I like this case, but it's a shame that you can't replace the 180mm fans with quieter fans like Scythe S-FLEX because most "quiet-oriented" fans (Scythe S-FLEX, Noctua etc.) are 120mm fans.

It would be nice if it was predisposed to use 180mm fans or 120mm fans.

Also... it doesn't fit very long video cards like ATI HD 5970.

Most people don't use such a large motherboard (dual socket???) and prefer a smaller case. I am one of them.

Actually, per the Silverstone site, it does fit long cards. There is even a picture of the case with an ATI 5970 installed.

You can replace the 180mm fans with 120mm - they have mounting holes for them. You can also use 140mm fans that use 120mm mounts.

Hi, this case uses the same 180mm fans as the Raven 2 that SPCR reviewed and found the fans to be 16-17dB(A) in the case with whole assembled system at 18dB(A). This is pretty quiet really so may not need to swap the fans anyway. Silverstone offer a 180mm fan with a controller that can be slowed down to 500rpm, this maybe quieter.
Regards, Seb

RBBOT,

I just ordered my FT02 this evening, so I guess it's time to order all the other necessary parts. I'd like to get the Noctua NH-D14 cpu cooler, but I'm still concerned about the size. I was checking the Noctua website for compatibility with the stock heat-spreaders on various RAM brands (didn't find the compatibility chart yet), but found a FAQ where they state the following:

How can I check whether my case is wide/high enough for the cooler?
In order to check whether the cooler isn’t too high for your case, please measure the distance from the motherboard tray to the side panel (tower cases) or top panel (desktop cases). If this distance is bigger than the height of the cooler + 15mm (mainboard spacers + mainboard + CPU), the height/width of your case should be sufficient.
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=faqs ... =34&lng=en

According to Newegg's "Specifications" page, the Noctua NH-D14 dimensions are: 160 x 140 x 158mm (6.3" x 5.5" x 6.2").

Assuming (I know, always dangerous) 160mm is the height, adding 15mm = 175mm mounted on the motherboard, or 6.9" total height.

According to frozencpu.com website, the dimensions of the FT02 case are:
212mm (W) x 497mm (H) x 616mm (D)
8.35â€

Nice!

Scott,

I'm building a similar system myself (NH-D14, FT02, i7 860, HD 5770+L2 Pro, P7P55D, X-650, X-25M 80GB SSD, WD Caviar Green 1,5TB, 4GB RAM), I should have all the parts tomorrow so hopefully I can confirm this myself, but according to the FT02 manual it should fit.

You can download the FT02 manual on the Silverstone site, from the download section (Sorry, I can't link it because I don't have the required 3 posts to post URLs yet)



I also noticed from the manual that there's a top cover limitation (70mm), so I won't be able to connect a normal DVI to VGA adaptor to the videocard. I had to find a special adaptor to get around that limitation.

I ordered some of the parts before the SPCR review of the Raven 2, so I also have three 140mm noctuas to replace those 180mm fans. After reading the how quiet those 180mm fans are, I don't know if there's any need to replace them though. I'll might try to compare them during weekend, if all goes well...

Hi Pörrö, thanks for the post, this is my first build, so this is all new to me. It's great to find that several people in this Thread are working on similar builds! It gives me a little more confidence that I might be able to pull this off... or at least be able to ask for help from others who have a very similar set-up.

As far as the X25-M solid state drives go, I'm trying to find the best price on one today, so that it might arrive close to the same time as the other parts do. Am I going to be fine as long as I get one that has “G2â€

No problem, I built my last computer 5 years ago and I doubt I'll do any big changes for this new one for another 5 years or longer even. Oh the luxury of not needing to wait 6 minutes for Windows to start, or the photoshop to freeze every now and then. Been reading this site and forum and several other sites daily, for months now. Hundreds of reviews and thousands of user comments, waiting for the new products to actually be released... It's funny to read a lot comments here and on other forums with very similar systems... and no one really seems to have all the parts yet.

[quote="Scott J"]
As far as the X25-M solid state drives go, I'm trying to find the best price on one today, so that it might arrive close to the same time as the other parts do. Am I going to be fine as long as I get one that has “G2â€

I've seen a picture where the user removed the grill on one of the three 180mm fans in order to fit a 5970 card.

This (notice he removed the grill)

So I ordered one last week, and it's finally here, although I won't be able to install anything in it until the weekend, probably. I'll keep you all posted if you're interested.

Please do!

Yes, PLEASE do!

