New Silverstone FT02

chimim0ry0 said:
Thanks, is it a lot of work to remove the brackets?

I was originally only going to use my ft-02 as a stopgap as I wait for the alta s1, but it has been put on an indefinite hold. So I might be using my ft-02 a lot longer. Oh how I wish it had a full tempered glass side panel and USB 3.x ports...
Seriously silverstone, if you're not going to make another high-end case, at least sell us parts to refresh your old stuff
Click to expand...
Removing the brackets is rather easy but it has one tricky part: the brackets are fastened with plastic clips from the underside.
A big flat head screwdriver AND direct sight on what you are doing will prevent you from braking them off.
! My older case has 400ml of silicone in and around the brackets since i tried to unclip them blindly.

USB3 ports are currently sold in the us and uk via ebay for like under 20 bucks.
Search for used cases locally. Every now and again one will pop up. I recently bought one for spare parts that way. Metall side panels though.

@ WorldExclusive: What's a "WRI" again please?
 
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If anyone wants a FT-02 in pretty decent shape let me know. I just made a new system and moved to a new case, and will likely sell the case or possibly the whole system i5-8400, 1070TI, 16GB, 750 Seasonic Gold P/S. Am in San Diego local meet up would be easier.
 
hi
chimim0ry0 said:
The new asrock 6800xt cards that I've been wanting were announced and they have a length of 3300mm. The ft-02 has a gpu limit of about 3000mm. Has anyone fit a longer card in theirs? If so how?
Click to expand...
I think it depends if you have a radiator installed, the strix RX580 at 298mm is an exact fit with zero clearance against the AP183 (32mm) and magicool 2x180 radiator (35mm) with the case original filter brackets removed.
So this gives you 365mm of space for all the cooling stuff and video card. If you install the 6800xt you have 35mm left for the fan+radiator without brackets. If you go for fan only you will have 3mm left.
 

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Potatochips said:
I have a pic, but I also have some bad news fellow FT02 friends.

The Strix 3080 card does not support being rotated 90 degrees. It was pegged at 90-99% fan and 79-82c when in normal orientation. I flipped the entire case over and ended up with 60-70% fan and 63-65c temperatures.

My legendary FT02 has reached the end of it's journey. I'm very sad.

View attachment 289301
Click to expand...
I'm totally bummed out after seeing your post... I'm a long time owner of the FT02 and there's simply no good replacement for this legendary case. Like you I'm planning to get a new gpu, I'm leaning towards the 6800XT because it has more vram. However, almost all the AIB models for the 6800XT are waaaay too long and will not fit the FT02 without removing parts. Only two cards I know of will fit, the AMD stock model and the Gigabyte Gaming OC model. I like the fact that RTX3080 has a lot more selection since they have shorter cards. My biggest worry now is the problem you faced, I looked at almost all the AIB cooler heatspreader placements (Both 6800XT and 3080) and they are similar to the STRIX 3080 with the heatspreader being near the left side of the card which is causing problems with the heatpipe cooling.

The AMD stock model uses a vapor chamber instead of heatpipes, does anyone know if the card orientation has adverse effects on this type of cooling? Anyone currently using the AMD stock 6800XT in the FT02? I seen some users with the FE 3080/3090 cards, how is the cooling working for you? If anyone is using the AIB models for either 6800XT or 3080 please let me know how the cooling is working with the FT02.
 
ShortBaldFatGuy said:
I'm totally bummed out after seeing your post... I'm a long time owner of the FT02 and there's simply no good replacement for this legendary case. Like you I'm planning to get a new gpu, I'm leaning towards the 6800XT because it has more vram. However, almost all the AIB models for the 6800XT are waaaay too long and will not fit the FT02 without removing parts. Only two cards I know of will fit, the AMD stock model and the Gigabyte Gaming OC model. I like the fact that RTX3080 has a lot more selection since they have shorter cards. My biggest worry now is the problem you faced, I looked at almost all the AIB cooler heatspreader placements (Both 6800XT and 3080) and they are similar to the STRIX 3080 with the heatspreader being near the left side of the card which is causing problems with the heatpipe cooling.

