Silverstone Sugo SG08

[Darksaber]

To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/S...one/Sugo_SG08/

[XL-R8R]

This case is a bit of a let down price-wise compared to the Fractal Design NODE that has, what appears to be, the same OEM.


Not only is it more expensive by a fair amount, it also has some odd placements.....

Take for example the PSU power cable extension; why is it not on the opposite side instead of being above the graphics card and in the process, trailing half way around the case in the wrong direction?

Also, the lack of any rear exhaust is a massive negative, in my view. How are you supposed to fit an AIO WC to the top of the case AND close it at the same time? The design isn't even suited to tower type heatpipe coolers because of this so you're even more limited than usual on the type of cooler you can fit into this. Not the best for the "power-ITX" enthusiast crowd.


A real disappointment as I've been a long-time fan of the "Sugo" range from Silverstone but this is just awfully designed.


I hate to say it (as I don't exactly favour Fractal Design), but the NODE 304 wins this round due to design and functionality... its half the price too!


Edit:
To add more, yes this case comes with a power supply.... however, it's still too expensive.

Add THIS to the Fractal mentioned above and it'll still cost you a fair amount less than the Sugo and be modular, too. Win all around really.

[Novulux]

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Edit:
To add more, yes this case comes with a power supply.... however, it's still too expensive.

Add THIS to the Fractal mentioned above and it'll still cost you a fair amount less than the Sugo and be modular, too. Win all around really.

That's not a modular PSU?

[flemeister]

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Take for example the PSU power cable extension; why is it not on the opposite side instead of being above the graphics card and in the process, trailing half way around the case in the wrong direction?

A minor complaint IMO. At least it's out of the way in that spot.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Also, the lack of any rear exhaust is a massive negative, in my view.

Agreed. Silverstone's prototype of the SG07 even had a small rectangular exhaust vent on the rear panel as seen here. But they got rid of it with the final version of the SG07/SG08, even though they left the indentation in place.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

How are you supposed to fit an AIO WC to the top of the case AND close it at the same time?

The 180mm fan attaches using a bracket that is independent from the clamshell top cover, and it has 120mm mounting holes as well. See here for examples of AIO WC in this case: Antec Kuhler 620, Corsair H80

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

The design isn't even suited to tower type heatpipe coolers because of this so you're even more limited than usual on the type of cooler you can fit into this. Not the best for the "power-ITX" enthusiast crowd.

In its stock form, the case is fine with 92mm tower coolers, and some shorter 120mm tower coolers such as the Gelid Tranquillo, as long as you orient it so that it draws air from the video card, and exhausts it out the other side. However, after some modding (just cutting a hole in the rear panel to mount a 120mm fan), I managed to fit a Noctua NH-U12P, as well as a Thermalright HR-02. Note that I would've had more room in front of the heatsink if I was using the stock HDD bracket rather than the massive HDD silencer.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

I hate to say it (as I don't exactly favour Fractal Design), but the NODE 304 wins this round due to design and functionality... its half the price too!

I agree, although I wish its front intake vents weren't so restrictive for the 2x 92mm fans. As for my SG07, I was disappointed with it in its stock form; it took some modding for me to be happy with it.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Edit:
To add more, yes this case comes with a power supply.... however, it's still too expensive.

I got mine second hand for 60% the price of a new one, and with a slim DVD burner to boot. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. Probably would've gone with an Antec NSK3480 or Silverstone Sugo SG03/04 instead. Or if I wasn't so fussy about noise, an SG05/06 for its smaller footprint

[Easy Rhino]

i think the price is just about right on this thing. It would make an excellent steambox!

[Darksaber]

The Fractal Design has one (probally big) difference: it has no ODD.

[XL-R8R]

Originally Posted by Novulux

That's not a modular PSU?

Yeah... sorry, it was late and I posted the wrong link lol

Here you go: LINK

Originally Posted by flemeister

A lot of good text was here!

The main plus to the Fractal vs Silversone is that the FD has more HDD space and is less cramped due to the more mainstream design of the rear fan mount and two 92's at the front. It allows for a much better cable job on the inside and has to be cooler than the Sugo... load temps in this case must be pretty high compared.

You also shouldn't need to run an inferior cooler on your CPU just because of the restraints imposed by the design/placement of your only case fan.
Some people, myself included, want to have the best possible performance from their system... this leads to overclocking and so a more "meaningful" cooler is needed.... this chassis leaves very little room for that and even with an AIO installed, its very cramped and the temperatures will suffer as a result.


Also, welcome to TechPowerup!

Originally Posted by Darksaber

The Fractal Design has one (probally big) difference: it has no ODD.

Who uses ODD in this day and age, any way?


External drives not only look better for the most part, but, even they are obsolete too, in my view.

Online downloads for games and a USB drive of some description for OS installs make ODD, like IDE cables, a thing of the past.



Edit:

No dust filters on this case either?? Aside from the graphics filter that isn't really fit for purpose as it wont really cover the fan of most modern cards... only older cards from nVidia and ATI that use a small, single fan.


This is a bigger let down than I first saw.


Edit 2: The PSU doesn't even feature fully sleeved cables, either..... is this really $200?

[Ikaruga]

Thanks for the review. It looks sexy, but a version without the PSU would be really nice.

