Not really, that's where the "engineering" part arises. My point is: maybe the difference isn't dramatic, but there is a difference (both in decibels and frequency) and you can't conclude anything about this as perception is subjective.

Will good thick quality dampening foam help with side panel vibration? I have a Lian Li PC-X500, and sometimes the side panel starts making a lot of racket, but if I push my finger on it for a few seconds, it goes away.

Most definitely I can conclude lots: The thing we're talking about (grill on/off in the context of a noisy high power VGA stock cooler) is unlikely to be perceivable by any user. Who cares whether that difference is calculable or even measurable as 0.689 dB? This is not some physics class. What always counts in assessments about noise and sound is what we can hear! SPCR is founded on that premise.

Several points:

1. What is the source of the noise? Usually it's a HDD or a fan. Find out what's causing it and see if you can eliminate that vibration in some way.
2. Perhaps the panel itself is not firmly attached. Check all the screws.
3. Foam damping will not really reduce the noise of panel vibration or stop the vibration. If you cannot eliminate the soruce of vibration, then you want to use mass damping -- the best acoustic damping for panels feature a heavy rubbery layer, usually in direct contact with the panel. This mass helps w/ vibration.

I have a VelociRaptor 300GB and a WD 500 storage drive. Using 3 120MM Scythe Slipstreams for case fans at around 7V, I plan on remounting these with silicon grommets, but I don't think Slipstreams cause that much vibration.

Sounds like it would probably be my hard drives? My side panels use a latch mechanism that slides in and then the spring loaded screw tightens it down. They are currently secure, double checked them.

I have noticed though, the vibration usually occurs after I'm been in a gaming session with the fan spun up on my Radeon 5870, I'll stop gaming and it will spin down, and that's when I'll notice that the vibration noise has started.

Anyone know where there are pics of completed systems with this case? I'm curious how DVI and other cables fit under the "top" of the case with the rotated design.

*edit* Nevermind, I finally learned how to use google image search.

Likely I can perceive it, because of the decibels (0.689 dB???) and frequency difference, as I've already said.

Please tell me that Lawrence Lee really didn't think that the cable routing slot was a convenient handhold......

If you believe this, you have no idea what you're taking about. Not only is such a difference extremely difficult to measure or perceive, it is simply not significant in any sense.

I believe this and I believe you lack some experience and engineering knowledge.

Edit: forget what I said... you are right

Excellent review, I'm on the market to replace my old Sonata II (plastic front door broke a few months back) and this case might just do the trick.

I was using a Reserator 2 to cool my CPU and GPU, but my pump is toast and I'm tired of plugging/unplugging it when I need to move my case around, so I must find a new cooling solution too.

Due to the unique airflow inside the case, I was wondering if passive coolers (Prolimatech MK-13 for the GPU and a good cooling tower without any fans on the the CPU) would be enough to cool my system. Would it be possible to do such a test? My guess is that it could be possible with a low TDP CPU and a midrange GPU. What do you think?

Add a SSD for internal storage and it might be a great option for a very quiet system.

In case test doesn't happen, here's my suggestion.

Loose the case fans and add an undervolted ULN fan directly over the CPU heatsink (pull config) and another over the GPU heatsink and you'd have the basis for a very quiet system. Undervolt CPU and GPU if possible to reduce load temps.

Alternatively, if you want to go all the way and you're not paranoid about higher temps and accept a further reduction of component life expectancy, then see below.

RAVEN RV01 case with a fanless system build

http://www.youtube.com/user/Silverstonetech#p/a/u/1/q1Xgjvf0SDc

Components used are: Intel Core i7 920 CPU, Thermalright HR01 CPU cooler, ASUS Rampage II Extreme motherboard, Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D DDR3 memory, AMD Radeon HD 4850 graphics card, Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 Rev.2 GPU VGA cooler, SilverStone Nightjar ST45NF PSU.

Sweet video, but I'd like to see the temps on the GPU and the CPU after 30 minutes . Also, the airflow seems confined to the GPU, there's not a lot of fog going over the CPU.

There's one thing that all of these Silverstone case reviews make me wonder about.

Just how many replacements can you find for those 180mm fans if, for whatever reason, you need or want to get a new one?