The AMD stock model uses a vapor chamber instead of heatpipes, does anyone know if the card orientation has adverse effects on this type of cooling? Anyone currently using the AMD stock 6800XT in the FT02? I seen some users with the FE 3080/3090 cards, how is the cooling working for you? If anyone is using the AIB models for either 6800XT or 3080 please let me know how the cooling is working with the FT02.
Click to expand...
I don't think the heatspreader being to the left is what matters so much, but rather that when it folds back around like on the 3080 and 3090 Strix. For example, the cooler on the Sapphire Radeon RX 6800 XT Nitro+ should be fine as none of the heatpipes loop back to the right side of the card. I've seen people with FE and EVGA 3080/3090s in FT02 and FT05 here and elsewhere and they've all reported no problems. I also had a 2070 Super Strix, which has two of its six heatpipes bend back, but I never had any kind of temp problems with it in my FT05. I included photos for cooler comparison below (Nitro left & Strix right), courtesy of Techpowerup.

PS - Sorry to link a card (Nitro+) that's slightly too big for the FT02, but I couldn't find a better example.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sapphire-radeon-rx-6800-xt-nitro-plus/2.html
 

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MissJ84 said:
I don't think the heatspreader being to the left is what matters so much, but rather that when it folds back around like on the 3080 and 3090 Strix. For example, the cooler on the Sapphire Radeon RX 6800 XT Nitro+ should be fine as none of the heatpipes loop back to the right side of the card. I've seen people with FE and EVGA 3080/3090s in FT02 and FT05 here and elsewhere and they've all reported no problems. I also had a 2070 Super Strix, which has two of its six heatpipes bend back, but I never had any kind of temp problems with it in my FT05. I included photos for cooler comparison below (Nitro left & Strix right), courtesy of Techpowerup.

PS - Sorry to link a card (Nitro+) that's slightly too big for the FT02, but I couldn't find a better example.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sapphire-radeon-rx-6800-xt-nitro-plus/2.html
Click to expand...
I was going by the wording on the Silverstone FT02 page "The illustration here shows a VGA cooler that will not work well in the FT02 because the heat source side (touching the GPU) ends up being located higher than the other end." My current gpu and all past gpus had the heatspreader right smack in the middle so I never had an issue with cooling in the FT02. I would have to agree with other poster about the FT02 wording not being the best. I hope you're right, that it's only the loops being higher and not the just the heatspreader. Neither gpus are in stock where I live and probably not for a long while so I can wait for other FT02 owner's findings.
 
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ShortBaldFatGuy said:
I was going by the wording on the Silverstone FT02 page "The illustration here shows a VGA cooler that will not work well in the FT02 because the heat source side (touching the GPU) ends up being located higher than the other end." My current gpu and all past gpus had the heatspreader right smack in the middle so I never had an issue with cooling in the FT02. I would have to agree with other poster about the FT02 wording not being the best. I hope you're right, that it's only the loops being higher and not the just the heatspreader. Neither gpus are in stock where I live and probably not for a long while so I can wait for other FT02 owner's findings.
Click to expand...
Yes like I said, I can only attest to the 2070 Super Strix (Photo below), which had no problems staying cool in the FT05. I've seen more but here are a few other examples I've seen.

3080 FTW3 Ultra reportedly fine in same orientation - https://www.overclock.net/threads/t...ase-owners-club.408195/page-328#post-28657465
3090 FE in FT05 - https://hardforum.com/threads/new-silverstone-ft02.1429251/post-1044814374
3090 FE in FT01 - https://hardforum.com/threads/new-silverstone-ft02.1429251/post-1044832724

Edit - I forgot to add that I do agree that the wording from Silverstone could be better. Also, it turns out Carlyle2020's card is just a page back like the other two.
 

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Carlyle2020 said:
Removing the brackets is rather easy but it has one tricky part: the brackets are fastened with plastic clips from the underside.
A big flat head screwdriver AND direct sight on what you are doing will prevent you from braking them off.
! My older case has 400ml of silicone in and around the brackets since i tried to unclip them blindly.

USB3 ports are currently sold in the us and uk via ebay for like under 20 bucks.
Search for used cases locally. Every now and again one will pop up. I recently bought one for spare parts that way. Metall side panels though.

@ WorldExclusive: What's a "WRI" again please?
Click to expand...
FT02-WRI is the Limited Edition FT02. Only 1500 made.
WRI = With Red Interior
 
There are more WRI verions out there to hunt for.

As far as i can remeber a well known System Integrator also did sell the WRI variant with their own logo on the lower front.
 
I originally used the Ft02b to house an i7 3930k, Asus P9X79 16gb system for the last 10 years, until it died 2 months ago...

decided on an AMD upgrade, of MSI x570 Tomahawk, Ryzen 3800x (will upgrade to 5900x later on), with 32gb 3600mhz cl14 ram.
had everything running ontop of the case for a few weeks, to make sure everything was OK. Temps were good with open air and one of my Ap181 180mm fans adding airflow.

