SilverStone Fortress Series FT03B Black Aluminum / Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case

Pros: - Very well made case, especially the aluminum side panels.
- Small footprint for a tower based computer.
- Can fit a radiator on the bottom of the case (see cons).
- Can potentially fit the "smaller" full-size ATX Psus.
- Well thought-out interior design that allows maximum airflow.

Cons: I have two complaints:

1) The aluminum side panels are very sturdy and heavy. The problem is with the little push-pins that hold them on the side of the chassis. The pins are only plastic, and if they break, you won't be able to keep your side paneling on. Not worth docking an egg, but just be aware and careful if you are transporting this case around.

2) The case can fit a radiator! Wait, why is this a con? Well, the only way to cool any of your computer parts is through the pre-installed 140mm Air Penetrator fan that sucks air from the area by the case feet and pushes it up through your components and out the vents at the top. This wouldn't be a big deal except that if you mount your power supply with the fan facing inwards towards the motherboard (like the case is designed for it to be), you now have your power supply's fan and your CPU heatsink's fan competing for cool air, as they are pretty much directly on top of each other.

This means you are almost forced to use a CPU cooler (in my case I used the Corsair h55 low profile with a 120mm radiator) and installed it right in front of the AP fan. The fan is definitely powerful enough to cool both the rad and the rest of your components, but I do not believe you will be able to get decent cooling for your CPU if you only use a regular fan and heatsink. I could be wrong, but I'll let you cram this SFF case full of parts and then tell me your thoughts :) (Not docking an egg since its an opinion).

Other Thoughts: I bought this case from another online store because I was able to get free 2 day shipping, but it is the same case nonetheless and I prefer to shop Newegg for most of my computer needs so I think it will be of more avail for users here than on other websites.

Great case, great layout, small footprint, VERY clean look! I love Silverstone build quality.

Pros: Small, sweet, and compact
Nice airflow design
Does what it's supposed to

Cons: Cabling issues as others have mentioned - tight fit, but it works.
An odd issue I'm discovering with mine is that the natural vibration of the case, coupled with the shifted motherboard angle, causes PCI-e power cables to wiggle out slightly - until they lose their connection, causing an instant crash. After three months of ownership, I've began reseating the PCI-e power cables every day out of paranoia. May only be an issue with the 680FTW+ though.

Also, the Noctua NH-D14 cooler is slightly too large to fit with the angled mid-fan - however, its own cooling fans serve the same draw purpose, so it's a minor con.

Other Thoughts: It's a really beautiful case, but I may be purchasing a replacement from a competitor due to the unseating issue. I'll be getting replacement cables from Silverstone for the ST1000-P first to make sure it's not a cable issue.

Pros: small size yet no limitations when it comes to vid card, cpu heatsink, PSU options. hot swap hard drive bay is nice too. cable routing is easy. very solid construction. you can break down the case to an almost bare frame, making building much easier.

Cons: i wish it had more room for intake fans. the slim dvd drive is kinda' a b****. sold separately :(
you will run into problems if you want a pci wifi card with protruding antennas. the top grill can get in the way. the antennas can be arranged to poke through the top plastic grill.

Other Thoughts: This is a great case if you are looking for a mATX build with a small footprint. I have spent a ton of money experimenting with pc builds over the last 10 years. if you want air-cooled, small footprint, and mATX motherboard or smaller, this is a great case.
i would give it 4.5 out of 5, but it's either 4 or 5 on newegg. the case is better than a 4.

Pros: SFF performance case
Fits performance CPU cooler like the Cooler Master V8
Fits high end video card and ram
Stack cooling
Three 120mm fans
Roomy interior for micro-atx or itx gaming setup
Tool-less exterior
Sleek design
Bottom dust filter is magnetic, sticks to the bottom of the case, very cool!
Room for 2 additional 80mm fans and one 80/90mm fan to cool the video card.

Cons: No cooling for hard drives
Only one 2.5" SSD bay, was not happy with this at all but I got creative with different ways to attach both of the 2.5" SSD so I won't deduct an egg.
Holes to loop wires to the motherboard could be bigger
I have a Raidmax 850 Modular PSU, it fits fine except the wires may be too long and needed some creative wiring work to jam everything in.

Other Thoughts: Case fits everything I needed nicely. Fits the Asus Maximus V Micro-ATX motherboard very well. I also have an Intel i7 2600K with a Cooler Master V8 in there, and it fits! But I had to remove the 120mm fan angled at the CPU to make it fit. So I got the Cooler Master 212 EVO and changed the fan to have it pull air upwards, and everything worked out peachy! I also have an MSI 7950 Boost Edition in there, fit just fine with room to spare. I had an Asus Xonar Essence STX audio card in there too but it was sitting too close to the front of the video card which made the case run a little warm. Took out the audio card and used the on board XFi audio. Along with using Virtu MVP on the board, running Crysis 3 at ultra setting kept the card at 32C, motherboard at 29C and CPU at 32C.
I plan to get two 80mm and have it blow up from the bottom to see how it differs from one 120mm blowing up at an angle.
Love the case so far, runs extremely quiet when not gaming. When gaming it's mostly the video card that howls.
Also, girlfriend thinks it's a recycle bin.

Pros: Typical Silverstone quality. Relatively small, although bigger than I had expected. Plenty of room inside for large CPU coolers, graphics cards, etc. Only space for 3 hard drives + an SSD, but who really needs more than that?

