PC Components

Enermax StarryFort SF30 Review: A Smart RGB Case

Enermax has been an established manufacturer of coolers, power supplies, enclosures and other PC components for many years. With the StarryFort SF30 Enermax enters the market of colorful and controllable RGB cases, all for about 75 Euro. But how the case works in practice and whether it can stand out against the large offer of other manufacturers, our detailed test is to clarify.

Technical Details

The Enermax StarryFort SF30 is available since early 2019. The case is only available in black.

Universal holder for 3.5″/2.5″ drives 2
Holder for 2.5″ drives 3
Expansion slots 7
Mainboard compatibility ATX, mATX, ITX
Power supply Form factor ATX
Front connections 2 x USB-A 3.0, audio I/O
Fan positions 6
Fan front 3 x 120 mm / 2 x 140 mm,
(3 x 120 mm included)
fan top side 2 x 120 or 2 x 140 mm
Rear fan 1 x 120 mm
(1 x 120 mm included)
Fan bottom
Dust filter Fan for PSU, cover
Radiator Front – 120/240/360 mm
– 140/280 mm
Radiator Top side – 120/240 mm
– 140/280 mm
Radiator Rear 120 mm
Max. Length PSU 240 mm
Max. Length GPU 375 mm
Max. CPU cooler height 157 mm
Cable management room Yes
Lateral left Tempered Glass
right side panel Steel
Dimensions Housing (LxWxH) 415 x 205 x 480 mm
Weight Net 6.55 kg
Price Product

Packaging and Scope of Delivery

Since the housing has some glass elements, these must be sufficiently protected for the delivery. The StarryFort arrives well packed in Styrofoam. The glass elements were additionally covered with a foil to protect them from scratches.

Verpackung
Verpackung

The housing conceals the accessories of the housing. The following parts are included:

  • Miscellaneous screws for hardware and fastenings
  • Cable tie with Enermax logo
Zubehör
Accessories

The accessories are manageable but sufficiently equipped.

Exterior Impression

The case consists mainly of steel, glass and some plastic. The workmanship of the StarryFort is on a good level. Large gaps, defects in materials or sharp edges cannot be detected in our case. The slightly rounded edges, especially at the front, are particularly pleasing.

The glass elements of the case are visually striking. In addition to the glass side element on the left, the front three included fans are also covered by a glass pane. However, a dust filter for the front fans cannot be discovered.

The top cover is magnetically attached and can be easily removed by hand. The cover looks stable and does not appear to be particularly susceptible to signs of wear.

The front panel has two USB 3.0 ports and two 3.5 mm jack ports. There is also an on/off switch and a reset switch to be found, but the latter can also be used to control the RGB lighting. A USB Type C port is missing, although there would be an unused recess on the left.

The right side panel is noticeable: it is fixed without screws. In the test there were no problems with the stop.

The bottom of the case shows a thin cover for the power supply, which can be removed. The feet are lightly rubberized and hold the case securely in place. It is also possible to move or remove the HDD cage by loosening the screws.

The back of the StarryFort shows the PCI slots. However, these must be broken off and are then permanently removed. However, a slot bracket can be removed or remounted normally. The pre-assembled 120 mm fan can be moved in height.

Overall, the case leaves a good impression. The glass elements on the side and the front give the case a chic look. The quality of the material and the workmanship doesn’t show any weaknesses. The lack of a dust filter at the front and the partly not remountable PCI slots, however, cloud the overall picture a little.

Interior Impression

The interior of the Enermax StarryFort SF30 looks quite clean at first glance. This is partly due to the separation of the mainboard and power supply. Nevertheless, the entire height could be used to mount a 360 mm radiator. For the cable routing there are different possibilities, but none of them is rubberized. The front part of the separation has a fixed LED strip for lighting.

When an ATX mainboard is mounted, it is flush with the partition wall of the PSU room. The spacers are already mounted in advance. However, there is sufficient space for the upper cover, for example to mount an AiO water cooling system for the CPU.