Took the chance to clean everything :D
Replaced the bottom 3 Ap181 fans with 3 180mm AP183 PWM fans, which are quieter and with full bios PWM control can run at < 500rpm

But when it came to install everything back into the case, things changed, much hotter!
Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe drive started to idle around 60 degrees...
And then found out my MSi RTX 3070 trio video card was too long...

---

Got the new setup up and running in my Silverstone FT02b

Ryzen 3800x boosting to 4.175ghz on all 8 cores now holds at 70degrees with 21 ambient. D14 fans hitting about 723RPM

I had to remove the middle bottom AP183 180mm fan at the bottom to fit my MSI RTX 3070 Trio, but then decided to place it on top the right bottom fan, with gaff tape holding it place :)
Not ideal but it still increases airflow, and positive air pressure, and together with my old Scythe S-flex 120mm on the top right at 600rpm, also gaff taped against the power supply keeps the Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe drive idling at 48 degrees now

I also decided to finally use a Scythe Kaze Jyuni 120mm I bought 9 years on the bottom left directly airflow against the X570 chipset and the RTX 3070, also flows up air to the my Western Digital SN550 NVMe in the Silverstone PCIe adapter.
This keeps the RTX 3070 trio's fan completely off, instead of it turning on and off periodically, although it's pretty much inaudible anyway.
This fan has more airflow than the S-flex, but not as quiet as my Noctua S12b on the single top case exhaust

The 3 hard drives on the left are suspended with veclro straps cut to length from a roll - inaudible from 1m away

Plenty of room on top of the heatsink for another 140mm fan.
Thinking about Noctua A12x25 120mm fan replacements, and maybe a 140mm version later on?
Or the new passive heatsink as well, as the dual stacked 180mm fans at the bottom should keep it cool :LOL:

The Corsair HX1200 power supply is overkill, but the fan on it never comes on, until >600w load. And I have never seen it come on except when first powering up, so effectively a passive power supply :p

x76ChUf.jpg
 
Congrats !
Concerning your fan dilemma:

Not putting a 180mm fan directly under the GPU is rather a waste of fps.
From the pics it roughly looks like you could slap the filter on from the outside and loose the plastic fan-stand and mount the fan back directly to the case with .. 1-2 layers of tesa powerstrip which dampenes the vibration.

After that I bet you could loose the two 80mm fans that look like ... well out of warranty and still bench a higher score.
The square noctua fan fits better on top since it will direct the air upwards straighter than a 140mm one. And the old D14 does not really make that awefull sound that a D15 makes in pull config. Due to the white spacer mostly.
The Noctua A12x25 is the best fan for the upper 120mm mount.
That Mount btw is a silent wings killer. After 6-12 Months in that position the bearings are toast and run dry.

A natural hotspot is around the display ports on the backside of the GPU. At least if you run intel on the limit :)
I would install a montherbard temp sensor on that spot for a day or two.

A D14 with fans of a D15 runs 2-3 C lower than a stock D15 btw.
You can write noctua a mail and they send you new metall clips for new fans for free.
... I remember that the 140mm fans included with the D15 heatsink run faster than the 140mm ones you will find with only a quick search.

And since this looks like a case without a window i suggest buying two slabs of:

STP BOMB AERO - 375x530x4,2mm​

to be put inside the doors. Fits rather nice and will leave enough room for the cables at the back and the heatsink at the front.

Do you see the two cut-outs on the left in the second layer? I needed space for the D14/15 fans.

IMG_20200815_123619.jpg
 
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thanks

I did try removing the plastic shroud around the GPU heatsink and that could just about make the video card fit in with the middle 180mm fan as per normal.
if I can get gain another 3mm of space it should just squeeze in :)

You can't remove the grill over the Ap183 fans, so that doesn't help.
And I found sitting the fan ontop the other one induced horrible vibration and modulation noise as the fan sped up!

Could maybe reuse one of my original AP181 fans in the middle spot, which you can remove the grill.
Actually the Ap181 fan, originally under the drive cage has no grill.
 
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Potatochips said:
I have a pic, but I also have some bad news fellow FT02 friends.

The Strix 3080 card does not support being rotated 90 degrees. It was pegged at 90-99% fan and 79-82c when in normal orientation. I flipped the entire case over and ended up with 60-70% fan and 63-65c temperatures.

My legendary FT02 has reached the end of it's journey. I'm very sad.

View attachment 289301
Click to expand...

Ok that explains why my MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio was around 60 degrees when setup outside the case, horizontally, and quiet with 40% fan speed
And then when inside the Ft02 vertically it reached over 75 degrees, and the fan hit 100% at 2000+ rpm!
I had to use MSi Afterburner to cap the temp at 65 degrees, and drop the power limit a bit...
 
