I had to install a Backplate fan.
Heavy duty! Must weigh a tonne!
Silverstone Fortress FT02 - Time for an upgrade and some TLC
- Thread starter Washout
- Start date
Heavy duty! Must weigh a tonne!
I got a raven rv03, no difference between upright and sideways through 4 different cards all heatpipe based currently on 2060 super twin evo design idles no fan 50c max temps 60-62c 40 % fan
maybe its the extra long cards where it matters more
maybe its the extra long cards where it matters more
yeah the top exhaust did make me put struts in, just in case
Now i need serious help from a priest to close that accidental portal to hell at the back
(The new PSU exhaust at the front has been checked for its behaviour)
With a few cuts it will accept a GPU AIO with quick release, like the Eisbär.
So IF i buy a 3090 with bad thermals in this orientation, i can switch.
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Love to see others still using the legendary FT02. I love mine (since 2011) and every year or so I keep looking for a newer, better case - not because it's not an excellent case, but because of the other reasons people mention: better cable management, etc. I don't use any 3.5 drives any longer and am down to just a single Blu-ray burner (but will probably get rid of that eventually, too). Would love to see an update of this case to be more in line with modern times - but keep the same orientation and fantastic build quality / air performance. But so far there hasn't been a proper successor from Silverstone and no other company seems to provide the quite the same quality of case. Hoping that the Alta F1 brings us that.
Anyways, I wanted to ask you guys, more specifically, Washout, how do you connect the AP183s? I am still using the original AP181s. I am very happy with their performance, in general, on the lowest setting - very quiet and good air movement. However sometimes I would like to bump up the speed for the GPU during long game sessions but it's an annoyance to pop open the top to change the fan speed. PWM would obviously be better. Do you daisy chain the AP183s and have them go to one MB port to control the speed of them all at once? Or do you connect them to multiple headers on the motherboard or a seperate fan controller? My AP181s are daisy chained to a standard molex connector (as it came from the factory). I am not even sure that an AP183 can get enough amps off of a motherboard header...
I was even thinking of just getting a single AP183 to put directly under the GPU and put that to a motherboard fan header and leave the other AP181s in place.
Anyways, I wanted to ask you guys, more specifically, Washout, how do you connect the AP183s? I am still using the original AP181s. I am very happy with their performance, in general, on the lowest setting - very quiet and good air movement. However sometimes I would like to bump up the speed for the GPU during long game sessions but it's an annoyance to pop open the top to change the fan speed. PWM would obviously be better. Do you daisy chain the AP183s and have them go to one MB port to control the speed of them all at once? Or do you connect them to multiple headers on the motherboard or a seperate fan controller? My AP181s are daisy chained to a standard molex connector (as it came from the factory). I am not even sure that an AP183 can get enough amps off of a motherboard header...
I was even thinking of just getting a single AP183 to put directly under the GPU and put that to a motherboard fan header and leave the other AP181s in place.
Hey, I hooked them all up to a pwm fan hub so they're all powered from the psu. Then just sent the one connection to the mobo header to control the lot as one.
Had to go in and setup a custom fan curve which is fairly flat to be honest. I guess with the right mobo software you can set different profiles for the fans when gaming but I've not bothered with that for now!
Asus motherboards have very good DC fan control (Ap181) via bios or software.Their auto scan setting is really usefull. The standard setting is chosen well and is always very quiet. I use the 100% setting on the switch. The software automatically choses around 32-35% = 350-400rpm in idle. That depends on the batch of fans and their versions. We are at V4.0 with the ap181. I would give a finger if i could get 3 new V3.0, since it is the slowest running batch they made (290-330rpm).
My fans need over an amp so i give them each their own motherboard fan header (which are rated for 1 amp, if not mentioned otherwise in the manual).
As an observation: I have one 3 amp header, usually needed for watercooling. If i daisychain all 3 to it they can run a bit slower (20-30 rpm) than in any other config. Weird enough that i did test this 2 years ago with a .. rpm-gun?! . I don't know the correct word for it.
The ap183 are a bit louder in idle but have a hilarious amount of power.
Personally i get along just fine with the 181 capped at 90%max.
...having the luxury of an automatic fan curve of course.
My fans need over an amp so i give them each their own motherboard fan header (which are rated for 1 amp, if not mentioned otherwise in the manual).
As an observation: I have one 3 amp header, usually needed for watercooling. If i daisychain all 3 to it they can run a bit slower (20-30 rpm) than in any other config. Weird enough that i did test this 2 years ago with a .. rpm-gun?! . I don't know the correct word for it.
The ap183 are a bit louder in idle but have a hilarious amount of power.
Personally i get along just fine with the 181 capped at 90%max.
...having the luxury of an automatic fan curve of course.
Soldato
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- 1 Jun 2014
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Good to know. Any pics?
Something up with the pics im trying to upload! hopefully this will come through
Soldato
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Nice - plenty of clearance with the FE. I assume temps are sweet as?
Maxed out at 62 running superposition so night and day compared to my old 2070s which raced up to 82 pretty fast until I stuck it on water. It's getting plenty of cool air though (with the ambient just at 20degrees), front fan set to intake now it doesn't have a rad behind it and that 180mm fan directly below 
In games like wow sits around the low 50s.
In games like wow sits around the low 50s.
Soldato
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Cool. Literally!
So just bought an asus radeon rx 6800 xt tuf gaming oc from Overclockers as the price dropped below £1k.
I have the FT02 and had to drop the middle fan to fit, but np there.
Replaces my 5700xt Nitro that had no problems being vertically mounted.
But I am having verticle orientation cooling problems, vertically the 6800xt hotspot exceeds 98c very quickly while gaming or stress testing, and then throttles
But put the FT02 case on its front and the temps drop well below 98c, and no throttling.
So it seems some new extra-long GPU cards do have an orientation requirement.
So reluctantly I am having to replace the FT02, going for a Be Quiet! Silent Base 802 to get left MB mount orientation.
FT02 has been a brilliant case but maybe all 90degree rotated cases are not going to be ok with all new GPUs, that will hurt the new Alta F1 as well I guess.
I have the FT02 and had to drop the middle fan to fit, but np there.
Replaces my 5700xt Nitro that had no problems being vertically mounted.
But I am having verticle orientation cooling problems, vertically the 6800xt hotspot exceeds 98c very quickly while gaming or stress testing, and then throttles
But put the FT02 case on its front and the temps drop well below 98c, and no throttling.
So it seems some new extra-long GPU cards do have an orientation requirement.
So reluctantly I am having to replace the FT02, going for a Be Quiet! Silent Base 802 to get left MB mount orientation.
FT02 has been a brilliant case but maybe all 90degree rotated cases are not going to be ok with all new GPUs, that will hurt the new Alta F1 as well I guess.
I wonder what the design issue is that's causing this on the card.
Years ago I used a Radeon R9 290 in a FT02, that was fine. I wonder what the key difference is on the RX6800 your using.