I just received mine recently, and the motherboard arrived today. I've never done this before, so any tips, tricks, pictures, etc. would be REALLY appreciated

Hey, so I have it all set up, seems to be working pretty well. It fit into my ikea cubby perfectly, so I'm happy about that. One thing to note, the rubber treads on the bottom make it a little hard to slide over surfaces, but I put some scotch tape over them and now it slides like a dream. I have an intel Q9300 in it with a noctua nh-u12p cooler on it, dual gtx 260s and an Antec 850 signature powering the whole thing, seems to be running along happily. The cooler fit just fine, no worries there. One problem I had was with mounting the dvd writer, I had a spare old ide drive, so I tried that one first, but it butted right up against the motherboard and was still sticking out of the front. I managed to find a shorter one of my other systems and switched them, and the shorter one worked just fine. I also had some trouble with the locking system with the longer drive, but it worked just fine with the short drive. I'd recommend going with an SATA optical drive if at all possible, even with the shorter drive I had to try a couple different slot before I found one where the power cable didn't butt up against something on the motherboard. I think the orientation is definitely working, there's a ton of heat coming out of the top. I haven't put the top wire guard back on, in the position the system is in I'm going to need a longer video cable to route it out the back. In terms of being quiet, it's definitely hard to hear under the desk, if I put my head down near it I can hear some buzzing, but I think that's the video cards. Putting to top piece back in will probably help, it might act as more of a sound baffle. It is a great looking case, I'll see if I can find a lighter dvd writer, the current one is black and looks a little out of place, but that shouldn't be hard. The silver is pretty nice. All in all, I like it.

Is there considered as a quiet case in SPCR standard? I am interested in this case as well as the Antec P-183 and CM 690 II. How quiet/loud are the fan?

RBBOT,

I just ordered my FT02 this evening, so I guess it's time to order all the other necessary parts. I'd like to get the Noctua NH-D14 cpu cooler, but I'm still concerned about the size. I was checking the Noctua website for compatibility with the stock heat-spreaders on various RAM brands (didn't find the compatibility chart yet), but found a FAQ where they state the following:

How can I check whether my case is wide/high enough for the cooler?
In order to check whether the cooler isn’t too high for your case, please measure the distance from the motherboard tray to the side panel (tower cases) or top panel (desktop cases). If this distance is bigger than the height of the cooler + 15mm (mainboard spacers + mainboard + CPU), the height/width of your case should be sufficient.
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=faqs ... =34&lng=en

According to Newegg's "Specifications" page, the Noctua NH-D14 dimensions are: 160 x 140 x 158mm (6.3" x 5.5" x 6.2").

Assuming (I know, always dangerous) 160mm is the height, adding 15mm = 175mm mounted on the motherboard, or 6.9" total height.

According to frozencpu.com website, the dimensions of the FT02 case are:
212mm (W) x 497mm (H) x 616mm (D)
8.35â€

Good find. I'm debating between the D14, U12P and Mega Shadow for my FT02. I'm currently using an H50 in my HAF932, but I'm concerned about the positive air pressure and Corsair's suggested fan orientation if I decided to carry over my H50 to the FT02.

Suggestions?

Hi jtcb, thanks for the pictures. I wanted to use the Noctua, but even though it seems to fit in the FT02 case, it won't fit with my motherboard. Noctua's website has a compatibility page, and it says the NH-D14 can only be mounted horizontally on my motherboard.

I didn't know what they meant by horizontally (fans blowing east-west, or towers mounted east-west, in which case the fans would be blowing north-south?), so I emailed Noctua, and they got back to me last night. When they say "horizontal", they mean mounted so the fans blow up toward the top of the case.

However, with the FT02 case, the motherboard is rotated 90°, so at that point, the fans are blowing east-west again, and I need them to blow north-south (toward the top of the case).

So, now I'm looking at the Prolimatech MegaShadow again, and the new Thermalright Venomous-X. The few user reviews that I've found for the Venomous-X have been very positive (better than Megahalem by 4° or 5° IIRC, which if true, would also beat the Noctua NH-D14), but mysteriously, I have not been able to find any professional or "industry" reviews yet...

Hi there..

I am wondering if it is possible for someone to post a pic of the power supply installed at the back of the intake hole. I am also interested in getting the Seasonic X-650. Some posters mention that the PSU fan doesn't align with the back intake.

I have the Seasonic x-750 which I think is the same external size as the x-650 (Newegg says they're both 6.3" x 5.9" x 3.4"). It looks like only the top 1/4" to 1/2" of the fan grill is blocked by the case, it shouldn't be any problem at all.

I would post a picture of it, but I haven't figured out how to post pictures on this Forum yet.

However, it may be a moot point, because I saw a youtube video of an installation of a different power supply, and they mentioned that some power supplies need to have the fan facing the INSIDE of the case, to draw hot air IN and exhaust it OUT the top or back, where the power switch is located. So I checked the Seasonic X-750 owner's manual (again!), and it says the following:

"2. Depending on the type of computer case, when mounted properly, the power supply fan should face the mainboard. This does not apply to all types of cases."