CoolColJ said:
Ok that explains why my MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio was around 60 degrees when setup outside the case, horizontally, and quiet with 40% fan speed
And then when inside the Ft02 vertically it reached over 75 degrees, and the fan hit 100% at 2000+ rpm!
I had to use MSi Afterburner to cap the temp at 65 degrees, and drop the power limit a bit...
Click to expand...


card's heatpipes - I briefly tested with the case sitting on it's side and the temps stablized around 65 degrees C

The top section is fine, but the larger bottom section - the vapour can travel down easy enough to the fins, but when it cools into liquid, it has to travel back up against gravity.
It will do it ok, just not as well if it was horizontal so video card settings will have to be capped in MSi afterburner, temps and power draw

img_20201026_131401.jpg




https://static.techspot.com/articles-info/2128/images/13.jpg
 
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Just got done with this build this weekend. I still have a couple small things to do but it works really well. I love this case and I'm glad I took the time to plan it out. Also, QDC's make this so much easier..

System is a 1900X TR and 5700 flashed to XT. Optimus and Heatkiller blocks, respectively. I may end up swapping my 3090 and 5600x main system in here to see what temps are like, but as it stands under a full load my coolant stays under 32C with no issues. I have a D5 NEXT/ Splitty4 managing things. Swapped to AP183s for full PWM control. Also ordered new acrylic from Silverstone for my side panel.

IMG_20210119_122858.jpg
 
makarov said:
Is it compatible with Lianli bz-501 mesh panel product on 5.25 bay?
Click to expand...
I don't have any to actually test, but I would assume they would work in the case's 5.25 bays. I can't imagine why you would use them except to change up the look a the front. All the air you would ever need comes from the bottom.
 
caw2007 said:
I don't have any to actually test, but I would assume they would work in the case's 5.25 bays. I can't imagine why you would use them except to change up the look a the front. All the air you would ever need comes from the bottom.
Click to expand...
The reason is to install the pci guide cooler on the remaining lp bracket.
I'm using two fan rtx 3070, but the heat doesn't go out as well as I thought, so I'd like to install it.
 
CoolColJ said:
I originally used the Ft02b to house an i7 3930k, Asus P9X79 16gb system for the last 10 years, until it died 2 months ago...

decided on an AMD upgrade, of MSI x570 Tomahawk, Ryzen 3800x (will upgrade to 5900x later on), with 32gb 3600mhz cl14 ram.
had everything running ontop of the case for a few weeks, to make sure everything was OK. Temps were good with open air and one of my Ap181 180mm fans adding airflow.

Took the chance to clean everything :D
Replaced the bottom 3 Ap181 fans with 3 180mm AP183 PWM fans, which are quieter and with full bios PWM control can run at < 500rpm

But when it came to install everything back into the case, things changed, much hotter!
Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe drive started to idle around 60 degrees...
And then found out my MSi RTX 3070 trio video card was too long...

---

Got the new setup up and running in my Silverstone FT02b

Ryzen 3800x boosting to 4.175ghz on all 8 cores now holds at 70degrees with 21 ambient. D14 fans hitting about 723RPM

I had to remove the middle bottom AP183 180mm fan at the bottom to fit my MSI RTX 3070 Trio, but then decided to place it on top the right bottom fan, with gaff tape holding it place :)
Not ideal but it still increases airflow, and positive air pressure, and together with my old Scythe S-flex 120mm on the top right at 600rpm, also gaff taped against the power supply keeps the Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe drive idling at 48 degrees now

I also decided to finally use a Scythe Kaze Jyuni 120mm I bought 9 years on the bottom left directly airflow against the X570 chipset and the RTX 3070, also flows up air to the my Western Digital SN550 NVMe in the Silverstone PCIe adapter.
This keeps the RTX 3070 trio's fan completely off, instead of it turning on and off periodically, although it's pretty much inaudible anyway.
This fan has more airflow than the S-flex, but not as quiet as my Noctua S12b on the single top case exhaust

The 3 hard drives on the left are suspended with veclro straps cut to length from a roll - inaudible from 1m away

Plenty of room on top of the heatsink for another 140mm fan.
Thinking about Noctua A12x25 120mm fan replacements, and maybe a 140mm version later on?
Or the new passive heatsink as well, as the dual stacked 180mm fans at the bottom should keep it cool :LOL:

The Corsair HX1200 power supply is overkill, but the fan on it never comes on, until >600w load. And I have never seen it come on except when first powering up, so effectively a passive power supply :p

