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SilverStone Sugo SG05: The Mini-ITX Standard Bearer

 by Dustin Sklavos on August 19, 2012 12:01 AM EST
70 Comments | Add A Comment
70 Comments

Assembling the SilverStone Sugo SG05

For how smitten I was with Cooler Master's inexpensive Elite 120 Advanced, it had a couple of kinks that made it less enjoyable to assemble than SilverStone's Sugo SG05 is. Having to provide space for an ATX power supply and a full 5.25" optical drive bay meant cutting into some of the case's internal space, and the drive cage wound up actually being detrimental to the design in some ways. The SG05 is a remarkably clean design and was very easy to assemble, especially for a case of its diminutive size.

Gallery: SilverStone Sugo SG05 Assembly

Installing the motherboard was for the most part very easy; standoffs come built into the tray, although it's nigh impossible to screw the board in on one corner without removing the power supply. You'll have to remove the bracing bar from the PSU along with the drive caddies, but you would've needed to remove at least the caddies anyways. Call me lazy, but I actually just left the corner of the board floating and still found it plenty secure. More responsible users may be inclined to remove the PSU to completely mount the board. There's a healthy amount of space around the board to connect power cables and headers, as well.

Honestly, the worst part of assembling our system in the SG05 was the optical drive and 2.5" drive caddy. Getting the screws into the 2.5" drive required a bit of dexterity, while the slimline optical drive's tiny, tiny screws made installing it a nightmare. I'm not a particularly steady person in the first place, and these are the kinds of screws a housecat will swallow without a second thought. Part of that is just the nature of the screws used to mount slimline drives and I'm not sure how much SilverStone could've done to make this process easier. As for the 3.5" drive bay, I actually eschewed that entirely. That cage is removable, and I found that when assembling the SG05 the copious amount of cabling stemming from the PSU made it exceedingly difficult to install.

The drive bays seem to be where SilverStone decided to make their sacrifices in the name of getting the SG05 as small as it is. If you're determined enough you can jimmy the 3.5" drive cage in, but as you can see in the image above, the cable spaghetti nature of building in a small enclosure makes it pretty difficult. You'll also have to remove the front fascia (there are six plastic snaps you can bend up) to pop out the bay shield.

When you install an expansion card in the SG05, you're also going to be deciding just how far you're willing to push the limits of the enclosure. The ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti we use for testing our bigger cases did indeed fit in the SG05 (and we had to test with it, naturally), but that card is 10.2" long and it was really as big as you can get away with; I had to angle and tilt to fit it inside. Keep in mind that certain shorter card designs may have the PCIe power leads facing the back of the card instead of the top, too, so you'll want to account for that when calculating clearance.

Mushing all the cabling down and getting the shell back on the SG05 wasn't too difficult, but the tremendous amount of ventilation means that any lights inside the case are probably going to be visible. The memory kit we use for testing has LEDs on it and those LEDs are very easy to see while the system is running, along with the LEDs on the motherboard itself. Enterprising builders will have no trouble making the SG05 glow.

In and Around the SilverStone Sugo SG05 Testing Methodology
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  • Dustin Sklavos - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link

    You do, but the power connector for slimline optical drives is weird to begin with and unique to them. The one I tested with (provided by SilverStone) actually included the adapter.

  • Zap - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link

    Slimline optical drives use a slimline power connector:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA#Slimline_c...

    In the past Silverstone did NOT provide these, and it cost around $10+shipping to buy one from Newegg.

    Dustin, can you verify with your Silverstone contact that these new versions DO come with the required connector or adapter?

    It would be best if the connector was actually built into the PSU wiring harness, something which Antec was able to do with their ISK 300 and ISK 310 series cases. I don't see why Silverstone has been unable to do that, since they should be able to tell the PSU manufacturer (FSP) to include the required connector.

  • Zap - Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - link

    UPDATE:

    I purchased the latest SG05-450-USB3 (exact one as in the review) and it did NOT come with the power connector/adapter for the slim optical drive.

    Silverstone, you have FAILED again. Antec was able to include one in their ISK 300/310 series which use slim optical drives. Why can't you guys?

  • AgeOfPanic - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link

    I have owned this particular case in the 300 watt variety. I found the included PSU way too loud for a case like this. To me the cool thing about mini ITX is having a nice small case with enough horse power for most tasks. I now own a Lian Li case that fits a full ATX PSU and is only slightly larger. It is completely inaudible though. No room for extra video card. My advice would be to choose a case that fits your needs, but definitely a full ATX power supply.

  • randinspace - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link

    Which Lian Li case?

  • londiste - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link

    try pc-q08b

  • AgeOfPanic - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link

    I own the Lian Li PC-Q07B. It's higher, but not as deep as the Silverstone. It also misses the front audio connectors and no USB 3.0, but these were not deal breakers for me. The case is really quiet though.

  • spcarr - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link

    I own this and its bigger brother, the SG07. They are both great cases and love them both.

    The problem I have is that, in the end, they are still 'too big' to just sit on top of the desk next to your monitor (like the mac mini). So they sit on the ground like other cases (where they look silly) or you buy yourself a small drawer for them to sit on top of. I did the latter, so I at least have a bunch of storage for the small things. But they still take up just as much floor space as a tower, imho.

    What do other people do? Where do you place your beautiful sugo cases?

  • UpSpin - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link

    I have a large desk which also goes around a corner. Because the desk is in front of a window and I don't want that the 24" monitor obscures the light from the window on the desk I placed the monitor in this corner, so I have more and brighter space for work and the monitor with keyboard don't waste that much space.
    Diagonal behind the monitor I placed the Sugo case. It fits perfectly there, looks great and the cabels don't have a long way, so they are almost invisible, too.

  • Jackattak - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link

    So based on your earlier post (above) it must be audible if/when you're working alone? Just curious.
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