Silverstone FT03... matx

@ Tony Ou,

The FT03's manual mentions something about video cards with certain coolers not working well in the FT03.

Will either of these cards work ok in the FT03? They have different style coolers, but looks like both still have exhausts on their rear brackets:

14-150-520-TS
images
 
@IsLNdbOi: The one on the left will result in higher case temps because it exhausts some of the air back into the case. However temps may be sufficient for your system depending on the other components, overclocking, fans used etc Radial fans (like the card on the right) exhaust air more efficiently but also tend to make more noise.
 
I'm actually considering returning my 2GB XFX HD6950 for the XFX HD6870 Black Edition (the one on the left in my post above) because the HD6950 is too loud for me.

I'm not sure though if I'll have the same loudness issue with the HD6870 since I'll still be driving three monitors (1920x1200 x1 and 1920x1080 x2).
 
'sup bruddah. Mainland island boy here. Not positive, but IIRC don't all Radeon 5000/6000 series cards run much hotter (and noisier) when pushing 2-3 monitors? I've got a Radeon 5850, but the rig it's in only drives a single display. Might be worth asking in the GPU forum.

At worst though, so long as you're not OCing, the xfx BE 5870 is gonna give you a much quieter build and is probably worth the loss in GPU horsepower vs your old 6950... although, using a single vid card for 3x 1920x1200 gaming is asking a lot of your vid card :eek: Maybe you're not gonna game or else play old games? You probably saw Anandtech's article already, but just in case not here's a linky.
 
Thanks for the thoughts. I had actually seen that Anandtech article. That's one of the things that's kind of swaying me towards that XFX BE 5870.

I've been playing BF2:BC and (yes I have been living in a cave) I just started playing Crysis Warhead. I play WoW too.

Sorry for hijacking / derailing this thread everyone.
 
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@Islandboi: Just get it over with and do what I did: throw a 2nd 6950 in there :D. What's that about noise? I can't hear you complaining!
 
I wish. I use my other slots. My 6950 blocks one PCIe1x slot. The second PCIe 1x slot is occupied by a USB3.0 / SATAIII card and the PCIe 16x length (4x electrically) slot is occupied by a TV tuner.

Having a 2nd 6950 would make my system even more loud though which is what I'm trying to avoid / reduce by possibly moving to that silent 5870 BE.
 
Think of it as... when you become deaf, it's all quiet. What better way than to use your favorite computer hardware to do the job?
 
My rig as of now, with no OC (yet) is tolerable idle, not really sure (outside of replacing the two case fans with some Typhoons) how else to quiet her down.
 
Bit-tech gave the ft03 a shakedown and came away pleased. As usual, no dB testing but at least they always do thermals which is more than most sites.

IsLNdbOi said:
Having a 2nd 6950 would make my system even more loud though which is what I'm trying to avoid / reduce by possibly moving to that silent 5870 BE.
Click to expand...

First I made a typo calling the card a "5870" and now you're at it, too. Hope you buy the right card if you swap! Say it with me now, "6870 BE" ;)
 
im trying to workout if a 5770 silent card will fit in this case.

it measures 26cm long and 17cm height.... i think it might just fit...

also i will be using prolimatech megahalems which according to the specs will fit with something like 0.08cm to spare in clearance...

what do you guys think about the 5770 silent fitting in ?

cheers
 
IsLNdbOi said:
@ Tony Ou,

The FT03's manual mentions something about video cards with certain coolers not working well in the FT03.

Will either of these cards work ok in the FT03? They have different style coolers, but looks like both still have exhausts on their rear brackets:

14-150-520-TS
images
Click to expand...
CrimsonFury said:
@IsLNdbOi: The one on the left will result in higher case temps because it exhausts some of the air back into the case. However temps may be sufficient for your system depending on the other components, overclocking, fans used etc Radial fans (like the card on the right) exhaust air more efficiently but also tend to make more noise.
Click to expand...


Here's page 32 from the FT03 manual:
ft03manualp32.png

Not quite sure what they're saying there...

The card pictured in the manual has no shroud at all around its heatsink. This one does:
14-150-520-TS

XFXTop_575px.jpg




Will system temps. vary greatly b/w the three different cards pictured above?
 
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IsLNdbOi said:
Here's page 32 from the FT03 manual:
ft03manualp32.png

Not quite sure what they're saying there...
Click to expand...

Not exactly clear, is it. What they're referring to is the orientation of the heatpipes, which must work against gravity when the end dissipating the heat is below the end the heat source touches.
 
IsLNdbOi said:
Here's page 32 from the FT03 manual:
...img...
Not quite sure what they're saying there...
Click to expand...

You missed out the other half of the picture from the manual which explained the orientation:

ft03_heatpipe_orientation.jpg


As mentioned above, they are talking about heatpipe orientation there, not about the type of exhaust the cooler uses.