View attachment 318635
Click to expand...
I don't want to sound rude, but it looks like trash can.
Horrible cable job, so many duckt tape (why put fan on power supply? Maybe you've mounted it in the wrong way, because it should suck air trough side dust filter, not hot air from CPU or above)

I have broken one filter holder and was unable to find STL for it. But I found fan bracket:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2125393
If will make appropiate other bracket(without dist filter support, as flat as it can be), then maybe you could mount card above AP normally (by putting AP180 flat on bottom of the case [without all this stuff below it], you will save exactly 2.5cm. This space is wasted onyl to make dust filter easily removable/ejectable)

If you bought case without HDD bay trays, you can print them:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4759420
You can buy screws with rubber dumper easily on aliexpress or ebay. The price is $5 for set of 20 screws+rubber dumpers, including shipping to EU.
 
Tony Ou I have big problem finding replacement parts for my 2* FT02 cases. Most important parts are 2* USB3 Upgrade kit (official Silverstone Store on amazon.fr got it, but is not shipping to Poland), PSU Dust filter(don't know part number) and 11*SST-CP05-SAS (SAS version is nowhere available, but maybe you got them in some office locker ;-) I want eleven of them, to have one spare.
I need it shipped to Poland and will gladly pay for parts+shipping.

There is complete list of missing(or broken) parts for FT02:
- 40 * rubber rings and screws for hdd bays (screw B)
- PSU silicon dampening, psu dust filter, psu holder bracket, straps, etc
- 2 *radiator mount bracket
- one AP filter mount is broken, 18032 FAN BRACKET?
- 3 * AP dust filters (because two already got 'holes') - 2 * replacement USB3 kit - 11 * SST-CP05-SAS preferable with 5*CP07 and 1*CP06) *2 = *10
- 4 * 2.5" SSD caddies/mounts , 2.5” HDD BKT2.5”
- MotherBoard SCREW D (I know I can use other screws, but Silverstone got one with wider internal thread)
- 12* 5.25 quick mounts (I want to put them on the opposite side of the case, and on the top bay also, for two cases)
- 10* black PCI brackets and black thumbscrews for it

If it's possible I need also USB3 upgrade kit for Silverstone GD01MX. Part numbers were G11303590 (with ASIN B00EO4IOKQ), but it's nowhere available. But maybe you got it somewhere (like SST-P05-SAS, I hope and pray for this little miracle ;-)
- - -
GD01MX rested in box for many years(and hadn't M/B with USB3 up to now, because used laptop exclusively and was too short for radeon VII). But now (with wife and kids) decided to revive HTPC for movies and backup NAS, because it's in great condition and got well ventilated, dampened 7-bay HDD cage (I know intake is covered by LCD, but found way to distance all front panel ;-).
I also wonder which 92mm intake fans should I mount there?
21020003.jpg

There's only 3cm clearance to fan, so I guess that 2.5mm fans would be too close to the HDD, so I should choose slim(1.5cm) fans. Right? I also guess it's to tight fit for Air Penetrators, but maybe I'm wrong (correct me please. It's only my guess )

- - -

And coming back to FT02 I've got two questions:
- Should I try to find and replace broken fan's bracket mounts and dust filters, or change it to magnetic filter?
- I've read horror stories about how bad, loud and ineffective AP181 and AP182 fans are, and how decent AP182 and AP183 replacements were. I've got in both my cases S1803212HN-3M fans. I do wonder if they are Air Penetrators at all(looks like, but model strings don't start with 'AP180', but 'S180' prefix, so I do wonder if are they Air Penetrators at all, if they are, are they AP180 or AP181 then? Are they really so bad and noisy, and should I replace them in future for AP183 for better performance/silence?
- can 5.25" quick mounts be installed in top bay (I've checked and any DVD drive I've got will fit there with angled plugs)], and also on the opposite side of the case (to not have to use screws at all. Its very usable in prototyping and checking if everything fit)
- Is FT02 sound dampening as cheap and bad as it looks? Should replace it by something. Do you have any recommendations?
- Anybody know other cases that uses identical PSU dust filters or some FRU part number? (I got one missing, and cannto find replacement anywhere)

I really love the rounded look of FT02 cases, and because Alta F1 availability in EU is unknown, I've decided to restore mine FT02s to their full glory. I will be glad if anyone help me with finding missing parts. I live in EU/Poland if anybody is interested in helping me. It's impossible to find any parts in Poland and very hard sellers that ships there(especially for normal prices). I do also wonder what to use, to mask scratches on black FT02 (and prevent further oxidation)

