Silverstone prepares FT03 Mini launch for May

It's hard not to love Silverstone. Sure there are a lot of companies out there who produce a greater diversity of chassis design – and then sell them in higher quantities – but Silverstone's quality is impeccable. Technical Marketing guru, Tony Ou, opens up the company's latest creation for your viewing pleasure.

It's always been something of a mystery for KitGuru: When a major chassis company creates a ‘classic', why don't they automatically do a ‘shrink' on the design and offer the public a smaller version?  When BMW designs a 5-Series car, you KNOW that the concept and features will also be available in a 3-Series. Same with chocolate. Invent a Mars bar, then some clever sod will come along with a ‘Celebrations' box that contains ‘mini Mars bars'.

With cases, the stand-out designs include the original Cosmos from Cooler Master. It would have been so cute to see that as a microATX case with mini handles etc.

Well, you don't have to wait much longer with Silverstone. They have done the smart thing and shrunk the FT03 chassis down to a Mini version – while retaining not only the overall design, but also the cool features. The reason it's smart to do this with the FT03 is that case didn't just win a load of awards ‘solo', it as also a very popular choice with system builders across the globe. Drop an overclocked 2500k and decent graphic card into the chassis and your ‘looks a lot like a sub-woofer' becomes a great all-round system, without taking up too much desk/floor space.

Using Silverstone's pioneering vertical design system, a single high-volume fan in the base generates all the cooling you need. The chassis comes apart in no time at all (well demonstrated by Tony Ou) and there's enough space for whatever kind of sensible rig you want to assemble.

Timing the FT03 to coincide with Intel's 3rd Generation Core processor launch is a very smart move. The reduced power requirement of the new, smaller, Core processors is a perfect fit for the Micro FT03.

We'd expect the FT03 Mini to be in UK stores around the middle of May. To get you properly juiced up for the new chassis, here's a break down on the key features:-

• Super mini footprint design with no cables or vents on four sides
• Ample space for high performance CPU cooling (78mm in height)
• Elevated standoff for motherboard back side components
• Includes 140mm Air Penetrator fan and support for entry level liquid cooling
• Support for two 2.5” SSD/hard drives and one 3.5” hard drive [RAID SSD Boot, we love it! – Ed]
• Mini-DTX / Mini-ITX motherboard & SFX PSU compatible
• Multiple graphics card options with support for 10″ expansion cards

KitGuru says: Will be a powerful competitor in the £99 space. We can't wait to put this case through the Kitguru Labs torture test!

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