The 120mm format is so very much widespread, there are fans for each and every taste. But 180?

MikeC, what is the vibration like for this case, does the unibody construction help out with it?

Just got this case for a new 4-GPU supercomputer build (free shipping via Amazon!) GPU heat is really a big problem so the rotated motherboard should work well.

BUT... I was careless. The review says the interior is the same as the Raven 02 case, but it is not! The Raven02 supports 8 slots for PCIE cards.. the FT02 only has 7. This really affects me because I'm planning to put 4 double-wide GPU cards in.

I can't blame SPCR since the summary spec on the first page does say 7, not 8. I had planned on the Raven02 until I saw the FT02 review and expected it to be the same, and it was my fault not checking more carefully. Even the photos on this site show 7, but I just made a bad assumption and never checked. (I had studied the Raven 02 review before many times and was very pleased with its 8 slots.)

What's strange is that it looks like they could fit the 8 slots in the case, it's clear they rivetted a 7-wide block in there with an extra 1-slot-wide spacer instead of using an 8-wide block. It's possible you can also squeeze a last card in there anyway.. there's no obstruction for mounting, though the vent of the last double-wide card would exit into the case and not outside. Maybe I will have to get out the Dremel and restore it myself? (My first case mod!)

A strange design decision by Silverstone, and disappointing in such an otherwise incredible case!


That said, this case looks awesome. It's still empty, waiting for 2 weeks when I'll put in multiple GTX480s and a hexacore i7-980X CPU into it when both are released in 3 weeks.

Hello Mike and all,

My first post on SPCR. I’m thinking of silent gaming PC. Recently, the simple but beautiful looking FT-02 caught my eyes. I like the airflow design, the efficient cooling and low base noise of the case.

However, I’m wondering “what is the most efficient way of cooling VGA on FT-02?â€

Hyunil --

Improvements in heatpipes have pretty much eliminated directional effects. I would not worry about that. My # choice still remains the AC Accelero S1 or the Scythe Mushashi.... but it really depends on the video card and whole system thermals.

The FT02 is my dream case - Quiet, great cooling and from user reviews isn't a dustbin in a month. Unlike my Solo, which is my nightmare case - not very quiet, gets too hot, a dust magnet and a pain to de-dust. It's shiny though, in a badly applied crinkle paint kind of way.

Use two 92mm Noctuas on the front of the solo to generate some positive pressure. That might fix all your problems except the paint.

Thanks for the Noctura reminder. Might be worth a try. I was also thinking about a couple of Gentle Typhoons. The two Nexus 92mm fans in there now are quiet enough, but are aren't pushing enough air.

Question for MikeC about the FT02. Do you think remounting the 180MM fans in the bottom of the case with silicon gromets would yield any beneficial result?

Depends on the exactly nature of the grommets, what speed you run the fans and how how quiet/noisy everything else is -- including general ambient. It's so dependent on other factors, all I can really say is try it if you think the system isn't quiet enough still.

I run all the fans in the case on low. I just replaced my velociraptor with an SSD as well. The only thing left I can think of doing to quiet it down more is replacing my WD5000KS with a WD Green 1.5TB, and remounting the fans with silicon grommets.

Is there enough room for the cover to fit when using a DVI to CRT adapter?

No... I just tried on mine. But it might work if the dongle and connector were low profile, and especially if the cable was flexible enough to make a tight bend. The cable bendiness is pretty important for this.. it can use more height than the DVI dongle.

I run my FT02 machines without the top cover. It's really cosmetic, not functional. You lose the ability to put stuff ONTO the PC, but that's not a great idea anyway.

I just got this case.

I don't understand the purpose of an exhaust fan in a positive pressure case.

Remove the bottom fans, and you'll see. Granted, one would probably get rid of all fans instead of leaving the top one in, but it is a viable configuration.

Then it would be a negative pressure case.

I still don't understand why you need an exhaust fan in a positive pressure case.

Good chance to do some testing with and without the exhaust fan, and find out.

I'd guess that while there is a crapload of air coming into the case, it's a good idea to focus exhausting some of that air where it's needed, instead of just letting all the air seep out of every little hole in the case.