Performance

To ensure accurate thermal results, we installed the same hardware in each case in well-nigh the same way. Components included the Asrock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional, Phenom Two X6 1100T, Prolimatech Megahalems in passive manner (i.e. no fan actively dispelling oestrus) and the Inno3D GeForce GTX 580 OC.

Usually, nosotros besides install half a dozen WD Scorpio Bluish 500GB hard drives, and OCZ'south ZX 1000w power supply. There are two problems with that configuration in the Silverstone Fortress FT05: it supports only two iii.5" drives and with OCZ'south ZX 1000w PSU the enclosure'due south 3.v" drive cage has to be removed.

Therefore, nosotros installed a shorter power supply and went with just two WD Scorpio Bluish 500GB 3.5" difficult drives.

Back when we tested the Fortress FT04, its CPU results were poor while the example offered splendid GPU and difficult drive cooling. This is due to our testing methodology which sees the CPU passively cooled then it'southward the instance's job to move air over the bit's heatsink.

This was a problem for the FT04 as the heatsink was completely blocked by hard drives, resulting in an idle CPU temperature of 47 degrees. The FT05 works far better, keeping the CPU at just 24 degrees at idle when using the low fan setting. The GPU likewise ran very cool at just 35 degrees, again with the everyman fan setting.

Turning the fans up to medium and high reduced temperatures by a few more than degrees, providing some of our best results.

Placing the entire organization under load saw the Fortress FT05 deliver remarkable results with its depression-speed fan setting. The GPU hit merely 76 degrees while the CPU maxed out at 70 degrees -- comparable results to the Cooler Master HAF X. Spinning the fans faster on medium and high produced our best GPU and CPU results to engagement.