Available without or with a side window (models ending in –W) and in either black (B) or silver (S), we received the $230 SST-FT04S-W only to find that certain sellers are drastically discounting SilverStone’s latest Fortress-series case to a mere $200.

Over-the-top claims of technical innovation aside, the Fortress FT04 delivers a very traditional upside-down mid-tower design complete with the power supply and two 5.25” bays up top. Back when companies first tried this, super-hot chipsets and gravity-fed heat pipes could lead to the destruction of your motherboard. But today's cool-running core logic and hot voltage regulators make it an idea worth revisiting. It also gives us two USB 3.0 ports and headset jacks on the right-top edge of the front panel, which is nice for users who place their PCs to the left of their monitor.

The opposite corner features power and reset buttons.

Around back, we find an eighth expansion slot, perfect for use with double-slot graphics coolers when the card is mounted in an ATX motherboard’s bottom slot (or top slot, if you will, since the motherboard is upside-down).

What we don’t find around back is an exhaust fan, since the FT04 is designed with positive pressure cooling in mind. Still, if you're using a closed-loop liquid cooler, you might want to add a radiator to the vacant rear fan mount. To that end, it has two front-mounted 180 mm fans and a bunch of vent holes in the back.

Both intake fans have snap-away filters, both feature fan speed control, and both are hidden behind a wrap-around aluminum door with noise-dampening foam to reduce sound reflection out the side vents.
- What Does It Take For A Case To Be Elite?
- Azza Genesis 9000
- Inside The Genesis 9000
- Building With The Genesis 9000
- In Win Tòu
- Inside The Tòu
- Building With The Tòu
- Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra
- Inside The Blackhawk Ultra
- Building With The Blackhawk Ultra
- SilverStone Fortress FT04
- Inside The Fortress FT04
- Building With The Fortress FT04
- How We Test Our Four Elite Cases
- Heat, Noise, And Heat Vs. Noise
- Which Case Is Elite?
**go to heat and noise page and then the last page from the first page**
I really don't have the inclination to read each - and - every - page in this article based on a piece of rubbish idea. Really Tom's, what on earth possessed you to do thi...**sees the picture of the In Win Tou**
Hmmm...
**reads to the In Win Tou pages**
Wow. Ok, that case is quite the looker. Gee, that construction kinda justifies the stratospheric pricing. What a beautiful case! With some nice watercooling this case will be quiet AND cool AND cool-looking! I agree with you that this is the most elite, erm, showboat-iest case of these four!
Thanks for making your readers aware of products that they would've otherwise missed Tom's! :-)
**go to heat and noise page and then the last page from the first page**
I really don't have the inclination to read each - and - every - page in this article based on a piece of rubbish idea. Really Tom's, what on earth possessed you to do thi...**sees the picture of the In Win Tou**
Hmmm...
**reads to the In Win Tou pages**
Wow. Ok, that case is quite the looker. Gee, that construction kinda justifies the stratospheric pricing. What a beautiful case! With some nice watercooling this case will be quiet AND cool AND cool-looking! I agree with you that this is the most elite, erm, showboat-iest case of these four!
Thanks for making your readers aware of products that they would've otherwise missed Tom's! :-)
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/fkim45flf/1-dark-blade-2/
20 of the most elite
What size radiators can be fit into these cases?
With all due respect, there's a whole lot more regarding a case review, than has been covered.
However, they have almost zero bling, so I guess they might not fit this series. For me though, they're the cases I want to own right now. I don't do much showing off of my computers.
The NZXT Phantom 630 (aside from some of the angles), in my opinion, is the most practical case I've had the pleasure of working with to this point. The innards and internal case design just make sense.
'Elite' definitely doesn't mean practical.
A bit of advice ... don't feed the trolls !!
Don't bother responding to the idiots with the stupid questions, and if they follow up with more tripe then let the mods clean up for you.
You will get all worked up and then we have to come around with a bottle of Jacks and sedate you ...
A bit of advice ... don't feed the trolls !!
Don't bother responding to the idiots with the stupid questions, and if they follow up with more tripe then let the mods clean up for you.
You will get all worked up and then we have to come around with a bottle of Jacks and sedate you ...
I used to mine in the Elitist Jerks pool, until I figured out that I was too good for them...
I was scratching my head over what to call the front fan on the Win case as well ... almost like it was an afterthought.
Can't wait to see part II.
Back in the day the V1000 ... V6000 Thermaltake cases were pretty good ... huge great honking things. The 1000's were steel ... mine could have taken a 7.62 round and kept going. Reminded me of my Combi Van ... had fans everywhere. Heavy. I took to it with a bosche nibbler and improved it no end in terms of airflow.
I was wondering if they refused to participate?