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In this review we are using an AMD Vision A8-3850 based system to test the thermal and acoustic performance of the Silverstone Fortress FT03 Mini. We didn't overclock our test system as we wouldn't want to run the system much hotter than it is at stock settings for an extended period of time.
Test System
- Processor: AMD Vision A8-3850 APU
- Motherboard: ASRock A75M-ITX
- Cooler: Noctua NH-L12
- Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-3
- Memory: 4 GB (2x 2 GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 MHz
- Graphics Card: HIS Radeon HD 5550 Silence
- Power Supply: Be Quiet BN134 350W SFX
- System Drive: Patriot Torqx 2
- Monitor: Viewsonic VX2260WM
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Software
- CPUID Hardware Monitor
- Prime 95 64-bit
- Furmark V1.9.2
To test the thermal performance of the Silverstone FT03 Mini we loaded our test system for 10 minutes using Prime 95 and Furmark and recorded the maximum temperatures reached using CPUID Hardware Monitor. We then restarted the system and left it for 10minutes before recording idle temperatures. Room temperatures were maintained at 20 degrees C for the duration of our tests.
The temperatures we recorded are a little warmer than we'd expect in a regular case but considering the extremely small form factor this isn't surprising. The APU temperature we recorded in the FT03 Mini is seven degrees higher than that we recorded in the Xigmatek Gigas but we also have to consider that there wasn't room for the main 120mm fan on the cooler in this case.
To test the noise performance of the case we placed our digital dBA meter 1m from the front of the case. We also momentarily detached our CPU cooler’s fan so we were only taking the noise into account from the case fan.
We are quite impressed with the noise level of the FT03 mini. While it is audible the noise created by the single fan isn't intrusive and only just breaks the 30 dBA mark. For an HTPC system it is acceptable.