P.S. I realized now that I've never bought computer case other than Silverstone in my life (I was close to buy some of the Lian Li cases, but found FT02 similarly nice, long enough for vega64 with more unique 90deg rot design and better performance). I would prefer FT02+ instead of FT05/Alta F1 design. And while many prefer to get rid of 5.25 bays, I'm bit of old-school and certainly will install one (got many of them from disassembled machines and can be useful to rip some old CD-Audio, DVD or old games on CD-ROMs). Except that you can install many other stuff there, i.e. card readers, USB/HDMI/DP ports for VR or additional 5disk HDD cage (I guess 4*14TB RAID10 will fill quickly, but 10 bays in total would be plenty of HDDs :)
 

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badpixel said:
Tony Ou I have big problem finding replacement parts for my 2* FT02 cases. Most important parts are 2* USB3 Upgrade kit (official Silverstone Store on amazon.fr got it, but is not shipping to Poland), PSU Dust filter(don't know part number) and 11*SST-CP05-SAS (SAS version is nowhere available, but maybe you got them in some office locker ;-) I want eleven of them, to have one spare.
I need it shipped to Poland and will gladly pay for parts+shipping.

There is complete list of missing(or broken) parts for FT02:
- 40 * rubber rings and screws for hdd bays (screw B)
- PSU silicon dampening, psu dust filter, psu holder bracket, straps, etc
- 2 *radiator mount bracket
- one AP filter mount is broken, 18032 FAN BRACKET?
- 3 * AP dust filters (because two already got 'holes') - 2 * replacement USB3 kit - 11 * SST-CP05-SAS preferable with 5*CP07 and 1*CP06) *2 = *10
- 4 * 2.5" SSD caddies/mounts , 2.5” HDD BKT2.5”
- MotherBoard SCREW D (I know I can use other screws, but Silverstone got one with wider internal thread)
- 12* 5.25 quick mounts (I want to put them on the opposite side of the case, and on the top bay also, for two cases)
- 10* black PCI brackets and black thumbscrews for it

If it's possible I need also USB3 upgrade kit for Silverstone GD01MX. Part numbers were G11303590 (with ASIN B00EO4IOKQ), but it's nowhere available. But maybe you got it somewhere (like SST-P05-SAS, I hope and pray for this little miracle ;-)
- - -
GD01MX rested in box for many years(and hadn't M/B with USB3 up to now, because used laptop exclusively and was too short for radeon VII). But now (with wife and kids) decided to revive HTPC for movies and backup NAS, because it's in great condition and got well ventilated, dampened 7-bay HDD cage (I know intake is covered by LCD, but found way to distance all front panel ;-).
I also wonder which 92mm intake fans should I mount there?
View attachment 330814
There's only 3cm clearance to fan, so I guess that 2.5mm fans would be too close to the HDD, so I should choose slim(1.5cm) fans. Right? I also guess it's to tight fit for Air Penetrators, but maybe I'm wrong (correct me please. It's only my guess )

- - -

And coming back to FT02 I've got two questions:
- Should I try to find and replace broken fan's bracket mounts and dust filters, or change it to magnetic filter?
- I've read horror stories about how bad, loud and ineffective AP181 and AP182 fans are, and how decent AP182 and AP183 replacements were. I've got in both my cases S1803212HN-3M fans. I do wonder if they are Air Penetrators at all(looks like, but model strings don't start with 'AP180', but 'S180' prefix, so I do wonder if are they Air Penetrators at all, if they are, are they AP180 or AP181 then? Are they really so bad and noisy, and should I replace them in future for AP183 for better performance/silence?
- can 5.25" quick mounts be installed in top bay (I've checked and any DVD drive I've got will fit there with angled plugs)], and also on the opposite side of the case (to not have to use screws at all. Its very usable in prototyping and checking if everything fit)
- Is FT02 sound dampening as cheap and bad as it looks? Should replace it by something. Do you have any recommendations?
- Anybody know other cases that uses identical PSU dust filters or some FRU part number? (I got one missing, and cannto find replacement anywhere)

I really love the rounded look of FT02 cases, and because Alta F1 availability in EU is unknown, I've decided to restore mine FT02s to their full glory. I will be glad if anyone help me with finding missing parts. I live in EU/Poland if anybody is interested in helping me. It's impossible to find any parts in Poland and very hard sellers that ships there(especially for normal prices). I do also wonder what to use, to mask scratches on black FT02 (and prevent further oxidation)

P.S. I realized now that I've never bought computer case other than Silverstone in my life (I was close to buy some of the Lian Li cases, but found FT02 similarly nice, long enough for vega64 with more unique 90deg rot design and better performance). I would prefer FT02+ instead of FT05/Alta F1 design. And while many prefer to get rid of 5.25 bays, I'm bit of old-school and certainly will install one (got many of them from disassembled machines and can be useful to rip some old CD-Audio, DVD or old games on CD-ROMs). Except that you can install many other stuff there, i.e. card readers, USB/HDMI/DP ports for VR or additional 5disk HDD cage (I guess 4*14TB RAID10 will fill quickly, but 10 bays in total would be plenty of HDDs :)
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I think I have the SST-CP05-SAS...let me look around and I'll get back to you.
 