I installed it the way I saw pictures of the Seasonic installed on the Internet, with the fan facing out the back vent, but that doesn't mean the people I copied were right. If I can't find confirmation about it on the Internet this evening, I'll call Seasonic tomorrow to find out for sure. If it mounts with the fan facing the inside of the case, then it probably doesn't matter if we're blocking off the rear vent. I don't see how ANY power supply wouldn't block that vent, one way or the other. It might even be helpful to block that vent, from a sound standpoint, and if the fan is meant to draw hot air in and exhaust it out the top, that's even more positive exhaust, as long as the load is high enough to cause the fan to spin.

Use the link below to post pic and click Img in this post window.

http://www.imageshack.us/

Here goes nuthin'...

[img][img]http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/2209/seasonic1low.jpg[/img][/img]

It worked!

Here are a few more:

[img][img]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6268/dsc035702.th.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8681/dsc035692.th.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8739/dsc035672.th.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8074/dsc035662.th.jpg[/img][/img]

The last pic shows clearly there is a 1 inch gap.

How do you like the X-750?

Yes, I just measured it, and it's almost exactly 1" at the bottom. My earlier reference (1/4" to 1/2") was to the amount of the fan area covered by the upper section of the vent window.

I like it just fine, but so far I haven't had a chance to use it yet, because I haven't finished putting everything together. I still have to install the video card, and then connect all the cables, then I'll hold my breath and push the power button...

At least you are close to completion. All I got so far is a SSD. I will probably go for the i7-860. I am still debating between this case, Antec P-183, and CM 690 II. Do you mind posting your parts?

Hi jtcb,

I'm close to completion. I was up late last night trying to get everything put together. It amazes me that the cables aren't labeled and the instruction manuals are so poor. I mean, if you've already done this a 100 times then I'm sure the instruction manuals are fine, because you don't need them. But if this is your first time putting something like this together, a little more clarification would be immensely helpful.

For just one example, I have two connectors hanging off the bottom of my video card. I don't know what they're for, and none of the manuals are going to tell me, either. I have both Radeon HD 5850 power sockets utilized and plugged into the psu, but there are two little 4 or 6 pin connectors that split off from the main connectors where the cables plug into the video card, and I don't know if those are optional or whether they need to be hooked up to something (or not).

At 4 o'clock in the morning, I was getting a little frustrated with stuff like that. At 5 o'clock, I was getting a lot frustrated with stuff like that, LOL!

Since the people who wrote the manuals certainly cannot be stupid, I can only guess that they enjoy creating a sense of mystery for the inexperienced PC builder

I started out going with the i7-920, then I spent about 2 weeks investigating the i7-860 configuration. When I added up the total cost for the i7-860 vs. the i7-920, given the configuration/parts I was hoping to use, the difference was only a little over $100 in the closest "apples to apples" comparison I could get.

The i7-860 is only 95TDP vs. the i7-920's 130TDP, and that was a consideration for me too, because I anticipate high ambient/room temperatures during summer months. In the end though, I wasn't sure if I could put together a computer once, let alone twice, so I wanted to "future proof" the system enough that if I wanted to, I could upgrade to the next generation processor without having to buy new RAM and a new motherboard.

Now that I have finished putting this computer together, I think I could do it a lot faster next time, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Keep in mind though, I haven't fired it up yet either, so I may not be finished yet after all

The i7-860 seems to have slightly better performance at stock speeds compared to the i7-920, and the i7-860 should put off considerably less heat, but for me, the i7-920 seemed like the slightly better choice. It was a tough call.

Here are the parts I ended up selecting:

Silverstone FT02B-W case
i7-920 cpu (D0 stepping, that's supposed to be good, I'm not really clear about what it means though!)
MegaShadow Heatsink (on the way, Noctua NH-D14 won't fit my motherboard)
Indigo Extreme TIM (haven't tried it yet, need to learn more first)
Nexus 'Real Silent' 120mm fan for the top case fan
Nexus 'Real Silent' 120mm fan for the MegaShadow
EVGA X58 E760 Classified motherboard
Radeon HD 5850 video card
Mushkin Redline RAM 3 x 2GB
Seasonic Gold 80+ x750 psu
Intel X25-M SSD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 HDD (250GB, free with the Intel X25-M SSD)
Samsung F3 1TB HDD
Lamptron FC-5 fan controller (on the way, all fans plugged into motherboard at the moment)
Win7 Pro 64-bit

Belkin PC tool kit with anti-static wrist strap (wrist-strap was good, didn't need a single other tool from the kit)
Anti-static mat (24" x 26", I think)

Old parts being used with new PC:
NEC Multisync 20WMGX2 monitor (couple years old, still works great)
Pioneer DVR-112D (2 years old, IDE drive, but the case would look a lot 'cleaner' with a SATA drive cable)

Still to get:
Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev.2 and two 92mm Nexus fans for video card (unless I find something that doesn't need modification), and a few cable sleeves.

Most valuable tool: the free non-magnetic Philips-head screwdriver that came with the Noctua NH-D14 (which is being returned). I was able to put the whole PC together with that one screwdriver. I couldn't believe it