Building With The Fortress 2 USB 3.0
To show off its ultimate FT02S-USB3.0 configuration, SilverStone sent us four cloth-covered SATA cables, four hot-swap SAS-compliant backplane connectors, and a four-in-one SATA power connector, all separately boxed. While this is probably how we’d want our Fortress 2 equipped as well, we’re not sure we’d spend the extra $100 for the parts.
While the extras sure are nice, we tested the case in its stock trim, with only the single original SATA connector installed.
The FT02S-USB3.0 adds a USB 3.0-to-2.0 adapter to the original Fortress 2’s kit. The original kit’s 3.5” tray to 2.5” drive adapter is also included, though no longer needed since the updated drive trays all have 2.5” mounting holes.
Each of the five 3.5” drive trays have 2.5” mounting holes on the bottom and 3.5” mounts (with noise-dampening grommets) on the side.
Even without an eighth slot, there wasn’t enough room in the FT02S-USB3.0’s top 5.25" bay for connectors on the back of our optical drive. Instead, we had to use the second 5.25” bay. In fact, the space between the back of our optical drive and the motherboard is so tight, that a few of our single-slot cards won’t even fit into the seventh slot.
With cable ends hidden beneath the top panel and exiting the rear together in a tidy bundle, the FT02S-USB3.0 creates one of the cleanest builds we’ve ever seen.