I'm a bit too late to the party, but a few weeks ago I finally managed to get this case.
Since it's release I always wanted to get one but back then it was pretty expensive and pretty hard to get one.At the end I settled for a somewhat similar looking case, the lian-li 7hx, all aluminium-black coated case. It's a fantastic case that has served me well for several years, but the ft02 was always THE case to have. Without even actively searching for it, as I moved on and forgot about it, the other day popped a well preserved example, in almost walking range, for 40€. Poor lian-li didn't took it well as she knew she was about to get replaced. It's the normal black version with the usb 2.0 front headers.
First impressions, It's build like a tank, I don't care for the weight as I do not move the pc often, but sure it's chunky, right now with all the components installed it's over 30kg.Also it's quite evident that the case was designed in an era with optical drives and 3.5" drives in mind. I do have some 3.5" drives so it's fine for me (and also its rather easy to adapt those to 2.5" ssds), I really like the fact that all the drives are kept hidden with the swappable cases.

First thing I did was to re-install the panel inside the case, it really improves the aesthetics and cost nothing. I recommend using black screws and installing them also from the other side of the panel. To avoid installing it on top of the noise reduction foam. I gently pulled the foam away the few centimiters needed to tuck the cristal under it, that way the panel has no gaps with the metal sheet. Now I'm looking were to buy a custom tempered glass for the side panel, as I would like to have a material more resistant to scratches.
Cable management could be better, and the one thing that I find really anoying is the air filters inside the case, considering there's a huge gap at the bottom where they could have easily placed them. My gpu has plenty of space left, but I hope that next gen gpus don't continue the trend of being massive.

I'll edit tomorrow with some pics.
 
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Blutrache said:
I'm a bit too late to the party, but a few weeks ago I finally managed to get this case.
Since it's release I always wanted to get one but back then it was pretty expensive and pretty hard to get one.At the end I settled for a somewhat similar looking case, the lian-li 7hx, all aluminium-black coated case. It's a fantastic case that has served me well for several years, but the ft02 was always THE case to have.
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Lian-Li 7hx is one of those cases I've considered too, before I found FT02.
I love Lian Li, because they make aesteticacly pleasing by design(Silverstone does it too) but also leightweight and uniform in colour/finish by using alumium only, without steel on exterior.
 
Blutrache said:
First thing I did was to re-install the panel inside the case, it really improves the aesthetics and cost nothing. I recommend using black screws and installing them also from the other side of the panel. To avoid installing it on top of the noise reduction foam. I gently pulled the foam away the few centimiters needed to tuck the cristal under it, that way the panel has no gaps with the metal sheet. Now I'm looking were to buy a custom tempered glass for the side panel, as I would like to have a material more resistant to scratches.
...
I'll edit tomorrow with some pics.
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One of my cases already has glass. But it's glued on silicone(not screwed).And because this photo is very old now, one of it's edges is floating and need regluing). Ihave to do it with my second case and I'm thinking about using silicon with some rails/frame screwed around. What do you think about it? Silicon should be enough?
kkft021.jpg

And while this case doesn't look like this on this photo now, you can easily spot that only part of the case that stands out, are 5.25 bay covers.
And it doesn't matter if they are steel or aluminum, because newarly everything you can buy is brushed aluminum like, while FT02 case looks like sanded with black matte finish. would you tell us Tony Ou if we can buy proper bay covers for FT02 or tell us the paint color number, to help us fixing it properly?
 
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That's a great looking case! If I may, the only thing I would change it would be the optical drive, in case you still have it that is. Lian-li makes (or made) some brushed aluminium covers for optical drives that suit the ft02 perfectly. Regarding the fixment of the glass, I would prefer to avoid using glue, that's why I'm thinking about ordering the plate with pre-drilled holes, glass is heavier but the steel panel is strong enough to easily support the added weight in just 1 hole, and we have 8.

My ef-tea 02

DSC_0061.JPG


The rehobus is a schyte kaze q 12 in black brushed aluminium, it's pretty handy for case fans and I also like the looks.
 