[THE_EGG]

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Yeah... sorry, it was late and I posted the wrong link lol

Here you go: LINK




The main plus to the Fractal vs Silversone is that the FD has more HDD space and is less cramped due to the more mainstream design of the rear fan mount and two 92's at the front. It allows for a much better cable job on the inside and has to be cooler than the Sugo... load temps in this case must be pretty high compared.

You also shouldn't need to run an inferior cooler on your CPU just because of the restraints imposed by the design/placement of your only case fan.
Some people, myself included, want to have the best possible performance from their system... this leads to overclocking and so a more "meaningful" cooler is needed.... this chassis leaves very little room for that and even with an AIO installed, its very cramped and the temperatures will suffer as a result.


Also, welcome to TechPowerup!





Who uses ODD in this day and age, any way?


External drives not only look better for the most part, but, even they are obsolete too, in my view.

Online downloads for games and a USB drive of some description for OS installs make ODD, like IDE cables, a thing of the past.



Edit:

No dust filters on this case either?? Aside from the graphics filter that isn't really fit for purpose as it wont really cover the fan of most modern cards... only older cards from nVidia and ATI that use a small, single fan.


This is a bigger let down than I first saw.

Umm all the intake fans have filters, and they are pretty easy to remove too. Nearly all the reference cooler from AMD and Nvidia still use a blower style fan that the gpu filter will cover nicely. I had a GTX 570 reference card in there without any dramas.

Here is the SG-07 I have that I used to use as lanbox but is now serving HTPC duties. It fits an Antec 620 with 2X P14 fans from noctua without any issues.


The gpu atm is a 7770, but was a 570.


It was a squeeze to get the 7770 in with the antec 620, but it is doable and it works. If I'm honest, I don't think the 570 would've fitted with all the other stuff that is in there atm. Before hand there wasn't the DVD drive and there was no 3.5" drive either, only 2X 2.5" drives, so that helped A LOT with cable management but it was a squeeze this time.

It is a great case though and is literally no bigger than a shoebox. I used to use a shoebox for protecting it during transportation to lans.

[Lt_Lemming]

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

This case is a bit of a let down price-wise compared to the Fractal Design NODE that has, what appears to be, the same OEM.

The node has a very different fit and finish internally, I have built machines in both cases and far prefer the internal finish of the SG07/08 (only difference between the two is the front panel).

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Not only is it more expensive by a fair amount, it also has some odd placements.....

The placements may seem odd, but to fit everything they do into the case, it works well. Also I much rather the single hooge fan for intake, than the two much noiser 92mm intakes. The case comes apart so well that it's nice and easy to work on. The SG08/07 is also a fair bit smaller than the Node. About 1" - 2" smaller in each axis.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Take for example the PSU power cable extension; why is it not on the opposite side instead of being above the graphics card and in the process, trailing half way around the case in the wrong direction?

The cable has a minimum bend radius, the turns would be too tight and it would impose on the area in front of the drives if it was coming from above the CPU area. Also the power socket on the back of the case would impinge on the area for the fan.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Also, the lack of any rear exhaust is a massive negative, in my view. How are you supposed to fit an AIO WC to the top of the case AND close it at the same time? The design isn't even suited to tower type heatpipe coolers because of this so you're even more limited than usual on the type of cooler you can fit into this. Not the best for the "power-ITX" enthusiast crowd.

There is no need for a rear exhaust, the AP180 fan pushes so much air into the case that it stays very cool in there. Here in Brisbane in summer with an i5-760 in there, it tops out at about 65c under air cooling and with the fan on low. A single 180mm fan at 700 rpm is much quieter than 3 fans in the node and this is far more important to me than a few extra degrees of cooling.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

A real disappointment as I've been a long-time fan of the "Sugo" range from Silverstone but this is just awfully designed.

I disagree, I think this case shows a much better design than the Node. The node they have basically tried to take a standard case layout and cram it into mini-itx, which means making some sacrifices (no ODD, noisier and larger case) whereas Silverstone have started with a clean slate, and wound up with an incredibly functional while tiny case.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

I hate to say it (as I don't exactly favour Fractal Design), but the NODE 304 wins this round due to design and functionality... its half the price too!

It's only half the price because it doesn't come with a PSU. Once you add in a decent PSU, it's gonna cost the same if not more.


Edit:

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

To add more, yes this case comes with a power supply.... however, it's still too expensive.

As soon as you add a decent PSU (Corsair, Silverstone, Antec, Seasonic, etc) it's going to cost the same as building a machine based around the Node 304.

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Add THIS to the Fractal mentioned above and it'll still cost you a fair amount less than the Sugo and be modular, too. Win all around really.

On newegg there is a whopping $10 difference between the node and that psu, and the SG08.

I've looked at adding a modular supply to my SG07, there's one huge problem. The plugs on modular supplies add quite a bit of thickness and would protrude into the area occupied by the graphics card. It'd be nice, but until someone makes one with much skinnier connectors, or recessed connectors, it wouldn't work.

[Andrew780]

actually as long as you're not looking to run anything bigger than a 670 and aren't looking to overclock much, this modular psu will work in the sg08/07. http://www.silverstonetek.com/produc...id=342&area=en

tbh though i am still kind of torn between the sg08 and node, i think the node has more overclocking/cooling potential, but the sg08 i think has better cable management opportunities and is smaller. I actually have an sg08 on order (along with the psu in the link), but i'm still debating.