SilverStone Sugo SG08 Mini-ITX Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 13, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- SilverStone
Noise and Thermal Testing
I've mentioned before that when testing cases, I usually have a decent idea of how things are going to work out. That's a little less obvious with the SilverStone Sugo SG08. I think it's reasonable to expect that the CPU is going to run unbelievably cool with the 180mm fan bearing down on it, but the GPU has no active airflow outside of its own cooler. Smaller enclosures oftentimes also use the actual bulk of the video card to cordon off individual cooling regions, and that may very well happen here.
The Sugo SG08 was tested with the fan at both its low and high settings, and I don't think I'm spoiling anything when I say the high setting is largely unnecessary.
Ambient temperatures during testing hovered around 23C.
Exactly like I said, the CPU thermals are pretty tough to beat. This was never going to be an issue with the SG08. It's worth noting that a small pocket of heat can build around the drive cage, though; there's no active airflow in that region either, just ventilation. For the most part I doubt that could ever become a serious issue; external hard drives are basically sold shipping in heat coffins and still work reasonably well.
Like I said, basically no reason to run the SG08's fan at high speed, at least in our stock configuration. At low, the SG08 isn't inaudible, but it's very pleasantly quiet.
Adding a low power GeForce to the equation does actually change things a little bit, though.
Low fan speed means sacrificing roughly a degree or two for much quieter acoustics, so that's not really a big deal. We do start to see at least a little separation in our results, and the extra heat generated from the video card starts to leak back into that storage pocket.
Our normally quiet GTS 450 Eco makes its presence a bit more readily known. Noise levels are still low, but one of the sacrifices made with the SG08 is that there's virtually nothing between you and the cooling fan on the graphics card.
At this point I'm actually kind of amused by the cooling system in the SG08. Virtually nothing doing on the GPU side, leading to some high but still workable temperatures, while the CPU still runs a beefy seven degrees cooler than our previous reigning champion, the BitFenix Prodigy.
Despite the high GPU temperatures, the SG08 is still one of the quietest Mini-ITX cases when the fan is set to low. That low setting seems to be just plain ideal, even oddly producing slightly better temperatures on the graphics card.
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flemeister - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Yes, the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe fits with no issues. The VRM daughterboard only covers the bottom half of the ventilation holes on the closest side panel.I'm using an SG07 (identical to the SG08 apart from the front fascia), and have managed to cram a buttload of goodies inside it, with some modding: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php...
ven - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Nice build.HardwareDufus - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Yes,I am using this board with an i7-3770k overclocked to 4.2Ghz. Using HD4000 for graphics...
I wish they had designed the cage to support 2 2.5" drives right below the 5.25 slim dvd... Instead of the clumsy 1 3.5" & 1 2.5" cages. My only gripe.
HardwareDufus - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
I should add.. I have the SG05BB... not the SG08flemeister - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
If one of those two 2.5" drives is a SSD, then check if you've got a little space above the optical drive: http://oi48.tinypic.com/10fuuyp.jpgThat's in an SG07, but the SG05 might have that space too.
HardwareDufus - Friday, May 17, 2013 - link
The SG05 is much tighter above the Slim 5.25 bay than the SG07.Personally, I'd like to see a mini-ITX that doesn't permit anything other than 1 slim DVD 5.25 and 2 2.5" HDD/SDD drives. Scratch the FULL length PCI-x cars too.... (does anyone really expect to be able to cool a monster DUAL GPU video card in a mini-ITX case and still be quiet?). Also just support for the SFX Power Supplies.
JDG1980 - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
It's interesting to note that Silverstone's biggest design wins - not just this case but the Fortress FT02 and Temjin TJ08 - all have one thing in common, the 180mm 'air penetrator' intake fan(s). I wonder how much of the performance we're seeing is due specifically to those fans. Few other cases have a 180mm input, but NZXT's upcoming H630 has two front 200mm intakes that might be able to be modified for the Silverstone fans. I suspect that would provide excellent performance.Dustin Sklavos - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
I don't think it's the 180mm AP so much as where it's positioned. In each of the cases you mentioned it's blowing almost directly onto the CPU.creed3020 - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
Don't forget the AP technology though. This fan is pushing air down in a column, e.g. ||| and not a cone /// \\. Re-test with a traditional 180mm fan and the thermals won't be as impressive. Likely the thermals will still be competitive but not the same figures you're seeing now which are excellent.I do own a 120mm AP and use it on a Samuel 17 heatsink in my HTPC. Works wonder and with a LNA it works wonders for temps and acoustics.
extide - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
If any of you guys are interested in this case, but perhaps want to do things like watercool, or use a large/dual slot GPU, etc, then you will probably be interested in the NCase M1. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1039867428Check it out, it is a case designed by the community in that forum link and will go into production in the next few months. They already have a few prototype cases made and they looks AWESOME.
To the editors, will you guys be reviewing the NCASE M1?
Thanks!