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Never tire of seeing examples of the FT02 still surviving out in the wild : )
It's still the best case when taking into account all the things a case is meant to do, housing components, keeping them cool and free of dust, running as quietly as possible while looking good - nothing else can compete on all those fronts, there maybe cases that do one or even two things better, but none can do all of them better. I know Silverstone has taken a couple of wrong turns in the intervening years and so we'll probably never see a true spiritual successor to this or the RV02, the F1 is looking more and more like a compromise which is why I fear it's doomed to fail, the RGB focused glass box banality that has dominated for several years now has a while to go yet it seems. So sad to see them struggling to appeal to everyone when there are already thousands of us waiting patiently in line with the cash ready to buy one of these modified for the 2020's.

They got big case design right only the once (I include the Raven 2 as it's effectively the same chassis), they have the winning formula right here, yet frustratingly it seems they're hellbent on missing the goal yet again.
 
badpixel, thanks for being a SilverStone user! For spare parts, you may contact our European office directly to see if they still have the parts you need:
https://www.silverstonetek.com/contactus.php

I can tell you that the original USB 3 upgrade kit (G11310650-RT) is already out of stock and end of life. But as an alternative, you can get the newer G11310530-RT, which has one USB 3.0 port and a Type-C port. The problem with using this I/O kit in the FT02 is that the USB cables may not reach some motherboards' USB header so you may need to also purchase PCIe add-on card with USB header on them, which we offer as ECU04-E (USB 3.0 header), ECU02-E (USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Key A), and ECU07 (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C Key A).

As for GD01-MX, sorry we have long stopped making its USB 3 upgrade kit for it (the case is 15 years old!). The drive cage's 92mm fan mounts were designed for regular thickness fans, so you will be OK with 25mm thick fans.

For your other FT02 related questions,

- If you can't get original filter and brackets, magnetic filter works too, DEMCiflex makes custom ones that you can consider:
https://www.demcifilter.com/SILVERSTONE-FT02
- The model you see on your AP181's sticker is its part number, so it is indeed an Air Penetrator fan. Before the AP183 came out, the AP181 (along with AP182) was still considered the best ~200mm fan on the market. If you haven't seen it, Gamer Nexus revisited it in 2018:
https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3229-revisiting-the-best-200mm-fan-silverstone-ap-180mm
- You can move the 5.25" quick mounts to the top bay.
- The sound dampening foam we used in the FT02 is not cheap and bad like those ones that will flake off in a couple of years. We sell them in retail packs as SF01, it's still a popular item for us. If you want even better foam, we have the SF02, but is thicker and may be too much for the side panel behind the motherboard tray.
- PSU filter on the FT02 is bespoke to the case.
 
The Asus 3070 TUF cooler also has issues when rotated 90 degrees. I was getting temps around 74c and fan speeds of 89-90% after 10 minutes of gameplay. Turning the whole case 90 degrees dropped temps to 62c and returned the fan speeds to normal. I haven't disassembled the card, but it looks like only one of the heatpipes turns back around the heat source.

Also managed to get a 3070 FE and that runs at 74c with only 49% fan speed in the FT-02. It's much quieter than the 3 fan Asus card and seems unaffected by the 90 degree orientation. Seems the founders cards are the way to go in these cases.
 

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j_smithy said:
Me too, but on an FT02. Have to replace the bottom case fans though. Have about 3-4mm ish of space between bottom of 3090 and case fan in photo below.

View attachment 305231
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What is the model number of this low profile fan? I have the FT02 and just picked up a 3090 and would like to replace the fan to make it fit, while retaining a fan. Thanks!
 
rawbogm said:
The Asus 3070 TUF cooler also has issues when rotated 90 degrees. I was getting temps around 74c and fan speeds of 89-90% after 10 minutes of gameplay. Turning the whole case 90 degrees dropped temps to 62c and returned the fan speeds to normal. I haven't disassembled the card, but it looks like only one of the heatpipes turns back around the heat source.

Also managed to get a 3070 FE and that runs at 74c with only 49% fan speed in the FT-02. It's much quieter than the 3 fan Asus card and seems unaffected by the 90 degree orientation. Seems the founders cards are the way to go in these cases.
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Interesting. I have moved everything to a new chassis, but I have the 3080 TUF card and it worked fine. Must be a different cooler entirely for the 3070. Too bad as it is truly silent in my system and super low temps in both orientations.
 
Anybody else know where I can get a low profile black 180mm fan so that the 3090 will fit with a fan? I haven't seen a response from the other guy in this thread that did the same thing. Thanks
 
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