SilverStone Sugo SG09 Case Review: Someone at SilverStone Loves Tetris
by Dustin Sklavos on October 20, 2012 6:35 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- SilverStone
- MicroATX
Assembling the SilverStone Sugo SG09
Part of the "joy" of reviewing small form factor cases is just how much of a royal pain in the neck they can be to put together. In trying to cram all of this hardware into such a small space, elbow room is generally the first thing to go. So while the SG09 supports tower coolers and full-length video cards, other spaces are decidedly much more cramped.
That said, SilverStone was still remarkably considerate when it comes to assembly. Motherboard standoffs are already built into the tray, but you do have to remove the sliding power supply bracket in order to fit a Micro-ATX board in. When you do, you'll also find that the AUX 12V line is going to be much harder to connect than usual, and two of the innermost mounting screws may be next to impossible to actually install. The problem is the close proximity of the 120mm and 180mm fans, a tradeoff made for what you'll see is pretty superior cooling performance.
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Drives are mounted into the SG09 using three removable trays behind the motherboard. The topmost one is for mounting two 3.5" drives side by side, and the top 180mm fan actually overhangs this side of the tray just enough to get some cool air flowing. Unfortunately the 3.5" drives are bottom mounted, taking our standard Corsair Link kit out of the running. Meanwhile, just beneath them are four plastic brackets for mounting four 2.5" drives, stacked on top of each other. Finally, slimline optical drives are installed by attaching a mounting bracket included with the case to the drive, then attaching that bracket to the case itself.
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Getting the power supply into the case is actually a pretty easy affair. You attach it to the sliding, removable power supply cage, then slide it back in, screw in the cage, and connect the routing cable. For testing I opted to orient the power supply's intake to the front of the case instead of the interior, as this isolates the power supply from the rest of the components while still allowing it to receive fresh air. This also prevents it from competing with the tower cooler for intake air. Installing expansion cards is also simple; there's a covered bracket (I do hate these even though I understand why they exist) that has to be removed, then the ventilated expansion slot covers come out.
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Where things generally go to hell with small case designs is cabling, but SilverStone has actually done a reasonably good job allowing for this. The nature of the layout basically forces you to route cables intelligently; there's simply nowhere else to put them. Again, a modular power supply is pretty much essential, especially if you're planning on utilizing 3.5" drives. I do think they could've tried to allow at least a little more space at the top for squeezing all those cables through, though.
Unfortunately, putting the panels back on the SG09 is an exercise in frustration of the very highest order. What SilverStone needed to do was split the wraparound panel to handle just the motherboard and fan side and then make a separate panel for the side behind the motherboard tray. Though SilverStone does allow for a decent amount of space for cabling, it still isn't quite enough, and I had to struggle a lot to get the panel to fit correctly.
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There are some design elements that I think are really strong, and then there are some that obviously need work. As I mentioned, the panels need to be split even if it increases complexity a bit, and the single 80mm fan mount seems superfluous and can probably be cut entirely, possibly in favor of using that real estate to mount one or two 3.5" drives laterally. The brackets for mounting the 2.5" drives also seem to be placed too low and you'll be struggling trying to get them installed again. An extra couple of millimeters would make all the difference, even if it meant shrinking the opening for the cooler backplate slightly.
With all that said, though, it's impressive how much you can actually cram into the SG09. I was able to fit our standard case testbed in without any real trouble. Better still, there's potential here for some really stellar performance.
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DanNeely - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
Or how about the MountainMods monstrosity known as the Extended Ascension with room for 12x120 mm fans on the top, and side panels big enough to fit a custom 16x120 configuration.Grok42 - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
Yet another great review and even better, it's for a mATX case.As for your comment about the slim optical drive, I think you put too much emphasis on this as a negative. While I agree that the drives themselves are expensive, hard to source and a pain to install, the upsides are so great that any mATX or mITX case that chooses to use a full size bay is at a huge disadvantage. As another poster said, optical is on the way out and if you really need a legacy drive you can take the hit for the slim drive or use another computer for your optical tasks. The only thing I use my optical drive for in the last 5 years is to rip content to my hard drive and this happens less and less each year. I just use an external drive and put it back in storage until I need it again. Not sure why most users would need a percent internal optical anymore.
I'm also not wild about the looks but the front is good enough since they didn't mess it up with any full size bays. I think the best part of this case is that it can take an mATX board. While a mITX board will work for me, mATX can be cheaper, have better overclocking abilities and there are just plain more boards to choose from. The biggest benefit is their ability to use 32GB of memory instead of mITX's 16GB. With memory so inexpensive these days, it is a shame that all motherboards don't offer more ability to handle more memory.
Dustin Sklavos - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
I'll admit I might have been a little harsh on it and that the last thing my optical drive was used for was to play "Jason X" on DVD (I really, really love crap), but forcing you to use a slot-loading drive for aesthetic purposes does make things harder. Standard slimline opticals are easy to track down and reasonably priced, but slot-loaders are much more difficult.geok1ng - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
http://www.anandtech.com/Gallery/Album/2390#3I understand that the plastic faceplate used is for slot loading drives, but the space seen compatible with a standard slimline drive. Can't we just remover the plastic cover and install a trayloading slimline?
The whole point is moot: most sane people that still need an optical drive have forked the money for an external USB 3.0 optical+2.5" combo drive.
The other critics are also weird:
-anyone who opts for this case will use modular PSUs from the start,
-most MOBOs have ate least one FAN header that can be software controlled
-GPUs that need more cooling can and will received extra direct air from the 2 optional 80mm fans
This case has one minor flaw- like every other really small case, its a pain to assemble and one major flaw:
IT IS UGLY!!
Blibbax - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
I feel like this case would be better with intakes at the bottom and exhaust at the top.marvdmartian - Monday, October 22, 2012 - link
That's certainly the more conventional pathway for cooling, as it takes advantage of the natural current of heated air to rise...........but as ugly as most people here seem to think it is, it's more likely this would be placed under a desk, and that's where a top intake design wins out, since you're less likely to suck up the occasional dust bunny!
I do think that the hard drives will tend to get rather warm, though.
swe3tdave - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
i can understand why some people might prefer small cases, but this is nuts...Earthmonger - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
This thing is hideous. It's like a portable dehumidifier. I can't believe Silverstone attached their name to it. Oh how the mighty have fallen. But anyway...I applaud the slot-in optical. I applaud the front-mounted PSU, though it should be on the floor. And that's all the "nice" I can say about it. So many other SFF cases are available that are miles above this. What the Hell are you thinking, Silverstone? If these things have shipped, recall them. Don't sully your reputation.
lmcd - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
I don't think it should be a concern: at this size you're making tradeoffs and half the time you're squeezing it into a small space and hiding it anyway.mfenn - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
I really disagree with publishing this "review" and giving the part the "recommended" seal of approval without knowing the price. This isn't a review, it's a preview and should be labeled as such.I for one would be fine waiting on reading the review (even if it was done and ready) until the product actually had an MSRP. If Silverstone was leaning on you to publish, you should push back and say that you'll publish once you get an MSRP.