like that
 
There is an online store here in Australia selling both the black and silver models of this case quite cheaply.

I guess they must be left over stock..... kinda tempted :)
 
Please, keep posting your experience with vertical GPU mountings. The more data - better for users.
 
Please, keep posting your experience with vertical GPU mountings. The more data - better for users.


here are some of my findings I posted for my FT02

----


I received my Lian Li O11 Evo Upright GPU Kit, and used the riser cable on my MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X trio

Did a test on my FT02, using a riser cable and have my RTX 3070 sitting outside, without any fans blowing on it.
There was no difference between it sitting horizontally as per normal, or vertically as in the FT02, around 59-60c degrees in Furmark.
Whisper quiet with fans at 30% speed.
But once I mounted it into the case, with side open, it went up 3 degrees to 62c, from the heat trapping against the motherboard side, even with case fan airflow.
And once I closed the case up, the temps went up to 65-66c degrees

So the goal of a case IMO is to cool both the CPU and GPU as close to open air as possible, if not better.
So my FT02 does OK in the CPU, cooling my 5950x just fine with a Thermalright PA120, at 850rpm with Silent Wings 4/T30 rear fans at near inaudible levels from 1m
46 degrees above ambient in Cinebench 20 with stock settings, or +56 degrees with PBO on and max settings.

But not so good on the GPU.
Although this GPU does not use a vapor chamber so works fine sitting upright like it does in the FT02.
I believe the PNY RTX 4070, 4070TI, 4080 also do not use a vapor chamber based on the Techpowerup reviews.
Just basic heatpipe to fins.
But most of the other high end cards do, so will have cooling issues mounted like this. All the Asus Strix cards have this issue.

The short compact size of the Asus RTX 4070 Dual would allow me to mount my middle fan back into my FT02, but I kinda don't want to :)

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I replaced my MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X trio with a MSI RTX 4070 ti Gaming X Trio - not by choice, I actually wanted the PNY RTX 4070 ti XL8R model,
but it doesn't come with the Diablo 4 bundle, and with the Ebay Plus 22% off voucher code, along with some cash back offers, and the price was slashed down to a nice $1175 AUD plus the Diablo 4 bundle.

It just barely fits in the FT02 case, without the bottom fan. It's 337mm long and 3 slots wide, allowing me to keep my M.2 drive PCIE adapter
I estimate 345mm is the max GPU length in the FT02, without the bottom fan.
The two Phanteks T30 fans on either side still keep the GPU, chipset and M.2 drives cool and move air in the case just as well as the middle 180mm fan
Probably a touch better due to the angles used

The MSI RTX 4070 ti Gaming X Trio doesn't use a vapor chamber and just like the RTX 3070, so it has no issue with the upright position used in the FT02

With a 18.5c degree ambient
The RTX 4070 TI runs so much cooler - I stress tested it in Furmark for 15mins, and it never got higher than 61c degrees, with the fans running at 30% speed, 1000rpm, inaudible from 1m away :eek:
The RTX 3070 would hit 65 degrees, undervolted, with a 85% power limit and fans at 35% speed, 1200+ RPM

replacing the dual PCIe 8 pin cables with a single Corsair sleeved 12VHPWR cable really cleans up the cabling as well



857506_FT02___RTX_4070TI.jpg
 
How about removing the middle fan pedestal?
Look from underneath to locate the plastic clips that hold it into place.

I´ve broken one out of 6 using the biggest slotted screwdriver that i have to unclip them. Warm it up and then try it.

You can still use the filter itself and have room for a 25mm to maybe even the original 32mm fan.

Just because the left 30mm fan will wear out (overpower) the lower GPU fan if you don´t have them synchronized rpm-wise aaall the way up and down the fan-curve.

Nowadays the fans at least can dump the power if the are spinning inadvertently and become power generators ;)
 
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Hello,
I'm considering upgrading my old 1080 to a 4070 serie, if I understand correctly, we know that the PNY 4070 and MSI are working correctly on the upright position. Do I have any other option ?

EDIT: CoolColJ How was the experience with the Upright GPU Kit, you had to drill extra hole in the case I suppose ?
 
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Hello,
I'm considering upgrading my old 1080 to a 4070 serie, if I understand correctly, we know that the PNY 4070 and MSI are working correctly on the upright position. Do I have any other option ?

EDIT: CoolColJ How was the experience with the Upright GPU Kit, you had to drill extra hole in the case I suppose ?

Most of the RTX 4070 should work fine as they are not high end cards with Vapor chambers.
For the RTX 4070 TI, I know for sure my MSI Gaming X trio works fine. I also undervolt and power limit it in Afterburner to keep the fans running under 1200rpm, so it's whisper quiet and stays under 65c degrees

For the upright GPU kit, you can't use it with an air cooler
I was only using it for the included longer riser cable for testing, the bracket itself costs peanuts by itself from LianLi's AliExpress shop
I have seen one other person using it with a AIO, and bolting the bracket onto the 5.25inch drive bay area
See if I can find it again
 
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