Legit Case Reviews
SilverStone Sugo SG05 White Mini-ITX Case Review
| Manufacturer: | SilverStone |
| Product: | SilverStone SG05 |
| Date: | Mon, Feb 01, 2010 - 12:00 AM |
| Written By: | Matt Collins - |
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The SG05 Exterior
Here we have the SG05 case's front bezel. Immediately, one notices the large fan grill edging out the other features, with the fan clearly visible behind. While we ponder why there wasn't room to fit a full size optical drive, notice the case has the normal USB and audio ports running along the right side and the slot for the slim optical disk drive along the top. So, what was SilverStone trying to do with this large fan? Eliminate all of your cooling worries: the typical small form factor case is plagued with ventilation concerns as components are squeezed into such a small area that nothing can be adequately cooled. The SG05 takes care of this with a single deathblow by including the largest case fan possible. Granted, I do agree that this seems counter-intuitive, seeing as this is a small case for a small-form factor motherboard having the largest fan considered commonly available. Nonetheless, I think the SG05 pulls it off smashingly, contradiction or not.
A lovely view of the entire case, again take notice of the fine hole-work done to maximize airflow. Part of SilverStone's concept here was to create "positive pressure." This is the kind of thing a submarine does to keep from leaking like a sieve; fundamentally, the idea is to push so much air into a space that it escapes in all directions to release pressure. While providing cooling, this concept also helps prevent dust from entering the case through those outlet holes. What, you say? What about that giant fan pulling in dusty air? Well, we'll get to that in a minute.
Taking a gander at the back panel of the case, we see the location of the 300 watt 80plus PSU with on/off switch, the two expansion slots, and the motherboard I/O panel hole. While the PSU is considered "optional", as there are a number of Mini-ITX motherboards that use custom power supplies, removing the PSU does not just boost space without consequences. In the picture above, we can see the fine grating the PSU provides for the back panel; removing the PSU would also remove this grating and leave a big hole. Maybe I'm not an expert in positive pressure, but I don't think leaving a big hole is a great idea. It would have been nice if SilverStone had slipped in a metal bracket that could take the place of the PSU when it wasn't needed.
The case feet make their last appearance in this picture, fully placed and stuck. After showing the top, sides, front and back of the case, I thought it only fair to make good on my previous promises to hold nothing back. I think it's interesting that even the bottom of the case is a nice looking, cool white. The case feet don't have any special features, but they do the job of standing and reducing vibration admirably. Where do we go once we've hit bottom? Inside!
Next Page - Inside the SilverStone SG05
| Review Index |
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Page 1 - SilverStone SG05 Mini-ITX Case
Page 2 - The SG05 Exterior Page 3 - Inside the SilverStone SG05 Page 4 - SG05: Final Thoughts! |
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