Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
Pulling just about all the panels off, you will notice the interior of the SilverStone Fortress FT05 is also painted black, and well finished. There is no hint of any bare metal showing on any part of the case, and from the photo above, you can see that everything will fit nice and snug. This layout is pretty standard minus the 5.25" drive bays, given the ninety degree rotated motherboard tray, as aforementioned. A separate hard drive rack can be found between the fans on the bottom and the power supply bay at the top rear, which can accommodate up to two 3.25" drives. According to SilverStone, you can fit a video card of up to a length of 12.3". This should be sufficient for a majority of video cards out there. You could possibly leave out the fans for a bit more space, but I would suggest against doing so. With the side panels removed, you will notice that SilverStone has padded the inside with sound dampening material, thereby, absorbing some of the sound. This is a great feature, especially for silent PC enthusiasts. You will be happy to find additional sound dampening material on the bottom panel as well, which helps to dampen out some sound reflections. There is a 3cm gap between that and the bottom mounted fans.
The Fortress FT05 can accommodate SSI-CEB, ATX, and Micro-ATX motherboards. The risers are not labeled, but six are pre-installed out of the box. No rear 120mm fan is included. As we can see from the photo above, there is a section in which there is a large opening to accommodate aftermarket heatsinks with backplates without having to remove the motherboard. This should be sufficient for most motherboards out there, so there should be no issues accommodating different heatsinks. As with the consistency of the design, all internal cables have been sleeved in black.
Because of the rotated motherboard orientation, the "bottom" power supply bay is found at the top rear. A dedicated intake mesh comes with the Fortress FT05 to block out the dust, while still being able for intake air to flow into the power supply via the power supply fan. The mesh is externally removable, which would come in handy when the end user decides to clean it out, and can be magnetically attached back onto the case. Around the power supply bay are decent sized openings for you to route cables behind the motherboard tray.
Seven ventilated expansion slot openings are built into the Fortress FT05, but will require a Philips-head screwdriver in order to remove them. In addition, there is a removable mesh bracket on the outside, in which the end user must remove before accessing the screws for the expansion slots. I found that it is an unnecessary inconvenience, and I much rather have SilverStone use thumbscrews instead with the back panel pushed back about half an inch for a better design flow.
The SilverStone Fortress FT05 has two AP181 180mm fans integrated on the bottom. The inside is guarded, so you don't have to worry about cables getting caught between the fan blades. From the photo above, you can see a three centimeter gap below the fans to ensure enough intake air passes through to cool your system. The fans are quite large, and it will take up the entire floor of the chassis. Both fans have 3-pin headers, but are connected to the switch in front so end users have the option to control the speed, as discussed on the previous page.
There is a 3.5" HDD rack sandwiched between the rear bottom fan and the power supply bay to hold up to two drives. If you have a longer power supply, taking out this rack would be a good idea. It will also improve airflow once it is gone. However, I did not have a problem installing my Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1000W along with the rack, even though it measures 180mm in length.
Here is a shot of the back with the panel removed. The slim side loading optical drive bay can be seen here. Most people pay very little attention to this area, as it is usually not seen. I find this side is fundamental to good cable management. This is especially true for the SilverStone Fortress FT05, as there are many openings and the company expects you to route your cables here. Although there is adequate space between the motherboard tray and the side panel, SilverStone could have spared slightly more space for more flexibility in cable management, especially for thicker cables like the 24-pin motherboard power. Firstly, there are two SSD trays in this area, which would leave less space for cabling. Secondly, those that prefer to install the slim optical drive will use up additional space. The motherboard tray is built to a nice size in conjunction with well placed openings in all the right areas for best cable management without compromising accessibility. With the large motherboard tray size, cabling can be done in a setup where cables can be hidden, while openings provide optimal access to motherboard connectors on the other side. With that said, I think SiverStone has done a pretty good job with the Fortress FT05's interior design and layout overall.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
