By: Preston Yuen
February 6, 2015
The video game industry has become more and more popular in modern society, especially in the last two decades or so. I have always loved playing games since my toddler years, as I recall playing on my Sega Genesis console. Since then, I have owned every generation of Sony's PlayStation with a vast library of games. Even after investing all that money into video games, I could not get enough. On occasion, I would drop by my friends' house for a LAN party, or hop on their Nintendo for a couple of hours. Although I had access to a large variety of games in my childhood years, I did not find satisfaction in them, even after fully completing the games with all the bonus items. I realized I wanted more than simply playing the games themselves. Hence, I recently started delving in world of game design and development, analyzing all of the games I could my hands on. During my analytical process, I soon recognized that a lot of the games have many similar features and functionality. Yet, many people are still interested. Take the Assassin's Creed series, for example. Each game in the series involves jumping from building to building, all while fending off enemies. Some may ask why people are still interested in such repetitive games. In essence, it comes down to the storyline that entices them. Shifting our focus back to the hardware side in the PC world, things are not all that different. What we have today at our hands is SilverStone's Fortress FT05 computer chassis. Although it looks like any computer case out there in terms of basic functionality and looks, what exactly makes this one stand out from all the rest? We have cracked one open here at our APH Networks headquarters to find out.
Our review unit of the SilverStone Fortress FT05 was delivered via UPS Standard from the company's American offices in California, USA. Using the Standard service, everything arrived to our APH Networks headquarters here in Calgary, Alberta in excellent condition. Following the Fortress FT04, the package for the Fortress FT05 looked just as clean and straightforward, with all the features and respective model name printed around the package itself using the same classy font as on the its predecessor.
As per usual, like many cases that we have reviewed in the past at APH Networks, our unit of the Fortress FT05 was wrapped neatly in a bag to prevent any kind of miscellaneous scratches, and was kept sandwiched between two large Styrofoam brackets to prevent bumps and bruises in transit. Before we move on, we have taken the features and specifications from SilverStone's website for your convenience:
Features
- Aluminum wrap-around exterior with classic SilverStone Fortress styling
- Revolutionary 90 degree motherboard mounting from RAVEN RV01
- Breakthrough 5.25 inch bay-free design for unprecedented power to size ratio
- Two Air Penetrator fans included for great performance and quietness
- Positive air pressure design for excellent cooling/quietness and dust-prevention
- Foam padded interior for advanced noise absorption
- Quick-release latch for fast side panel removal
- Exterior access to main filter for easy maintenance
- Support for various liquid cooling radiator sizes
Specifications
Model No.
- SST-FT05B (black)
- SST-FT05S (silver)
- SST-FT05B-W (black + window)
- SST-FT05S-W (silver + window)
Material
- Aluminum front, bottom, and rear panels, steel body
Motherboard
- SSI-CEB, ATX, Micro-ATX
Multimedia
--
Drive Bay
- External: Slim slot-loading optical x 1
- Internal: 3.5" x 2, 2.5” x 2
Cooling System
- Front: --
- Rear: --
- Side: --
- Top: 120mm fan slot x 1
- Bottom: 180mm AP fan x 2, 600/900/1200rpm, 17/25/34dBA; downward compatible with 120mm fan x 3, or 140mm fan x 2
- Internal: --
Expansion Slot
- 7
Front I/O Port
- USB 3.0 x 2
- Audio x 1
- MIC x 1
Power Supply
- Optional PS2(ATX)
Operating system support
--
Expansion Card
- Compatible with 12.3” long, width restriction – 6.57”
Limitation of CPU cooler
- 162mm
Limitation of PSU
--
Net Weight
- 9.5kg
Dimension
- 221mm (W) x 483mm (H) x 427mm (D), 46 liters
Extra
--
Support VESA Mount
--
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
