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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karasaj - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Thanks for the review! Fitting a 117mm HSF seems so strange, when 120mm could have accommodated for so many more.I've been trying to decide lately on a new build that I need to be portable. I'm aiming to fit something like a GTX 660 or smaller in it, and trying to decide between a Silverstone Sugo SG05 or the Fractal Design Node 304. Any opinions?
Also, it would be awesome if you could review the Arc Midi R2! It seems to be getting great reviews everywhere. Any plans to do so?
vanwazltoff - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - link
i would go with the node 304, i bought one and with a bit of patience you can have a really clean cable management job inside of oneGrok42 - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Great review, I almost purchased this case for my last build but it was hard to find good reviews for it or any of the other mITX cases I was looking at. Your review has me wondering if I should have used this case for the i7 3770k, GeForce 660 TI, 840 Pro SSD, 16GB workstation. I am happy with the Lian Li Q25B I picked but it's a good 30% bigger than the SG08. The larger space plus having no external bays is used to support a normal but short ATX PSU and 10 internal drive bays. I don't need all that drive space but I think I would still pick the Q25B because it doesn't have any external bays which makes for a much nicer build all around.CloudFire - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
I'm still waiting on Corsair to enter the mini-itx market. I really dig the Bitfenix Prodigy case but I can't really stand the handles (aesthetically wise) but the case itself is genius. Corsair, if you're reading this, please make a case somewhere between the size of this SG08 and the Prodigy, while having the build/quality look of your 300R, I would hop on that so fast.Gigaplex - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
I'm actually impressed the reset button is on the back. It's a button that shouldn't be used often, and I'm routinely accidentally hitting the reset button on my Prodigy when reaching for the power button.Gigaplex - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Not sure why my comment ended up as a reply to this post...DanNeely - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
A recessed reset button avoids the accidental press problem while keeping the button readily accessible when needed and avoiding cable routing/snarl problems.rburnham - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
I run into the same problem with the Prodigy. I feel like it's a good case, but not great. A revision would be great.lever_age - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
I think it's worth a mention that Silverstone somewhat recently released the SG05-LITE in white and black. It's SG05, but they don't include the SFX power supply, and it sells for $40 (!) on Newegg. I don't know of any other differences.SG08 certainly knows how to build upon the SG05's performance, but at that cost...
mcnabney - Monday, May 13, 2013 - link
Yeah, $40 case, $160 power supply. But the rubes need fleecing...