Silverstone FT04 Remastered

a.kei · April 18, 2021

Hi there.

I have never been an active user of not my native language, so sorry in advance if I write total gibberish.
Since forums that I used to visit everyday is pretty much dying, I thought getting some feedback on my build log here is somewhat a good idea. I watch LTT almost since tuniq tower days, so this place seems like a place to go.

Silverstone FT04 - a case that I fell in love with years ago thinking it may be more attainable option than TJ07, looking somewhat similar. Boy I was wrong. I was 19 and broke when it was released. Now, that I can afford doing some hobby and wanted to do something before cutting up my TJ07 (bought brand new in January, lucky me) search for FT04 began. It is impossible to get one used or new in my country, but after some international shipping action I got my, brand new, FT04.

You should know, that all photos and videos on the interwebz don't do the justice of this case unique looks. Front and top alluminium panels are 10/10 for me. Just add tempered glass sidepanel and we are in 2021.

Boy oh boy but the internals are damn outdated. There needs to be some major changes. My plan is to cut and use as much of original panels as I can - they come free with the case, right? I have to basically move power supply area back where it belongs - to the bottom of the case. I want to put 360 (or 280) rad in the bottom as well - PSU will breathe warmer air that came throught the radiator, but I use it like that in the TJ07 and it's fine. Murderboxes are built like that too.

Then I want to put 360 in the front, but starting right at the top - not in the bottom like factory intended me to do. Why such weird layout? I had 360+240 in Meshify C where 240 in the top used warm air from the front 360. Now i want both radiator to have access to cool air. Paint magic time:

So let the unscrewing, drilling and cutting games begin. You should know that I'm left handed and doing straight lines with Dremel is really difficult for my unskilled hands. TJ07 will get CNCd panels
FT04 will be my (or my GFs really) second PC in the house with hardware from my old setup. Maybe it will get some upgrades maybe not. Putting together custom loop for it is pointless already but great fun. So it has to do with DIY metal, sorry.

Rear cut up. Motherboard tray is shortened a little bit to fit it high enough in the case. Eighth PCI-e slot will be basically just a spacer to fit a fan at the top. It came with 8 slots form the factory. Silverstone advertised this case as e-ATX compatible. Final photo for now, as I will update the topic as I move forward with the project. Some test fitting on the 1.4mm steel sheet that I adapt as rear support for all the disaster that I made. PSU is mounted on the bracket borrowed from my Meshify C. Using Dremel to cut that thick steel is a pain, but angle grinder is just not as precise as one would want

That's it for now. I will come back with progress as I cut more. Please leave any feedback, it will help me not to ruin this case completly

a.kei · May 5, 2021

Oh well, because I don't have to much time to work on the case, the progress is really slow.

First time fit the piecies to see if it all makes sense after all. And it does. But as I cut more and more of stock pieces everything starts to get flimsy and I don't like that.
I don't know where I'm going, but I'll move forward.