SilverStone Sugo SG05: The Mini-ITX Standard Bearer
by Dustin Sklavos on August 19, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- SilverStone
- Mini ITX
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- HTPC
Testing Methodology
For testing Mini-ITX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Mini-ITX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i3-2120 (65W TDP) |
| Motherboard | Zotac Z68ITX-A-E |
| Graphics Card |
Intel HD 2000 IGP Zotac GeForce GTS 450 Eco (dedicated) ASUS GeForce GTX 560 Ti DCII TOP (dedicated extra) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD SilverStone Slimline DVD+/-RW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | SilverStone NT07-1156 with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | Included 450W 80 Plus Bronze PSU |
Each case is tested with just the Core i3's integrated graphics as well as with a discrete graphics card. The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running four threads (three with a dedicated GPU) in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU, and OC Scanner (maximum load) is run when the dedicated GPU is installed. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. If the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
We try to maintain an ambient testing temperature of between 22C and 24C. Non-thermal test results aren't going to be directly comparable to the finest decimal point, but should be roughly comparable and give a broader idea of how the enclosure performs.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i3-2120.
- Thank you to Zotac for providing us with the Z68ITX-A-E motherboard and GeForce GTS 450 Eco.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the NT07-1156 heatsink/fan combo.
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doctormonroe - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
Silverstone have already released a SFF PSU that is 80 Plus Gold certified:http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=342
Jackattak - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
By the gods that's one hot little number, and modular to boot! I looked it up on Newegg and they're selling it for $99USD right meow!http://www.Newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17...
fr500 - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
The 450w power supply does get noisy. It's a very interesting case, my build is a few years old now and still going strong but it's been considerably modified over the years.I bought the original with the 300w PSU, had an i5 760 and a GTS250 back then. When I wanted to upgrade GPU the ST450-SF wasn't out so I went for a modular ATX PSU. A corsair H50 and a GTX570HD
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/149537/Pictures/Photos/DS...
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/149537/Pictures/Photos/DS...
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/149537/Pictures/Photos/DS...
Still going strong, cool and quiet behind my TV (CPU idles at 27c and gets to 50 under load)
fr500 - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
Had to give up the 3.5" bay for the H50 and the optical & 2.5" bay for the PSU, then I fitted 500GB laptop HDD and a 60GB SSD to the botton on the case and problem solved.DanNeely - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
Silverstone has several other variants of the Sugo case with 600W PSUs. Using one of them should kill the PSU noise since anything smaller than a dual GPU card is unlikely to put enough load on it to ramp the fans above idle.fr500 - Monday, August 20, 2012 - link
Mine is not noisy :) it has an ATX PSU as you can see in the picturesImSpartacus - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
"The great thing about reviewing these Mini-ITX cases is that oftentimes there just isn't a whole lot to them,"Lol! I love hearing little reviewer-centric quips like that.
...so I guess this means you have time to do even MORE reviews, eh?
philipma1957 - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
The coolermaster has some good points, but it needed endless mods. I pull the cheesy face plate off it and mounted an aluminum grill, It added air but the case needs custom cables to allow for proper airflow. So if you want a nice machine with the cooker master be prepared to break out a lot of tools. I am still playing with it.When I am done It will have an;
i7 3770k
a 256gb msata ssd
a full size samsung blu ray
a full size seasonic psu
a geforce gtx 670
all noctua fans .
It will be nice when I am done but it is not worth the effort.
My guess is this silverstone is better by far in terms of ease of assembly
owned66 - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
i built one a while agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXOl7TKVwLM
Daniel Egger - Sunday, August 19, 2012 - link
Actually there's a *very* good reason to go with what you consider an unworthy 300W PSU: Better power efficiency at low power usage. Since it is almost impossible to cram equipment for 300W max consumption into such a case and even that is much more likely to run at <20% power utilisation rather than 80% it simply does not make any sense to have >300W PSU in a mini-ITX case.