In contrast, the rear part of the case doesn’t look very tidy due to the large number of cables. The heart of the rear interior is an element for RGB control. Here it is possible to control up to 6 fans via a 4-pin RGB connector. An LED strip and a mainboard sync cable (compatible with Asus, Asrock, MSI and Gigabyte) can also be connected. Control is via the reset switch on the case. But more about that later.

The supplied fans are powered by a Molex connector. This means that they are unfortunately not adjustable and run permanently at the maximum speed. Too bad, because the almost identical Enermax SquA RGB fans* available in retail stores can be controlled via the PWM connector.

In the lower area, two 3.5-inch HDDs can be mounted in the sliding and removable hard disk cage. However, there is no real decoupling. To the right of the LED controller there is room for a 2.5-inch drive. Furthermore, there are several possibilities to fasten cables with cable ties.

Finally, the interior leaves a good impression. The sensible partitioning of the rooms means that there is the potential to optically tidy up the cabling of the housing from the outside and still attach a 360 mm radiator if required. Only the non-adjustable fans stand out negatively.

System Construction in the Enermax StarryFort SF30

The following hardware is installed in the Enermax StarryFort SF30:

CPU AMD Ryzen 1600
CPU cooler Enermax Aquafusion 240mm (ELC-Aqf240-Sqa)*
Mainboard ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4
RAM Corsair 16GB DDR4-3000
Graphics card Palit GeForce GTX 1080 GameRock Premium 8GB
Power supply unit be quiet! Straight Power 10 Power Supply 500W CM
Data carrier Two 2.5″ SSDs

The sufficient space above and to the side of the mainboard allows a simple connection of cables. Even longer graphics cards can be easily mounted in the case. But be careful when installing a classic CPU cooler: with a maximum height of 157 mm, some fans don’t fit into the case like a Thermalright Macho.

The room separation between the power supply and mainboard areas and the well-placed cable bushings allow good cable management in the visible area. Furthermore, up to three drives can be mounted invisibly behind the mainboard. Closing the right side is also possible without problems with large cable quantities and good laying. Also the space for the power supply is sufficiently dimensioned and can be extended if necessary by removing the hard disk cage.

During the further installation of the hardware into the case no problems occurred.

Lighting, Cooling Performance and Volume

After installing the hardware and switching it on for the first time, there is the wow effect: The lighting works right away and looks very chic. Especially in combination with the Enermax AquaFusion AiO-Watercooling* the case looks very good. The lighting can be adjusted with the reset switch. In addition to some colour change effects, colours can also be set permanently or the lighting can even be completely deactivated.

During the installation it was already determined that the supplied fans are not adjustable, although the fans available in the retail trade almost identically are controllable. The cooling performance is therefore permanently on a good level. But of course this has the side effect that the volume is permanently on the same level.

In the test the volume could surprise despite everything. Yes, the fans are permanently audible and not controllable, but the background noise is not disturbing and there are no background noises to be heard. The case isn’t really silent, but it’s definitely not a troublemaker.

Conclusion of the Enermax StarryFort SF30 Review

Optically the housing is very well done and looks very chic due to the RGB illumination, especially when the Enermax AquaFusion complete water cooling* is mounted. The lighting can be personalised and switched off if required. The case is not silent due to the not controllable fans, but it is not really loud either.

The workmanship is good and shows hardly any weaknesses. Due to the lack of a dust filter and a USB type C port on the front, the low price of the case can be explained in addition to the fact that only one PCI slot can be reused.

In summary, with the Enermax StarryFort SF30, the buyer gets an inexpensive but well crafted case with RGB lighting and a few weaknesses in detail. At the end it has to be considered whether the weaknesses are really relevant for the personal purpose. If not, the StarryFort SF30 is a good choice.

Enermax StarryFort SF30

Workmanship
Structure
Features
Cooling
Volume
Value for Money

An inexpensive but well made case with chic RGB lighting and a few weaknesses.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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