Cons: A little tight for cabling, but not too bad. Some of the cable openings from the rear compartment into the motherboard side could have been a little larger, but given that it's a Micro ATX case, they're sufficient. Necessity to use a sot loading optical drive adds expense.

Other Thoughts: It's not shown or listed in any photos or specs, but the case no longer uses the USB 3.0 loop cables that plug into external motherboard ports - it now comes with the standard USB 3.0 motherboard header connector.

Pros: Beautiful quality construction and design style. Smallish footprint on the floor or desktop. Solid steel framework (which dispenses heat very effectively). Thick aluminum side panels for quality.

Utilizes the fact that "heat rises" and pulls cool air in from the bottom for the PSU and GPU. Also uses another lower side panel to cool the CPU. Wonderful and simple airflow.

Brilliant design overall.

Cons: The side panel screen is plastic framed and easily washable as is the bottom screen. The side works well because it locks in with a little push. The bottom relies on magnets to stay still and fit flat.

If you have a bottom filter that does NOT fit flat or falls out if you bump the case. Call for a new one. They will get you a better version that works perfectly.

Other cons are the fit and finish. Mostly the case is perfect, but some fit and finish problems remain. The exterior aluminum panels do not always align perfectly. The plastic grilled top and the plastic filtered side intake cheapen the look of a beautiful case.

Sad that Silverstone did not try to make these areas more classy somehow. Otherwise this is the most fantastic and wonderful case offered yet to builders IMO.

Pros: - Small Footprint
- Good build Quality
- Everything Fit... almost (See Other Thoughts)

Cons: The power supply Measurements are off a bit... The largest Power Supply it can fit (According to the manual) is the Silverstone ST1200 Power Supply. I bought A 1200W Power and Cooler for it and it was just 3/8in to long with cables secured. So I followed their recommendation instead.

Other Thoughts: Here are some helpful notes from the manual and myself:
- Adapters for displays will require a cabled version not a stub version as provided with most video cards.
- Largest power supply supported is the Silverstone ST1200
- When using a tower cooler you may loose the 120mm case fan that would sit below you CPU, also you will loose the ability to mount in the 80mm sulimental fan for your graphics card
- So long as it will not interfear with your PCIe Slot you can fit in a 140mm tower cooler
- Fanless tower coolers can support up to 130W TDP (not overclocked)
- top down coolers are doable but will require a specific mounting direction
- When using long video cards 10in plus you will need to get two 80mm Fans for the bottom
- Longest card suppported 13.77in
- Graphics cards are best if they are external venting only
- the regular HDD mounts do not support a 2.5in to 3.5in SSD adapter
- Hot swap slot is designed for HDDs no thicker or thinner than 25.4mm

There now you are armed with better information than I had...

Pros: -Great build quality
-Easy to work with
-Nice airflow system
-Plenty of space inside
-Looks great

Cons: -Plastic top piece

Other Thoughts: This is my sixth build, and I always try to use nice quality cases. In the past I have used mostly Antec cases (P180, P182, 900) for their great design and build quality, but Silverstone has topped them all with the FT03 mini. Worth every penny

Pros: i have had a TON of cases over the last 4 years or so and this is my favorite case of all. I have built full tower, water cooled beast setups, as well as moderate enthusiast-level setups. I can fit everything i need for a great gaming setup and not have it take up half of my desk space.

Cons: its hard to find the slot-load cd drive for this case. maybe that's why the case is discontinued. it is discontinued right? but keep in mind most people rarely need to use a cd drive. I just use an external drive for loading the OS.

Other Thoughts: i have a Prolimatech PRO-MGH-B CPU Cooler that fits with no problems, but if my ram sticks had anything other than a standard heatsink, i wouldnt be able to run dual 120mm fans on the cpu cooler. i think the plug'n'play water solutions will work well with this case, but i think you are limiting the exhaust flow by using the only exhaust fan as your radiator fan. imo, i dont think this is a good case for an internal radiator, but it would be perfect for an external setup. im running on air and this case works very well. i plan on keeping this case for a long time. a side note: corsair makes great products, but their cases do not compare to the quality of silvertone or lian li. my last corsair case, 600d? was disappointing.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you very much for purchasing a SilverStone. We currently have no plans to discontinue the FT03!

Pros: Thermal engineering and layout mostly 5 star.

Cons: I have used Silverstone cases for years and have always come away very impressed with the level of innovation and engineering that goes into their enclosures. There are too many inexcusable oversights on this case to justify the Silverstone premium price tag.

There is a small lip that really seems to serve no purpose next to the first expansion slot that prevents plugging in and HDMI cable without forcing the card towards the rear of the case. There is insufficient room to feed DVI cables comfortably through the slot at the rear under the top grille. The intake and 80/92mm exhaust fan brackets resonate like crazy. As much as I like how easy the side panels come off for frequent access, they rattle and vibrate like crazy once the fans spin up under load requiring frequent adjustments to get them to stop.

Other Thoughts: This is only the second of third time I have taken the time to write a review on anything. I thankfully have not experienced any of the numerous problems reported by other users. I really want to like this case, mostly because of the price, but I am finding it very hard.

I feel this case needs to e fixed to be worthy of the Silverstone name.