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
Conclusion: An Imperfect Gem
My experience reviewing the SilverStone Sugo SG08 was a mostly positive one. Mini-ITX cases are never little vacations like Corsair enclosures often are, but SilverStone does enough right with the Sugo SG08 that it's fairly easy to get your head past the usual difficulties.
Build quality and aesthetics on the Sugo SG08 are mostly unimpeachable, as is typical for the company. It's easy to gripe about the ventilation around the case, but there's really no other, better way for SilverStone to handle it. You're dealing with a small, specialized design. Including a power supply was really the only way to go, and SilverStone included one with leads that were exactly long enough for their intended purpose. Not only that, but the PSU is a 600W, 80 Plus Bronze certified small form factor unit, so you're likely to be limited by your hardware selections long before power becomes an issue.
Thermal performance and acoustics are actually surprisingly good, too. SilverStone takes a kind of brute force approach to cooling the CPU, but it's an effective one. I think the SG08's true calling may very well be as a small form factor enthusiast workstation where CPU performance is paramount, because there's an almost comical amount of thermal headroom there. It was easy enough to suggest overclocking would be a non-issue in the BitFenix Prodigy, so what does that make a case that runs the CPU a full seven degrees cooler than the next best competition?
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Where things get a little more murky are in some of the design decisions on the SG08, and unfortunately the price as well. The 2.5" drive bays need to be more secure, and I know for a fact that SilverStone has developed better ways of mounting a slimline optical drive than what's on display here. That the reset button is on the back of the case is almost inexplicable and creates an additional cabling inconvenience in an already cramped space, and they needed to do a better job of securing the expansion slot covers. These are minor issues but when you're dealing with a case this small, they do stack up.
As for the price tag, that's a horse of a different color. While I don't think $199 is necessarily unreasonable for a case like the SG08, I do feel like it's too high. The smaller Sugo SG05 is available for $130 (sometimes cheaper) and while you do make a few sacrifices, I still think it's an excellent and more affordable alternative. The perfect price for the SG08 is probably closer to $150 or $160, and if a sale brings it down to around there it's much easier to recommend.
If you're looking to build a small form factor machine, your options are pretty myriad. The BitFenix Prodigy is always a popular choice, and cheap, too, but remember that it doesn't include a power supply and that will bump the price up. I think for most users the Sugo SG05 is probably going to be a perfectly reasonable choice, but if you do need something with a little more oomph and you don't mind the price tag, the SG08 will probably serve you well.
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gandergray - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
The NCase M1 looks like it is well designed. It may become a top choice for enthusiasts who are building small form factor performance oriented computers.Mr Perfect - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Any idea if the included PSU is Haswell compatible?Also, side note here, but didn't there used to be a post title box?
karasaj - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
I would be astounded if it wasn't.DanNeely - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
A lot of current PSUs aren't. Haswell is bringing ultra low power sleep states from mobile computing to the desktop. This potentially drops 12V current draw to levels much lower than was possible with current chips, and a lot of PSUs have minimum loads higher than what it can drop to (to make things more fun; this number isn't normally published). The expectation is that most LGA1150 mobos will ship with the deep sleep states disabled in UEFI.rburnham - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
This is a pretty neat little case. I am using a Bitfenix Prodigy case, and the one problem I ran into with that is the same one that is mentioned here regarding video card fan noise. In both cases, the fan points outward, with air being pushed through the holes in the side panel. My Radeon 6850 in the Prodigy is louder at full load than I prefer.I love the idea of a mini ITX setup. I plan to build on mini ITX boards going forward. I have yet to find the perfect case, but the Prodigy is pretty good and the SG08 seems like a great candidate.
KLC - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
This isn't a PC case, with all of the ventilation it's more like a PC doily. I'm still looking for the best case for my next build which will be mini ITX. It will be Haswell and will run integrated graphics so I have no need for a big, long shoebox that can fit a monster GPU. It could have an optical disk but doesn't have to. It will have an OS SSD and be connected to a home server for storage. I want something small and quiet. Still looking.jtd871 - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
KLC,You should check out Thin-Mini-ITX or NUC (both Intel "standards") builds for what you describe. As lots of Haswell SKUs will be soldered onto the mobo, I suspect Intel will produce a variety of 'embedded'-style products to keep their "standards" going.
However, given Intel's penchant for squeezing every last $ out of their processors, you may be better served by going with one of these very small form factors on low-TDP Ivy Bridge.
KLC - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
NUC is intriguing, but like you said, Intel is squeezing its customers hard on that one. I forgot to add a third qualification, it needs to accept standard sized parts so I can purchase anything on the open market. You're right, I may end up with an Ivy Bridge CPU after looking at what Haswell offers.lordmocha - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
This is my case! I have an Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe, Asus Direct CU II 660, 2.5" SSD, 2.5" HDD, Corsair H60 Cooler with 2 Noctua 120mm.The case is dead silent with the nocuta fans and the direct cu ii. The cable management can be annoying and buying a modular psu to replace it is nice but then you'll have a wasted psu..
I think the M1 Ncase looks great and plan to migrate to that when it comes out - support their kickstarter guys cause what they are managing to do is awesome!
lopri - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Excellent review very clear writing. Thank you for valuable evaluation I was looking to give another shot at mini ITX build.