Here is a pic from silverstone's article on positive air pressure comparing exhaust types

good_vga_exhaust.jpg


Left： Partially sealed graphics card cooler 　　 Right：Fully sealed graphics card cooler

The full article is here: http://www.silverstonetek.com/tech/wh_positive.php?area=
 
Ok, so what type of video card are they recommending NOT to use then? The type with heatpipes in a certain orientation (the third in the picture) or the type with a cooler that's not fully sealed?
 
IsLNdbOi said:
Ok, so what type of video card are they recommending NOT to use then? The type with heatpipes in a certain orientation (the third in the picture) or the type with a cooler that's not fully sealed?
Click to expand...

Both!

The only type they seem to want users to install are reference design, fan on the side/bottom/rear portion of the card (case fan pulling from the bottom and pushing fresh air at the GPU fan), fan is pulling this air in and up with the exhaust being pushed out from the top.
 
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The GTX 460 would be on that list of "no-nos", yet temps for my mobo/cpu have been lower than ever with two of them. Conclusion: stop worrying so much unless the you've got 2 cards that are GF100 hot to begin with
 
lowteckh said:
The GTX 460 would be on that list of "no-nos", yet temps for my mobo/cpu have been lower than ever with two of them. Conclusion: stop worrying so much unless the you've got 2 cards that are GF100 hot to begin with
Click to expand...

Agreed. For one, the FT03 is unique in that it has a fan blowing just by the cpu...and for positive pressure only, all the hot air will be exhausted easily, no matter what kind of cooler you use.

Also, I'm not sure how heat-pipe orientation could interfere, as heat-pipes are totally enclosed and sealed, and they work based on pressure and state-change (if i'm not mistaken). Not sure how gravity could have an impact.
 
prava said:
Also, I'm not sure how heat-pipe orientation could interfere, as heat-pipes are totally enclosed and sealed, and they work based on pressure and state-change (if i'm not mistaken). Not sure how gravity could have an impact.
Click to expand...

The working fluid in heatpipes (usually water) vaporizes at the heat source then travels to the cooler end(s) where it cools enough to re-liquify. The liquid is absorbed into a wick structure on the inside surface of the heatpipe and is pumped, through capillary action, back to the hot end.

If the wick has to pump against gravity, it's going to affect the overall efficiency of the heatpipe. Not all heatpipes use the same wick structure. There are at least four different types, and at least two different types commonly used in PC cooling heatsinks. Different wick structures are affected to varying degrees by gravity. Sintered powder heatpipes work better against gravity than groove heatpipes. This site has some charts showing the effect of orientation.

Here's a real-world example in a CPU cooling application, showing the difference between the heatpipes oriented horizontally vs. vertically against gravity is a pretty significant 9c.
 
Mine doesn't do that. It's audible, but it's just a a spinning or humming sound I hear when I put a disc in there. The only time I've used it is when I installed my OS.
 
IsLNdbOi said:
Ok, so what type of video card are they recommending NOT to use then?
Click to expand...

Well the ideal for temps would be a sealed card (radial fan) with heat pipes facing the recommended layout.

However any type of heatpipes and exhaust type can work in this case, just some will provide less optimal temps. This only becomes really important if you are either stuffing the case full of many high end components (where becomes an issue) or if you desire extreme low noise.
 
CrimsonFury said:
Well the ideal for temps would be a sealed card (radial fan) with heat pipes facing the recommended layout.

However any type of heatpipes and exhaust type can work in this case, just some will provide less optimal temps. This only becomes really important if you are either stuffing the case full of many high end components (where becomes an issue) or if you desire extreme low noise.
Click to expand...

Translation: If the NB of my R3G (notorious for shitty NB heatsink) can stay at 50-60c @ 3.5GHz + HT and my CPU never pops above 6Xc with 2 overvolted GTX 460s exhausting everywhere using just the provided stock fans and a AP121 for H70 intake.... good luck trying to cook your components in this case.
 
I've had the silver version for few days so far, and here are my impression.

I personally would not recommend this case to anyone. It is a good case with a different layout. I can tell Silverstone tried quite hard to be original, but the entire case is not good for general usage.
And there are small flaws that bothered me.

The first thing I did not like was that, even for silver version, they used silver metallic paint on aluminum. I would have preferred blushed bare aluminum rather which was why I ordered silver version in the first place.

The second thing was the plastic parts for top and left side vent. If you ordered black version, it might make less fuss since colors are perfectly matched, but for silver version, those plastic just ruin the exquisite look.
And I personally see no purpose for the side vent plastic. The side panels are so easy to take off if I want. They should have not made a plastic cover for the vent and drilled few holes instead.

