SilverStone SG01 Sugo SFF

Performance:

As this SFF system doesn't require a special setup other than a micro ATX motherboard and any standard ATX power supply, we used the following setup to test the SilverStone SG01:

The Abit SG-72 is a micro ATX motherboard that comes equipped with three PCI slots and one AGP 8x slot. Due to the low height of the chassis and the placement of the power supply, another one of the noted compatibility issues is that the CPU heatsink and fan cannot exceed 78mm in height. Although most any stock heatsink will work, we decided to bypass this issue while using an after market heatsink by utilizing a Swiftech MCX478-V Intel Pentium 4 heatsink. To actively cool the Helicoid pins, was a fairly quiet Thermaltake 92mm fan. Using this cooling combination, we just met the height requirements while being able to efficiently cool the chassis. Even with the battered Swiftech MCX478-V from its years of use and a few broken Helicoid pins, the CPU temperature for the Intel Pentium 4 2.8C GHz remained in the mid-30's for idling and maxed out under load at a respectable 42°C. The same cooling practices remained true for the system temperature staying in the 34°C range.

When installing the XGI Tech Volari V3XT and D-Link DGE-530T 10/100/1000 Gigabit adapter, we came across another un-documented problem. Both of our expansion cards installed without a hitch but after we re-installed the 60mm exhaust fan we noticed a slight problem. As the fan mount extends marginally over the top of the expansion slots, it was actually blocking a standard monitor cable from connecting with the analog d-sub connector on the graphics card. However, in our situation we were simply able to use the alternate DVI port. Nevertheless, it’s important to watch out if on any of your expansion devices there's any important external ports placed towards the top of the slot, there may be some compatibility issues.

Although the Sugo SG01 offers more space than an average SFF PC, we did find that it got a bit cramped when using a standard ATX power supply due to the number of protruding wires. However, a modular PSU would be excellent in this situation. If you're not using a modular PSU, you can still hide the wires fairly easily if you have an available 5.25" drive bay.

Overall, the installation was very straightforward and ignoring the few installation and compatibility issues we previous mentioned, the install process was smooth sailing. Even though the case is rather small, the design and layout of the SilverStone Sugo SG01 made the workroom feel fairly large.