Technically thought-out piece of design for compromise ready individualists

After a series of classical ATX case where I even always have value placed on the outside, I looked around at the time established and upscale Case manufacturers SILVERSTONE - and found the Fortress FT-03. I dare say that this case perhaps the only, but certainly one of the few is that so stands out for its simplicity and the simultaneous style factor from the crowd, as it is otherwise known only from Apple products. For Apple-savvy people, there are also the housing (see. MACpro) in silver with white details. I decided from understated reasons for the black version.

My requirements for a housing:
- I buy and use gaming machines. Appropriate hardware has to have space.
- The enclosure must be practical and functional.
- Please have some form of dust. I suck inside reluctant.
- Solid feel to the touch.
- "Fine," it should be. That is for me: Elegant, simple yet special. No gaming Proll calculator with giant fans, LEDs and Window kits.

Under these conditions, I bought the case and was (almost) not disappointed. The devil is always in the details.

Design and processing:
Well the main reason for this housing. It looks like a blast. I heard many things like "What the hell is that? Where there's that?", "Is the ne custom-made?", "Where do you get something like that come from?", "And there fits a gaming PC in?". In short: It is striking, precisely because it is unlike anything else on Cases. There are hardly any "unrest" on the housing: Front the discreet logo and a mere slit gives an idea of ​​a drive. Above a grid and 2 buttons (Power, Reset) plus 2 USB ports. On the side of a small ventilation grille. That's it. It summarizes brushed aluminum on on all sides. The gaps are clean but clearly. This one gets, however, only to face if one hires the grid above. This is how the lateral grid of glossy plastic.

CONCEPT:
It follows the principle of fire: "Warm air rises". The power supply is at the bottom and gets as well as the housing itself on the ground fresh air. Accordingly, the graphics card from above hangs down and blows up. Here the motherboard is rotated 90 °. Inside there are still inclined fan, direct the air flow further upwards. Up then pulls a big fan all the air to the outside. The hard drives are "on the other side" of the case, virtually at the back of the motherboard. One can two 3.5 "HDDs plus installing a drive in the accessible from above SATA docking station. All cables are laid on this side. So, if you" "examined in the left main hardware sees not a single cable. A bay for an SSD is.

Compromising on component selection:
- You need a uATX-board, so the smaller form factor. Nowadays, that's when it comes to functions not so tragic, but the selection is limited by the fact.
- You need necessarily a slim SlotIn drive. Because these drives are only a few manufacturers in the program, you are good for it twice or three times.
- One should engage in any case to a power adapter with cable management - because you have to the other side of the hard drive and then to the very top, you just need cable length.
- One might think of a CPU fan which directs the air upwards. In my case, the fan blows off vertically and is then conveyed by the underlying and the overlying case fan outwards.
Otherwise, you need not be afraid of "real" gaming hardware have: On my Intel Core i7-2600 LGA1155 Desktop Processor boxed 8MB L2 cache 3400MHz puts a Scythe Big Shuriken CPU cooler. As a graphic solution Gainward GeForce GTX570 Phantom inserted graphics card (PCI-e, 1280MB, GDDR5 memory, dual DVI, Mini-HDMI) in Silverstone FT-03.

Compromising on practicality:
- The SlotIn drive has no eject button. This is done via Windows> My Computer> right click> Eject. Is not sooo tragic, but you should keep in mind, if you - like me - a firmware update the SSD makes a CD and then does not come on the CD if you have not yet installed Windows. (Altes drive clamped - problem solved).
- The connections for everything except the power cord are on top - great! However, one has every time there which changes, agree the grid. After all, power and reset button as well as 2x USB external.
- The power cord is perpendicular to the bottom of the housing in the plug (this is an extension of an adapter, which is also included). Ie housing tilt / tilt and insert.
- The washable dust filter on the bottom will only be held by magnets on the housing - falling during transport and an unfavorable grip already down times.
- The side panels (left and right) are inserted from above. When transporting so you should rather act on the front and back and not on the side panels.
- The included case fans are ok. People who love it really quiet, will not be happy with the standard fans. Sound insulation in the form of foam or special inner coating is not present.

CONCLUSION:
Man buys by the above compromises for comparatively little money is an extremely stylish, different type, elgantes design piece that by its own design also cools very efficiently and takes advantage physics. Despite certain limitations in the choice of components you are to build in a full-fledged gaming system with very strong hardware capable. And so I've found a perfect home for me for my computer: Strong, chic, understated, individually. 1 star deduction for the compromises you have to make.