3rd, for some select PSU, the power cable interfere with the side plastic vent, resulting the vent cover to be unable to close firmly. This issue could have been solved if the plastic over didn't exist and there were holes instead.

4th, Front and back panels are sufficiently thick, but the side panels are fairly thin. I don't think it's thin enough for you to bend it by mistake, but I still find it fairly thin.

5th, the USB 3 cables are big no-no. It's poorly implemented.

Overall, you should wait for a revision if they ever release one.

IMG_2221.jpg
 
alucasa said:
I've had the silver version for few days so far, and here are my impression.

I personally would not recommend this case to anyone. It is a good case with a different layout. I can tell Silverstone tried quite hard to be original, but the entire case is not good for general usage.
And there are small flaws that bothered me.

The first thing I did not like was that, even for silver version, they used silver metallic paint on aluminum. I would have preferred blushed bare aluminum rather which was why I ordered silver version in the first place.
Really? How did you figure this out? Did you purposely try scratching it?

The second thing was the plastic parts for top and left side vent. If you ordered black version, it might make less fuss since colors are perfectly matched, but for silver version, those plastic just ruin the exquisite look.
And I personally see no purpose for the side vent plastic. The side panels are so easy to take off if I want. They should have not made a plastic cover for the vent and drilled few holes instead.
You didn't see pictures of the case before you bought it? You would have seen the white plastic parts before buying it. I do agree that they should have gone with holes directly in the panel instead of the plastic vent.

3rd, for some select PSU, the power cable interfere with the side plastic vent, resulting the vent cover to be unable to close firmly. This issue could have been solved if the plastic over didn't exist and there were holes instead.
Not sure what you're talking about here. They provide (it's even preinstalled) an angled cable that's supposed to be plugged into the PSU.

4th, Front and back panels are sufficiently thick, but the side panels are fairly thin. I don't think it's thin enough for you to bend it by mistake, but I still find it fairly thin.
Are you kidding me? This case has some of the thickest side panels I've ever seen. I've built systems in SilverStone's SUGO cases, Shuttle XPCs, Antecs, LianLis and only the LianLi cases had side panels that come close to the thickness of this FT03

5th, the USB 3 cables are big no-no. It's poorly implemented.
I haven't seen any other case that does the front USB3.0 ports differently. My previous case (LianLi PC-Q08A) had the same type of cables for its front USB3.0 ports. The system I just built for a friend (InWin Dragon Slayer) also has the same type of cables and in both cases, if you want the front USB3.0 ports to be USB3.0 you had to route the cables out of the case and plug them into the USB3.0 ports on the back of the motherboard.

Overall, you should wait for a revision if they ever release one.

IMG_2221.jpg
Click to expand...

Replies in bold.
 
Ok, so just noticed that the "filter" on my side plastic vent only covers half of the opening:
sidefilter.jpg



Also, is anyone else's top part (space b/w the plastic w/ power, rest buttons and top ports) and front side panel, crooked like this:
topnn.jpg
 
Put this together over the week after waiting for the FT03 for over a month. Initially ordered and paid for the Lian Li V354 but it was out of stock so decided to get the FT03 instead since I had to wait anyway.

Parts are:
i7 2600k w/ Corsair H50
Asus P8P67-M Pro
8GB GSkill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600
Asus 6950
Seasonic X650
2x WD 2TB Green
Asus Xonar Essense STX
WD 1TB Black from old PC (to be replaced with SSD when new Intel drives come out in Mar/April)
Waiting on slim BD rom drive

PC is used for 3D in Maya, Photoshop, Lightroom and the occasional game of Starcraft II and fps.

FT03.jpg


Please excuse the cable mess, as the board will have to be ripped out in April anyway and I can't really be bothered being too pedantic about it.

Overall I am very satisfied with the case. It looks good in my opinion, takes up less desk space compared to other matx cases and is relatively easy to work with. The cooling/airflow is good for a matx case, but the oem fans can be a bit loud. Looking to replace the oem fans with something more silent.... Any suggestions? What are people using? The fit and finish is generally good, the slit on the tape covering the optical drive slot opening in my case is misaligned at the factory. Won't be able to use my optical drive when it gets here as the opening is completely blocked. Will need to sort this out with Silverstone and something to note for potential buyers.

There is room for improvement but I would buy again given the choice and would recommend this to anyone looking for a matx case for their new build.

Couple of Qs:
1/ recommendations for fans to replace oem case fans and fans for push/pull configured H50 (I heard gentle typhoon, Akasa Apache and Blacksilents are good?)
2/ anyone having problems with cables (particularly thick DVI cables) needing to be bent at uncomfortable angles for the top cover to be closed properly?
3/ there is a lip of about 3mm in height next to the 1st PCI expansion slot, where my 6950 goes, and this has prevented me from inserting any HDMI cables into the video card as the plastic plug of the cable hits this lip. Anyone else has similar problems?
 
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IsLNdbOi said:
Ok, so just noticed that the "filter" on my side plastic vent only covers half of the opening:
Click to expand...

The filtered part is for the middle intake case fan, the unfiltered part is for the PSU exhaust.

IsLNdbOi said:
Also, is anyone else's top part (space b/w the plastic w/ power, rest buttons and top ports) and front side panel, crooked like this:
Click to expand...
My case is exactly the same. Can't see this as being a big deal though.
 
wishi said:
The filtered part is for the middle intake case fan, the unfiltered part is for the PSU exhaust.


My case is exactly the same. Can't see this as being a big deal though.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.. Regarding the crooked part, after playing with the pieces for a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that it's normal since the top "cover" fits over it perfectly and the cutout on the top cover for the power, reset buttons and ports matches exactly.
 
wishi said:
Put this together over the week after waiting for the FT03 for over a month. Initially ordered and paid for the Lian Li V354 but it was out of stock so decided to get the FT03 instead since I had to wait anyway.


Couple of Qs:
1/ recommendations for fans to replace oem case fans and fans for push/pull configured H50 (I heard gentle typhoon, Akasa Apache and Blacksilents are good?)
I'm using 1800RPM Gentle Typhoons, much quieter and seem to be doing great on air movement.

2/ anyone having problems with cables (particularly thick DVI cables) needing to be bent at uncomfortable angles for the top cover to be closed properly?
Yes and no, I had to feed a little more DVI cable into the top to get the lid to sit flush due to the capacitor (of that is what it is) on the end of the cable.

3/ there is a lip of about 3mm in height next to the 1st PCI expansion slot, where my 6950 goes, and this has prevented me from inserting any HDMI cables into the video card as the plastic plug of the cable hits this lip. Anyone else has similar problems?
Click to expand...

I think I know what you are talking about? The actual case cutouts are too close to the HDMI slot? I'm only using DVI but had to 'wiggle' the card a bit to get it to sit flush.
 
InfernalMachine said:
I'm using 1800RPM Gentle Typhoons, much quieter and seem to be doing great on air movement.
Click to expand...
Hi Infernal, I'll been following your new rig thread with great interest. Thank for your reply.
What rpm do these run at on idle? I assume you have these plugged into the CPU fan header with a Y splitter? I noticed these aren't PWM controlled. Just wondering what difference, if any, PWM fans make.

InfernalMachine said:
I think I know what you are talking about? The actual case cutouts are too close to the HDMI slot? I'm only using DVI but had to 'wiggle' the card a bit to get it to sit flush.
Click to expand...
Yes and no, it wouldn't matter if the cut out was too close if it was flat. In fact this is the case with all cases. But on the FT03 there is a lip about 3mm in height that is sitting right up against the HDMI socket.... oh well.
 
Hi wishi,

Idle the fans run at 1769-1800 connected to the Y splitter - I'm not sure the difference PWM fans would make with the H70; I would think that corsair would have made that call for us already =D
 
Tony Ou said:
I don't think a self-contained water cooler like the Corsair H50 or H70 will necessarily perform better (for cooling and noise) than a high-end cooler inside the FT03, but it will fit. A guy in China has already installed one:

http://www.chiphell.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=152533&pid=3338683
Click to expand...

I'm trying to figure out the GPU cooling components in that thread. It's obviously an HD 5870 with a Thermalright Shaman, but the fan is not the bundled Thermalright TY-140. Also, the VRM cooler's heatsink is turned slightly, so it can't be the Thermalright VRM R5. The RAM cooler is Thermalright HR-07 Trio, can't tell if it's the L or H version. Any ideas?

EDIT: Maybe he modded the VRM R5 by rotating the heatsink to avoid blocking the push fan on a CPU cooler from a previous non-H70 build...
 
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What is the tallest heatsink one can fit? I'm about to buy a Thermalright Archon but I wont If I can't fit it inside (don't have FT03 at the moment...but I may upgrade to it in the future).
 
Thermalright Silver Arrow will fit in FT03 providing your CPU socket position is ok (can't be too close to GPU or edge of mobo)

The Silver Arrow is a better cooler than the Archon.
 
InfernalMachine said:
Hi wishi,

Idle the fans run at 1769-1800 connected to the Y splitter - I'm not sure the difference PWM fans would make with the H70; I would think that corsair would have made that call for us already =D
Click to expand...

Thanks InfernalMachine. Bought 4x Gentle Typhoon AP15's and 2x Y splitters. Boy are they expensive to get in New Zealand. Ekkkk! Hopefully they are worth the money...
 
I spent too much time looking at fan charts and forums - the GT AP15s are doing a great job for me, so much so that I am thinking of swapping out my two 120mm case fans with them =)
 
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