SilverStone Sugo SG12 Review - Review 2022

SilverStone'south SG12 is a new entry in the visitor'south growing Sugo series, a line of small-scale grade cistron (SFF) cases that now includes more than a dozen models. This latest entry pays homage to the original version released in 2005, the SG01, by blending a bit of old-school styling with modern features and amenities, including a built-in handle for easy transportation.

Like its predecessors, the Sugo SG12 reviewed hither features what SilverStone calls a "classic shoebox proportion," though if it were truly a shoebox, you'd probably exist able to fit Shaquille O'Neal's size 23 kicks within. All the same, the proportion does indeed look authentic to our eyeballs, every bit it's significantly deeper than it is alpine or broad, simply like a shoebox. Information technology's just bigger overall (and not made of cardboard, thankfully).

More specifically, the Sugo SG12 measures 8.3x10.5x16 inches (210x266x407mm), which converts to 22.seven liters of volume (almost half dozen gallons). Information technology'south smaller than some other SFF cases we've had in for review, such equally In Win'southward D-Frame Mini and Corsair'south Graphite Series 380T. Even so, the SG12 isn't limited to just Mini-ITX motherboards similar those ii other cases—it tin can also swallow bigger MicroATX and Mini-DTX boards. That's a major benefit, equally it gives arrangement builders a lot more options than they would otherwise have.

Considering the case is then deep, you tin stuff graphics cards up to fourteen.5 inches long (were in that location such a thing) inside the SG12. As we'll elaborate on in a bit, though, things tin get cramped right quick when stuffing components inside the SG12. Notwithstanding, with four expansion slots, technically yous could fit up to 4 graphics cards, and then long as they each took upward a single slot. Then again, just because you can doesn't hateful you lot should—depending on the job, you lot'd likely be better off running a pair of high-cease video cards with dual-slot cooling solutions rather than four entry-level GPUs. Either manner, the infinite is in that location.

The Sugo SG12 also supports standard ATX power supplies, though SilverStone tells united states of america information technology'due south advisable non to exceed 7 inches (180mm) in length. Likewise, CPU coolers taller than 3.2 inches (82mm) are a no-get. If you're wondering how that can be when the case itself is 8.iii inches high, it's because the power supply installs straight in a higher place the motherboard, thereby occupying a practiced chunk of vertical space. (More on that in a fleck.)

These are livable limitations for an SFF build. Rather than take to hunt down specialized parts that might carry a premium price tag, yous tin put together a organisation using widely available components (MicroATX motherboard, stock CPU cooler, standard ATX power supply) on a budget. You'll just have to exist mildly selective in that part picking.

The instance itself volition only add about $100 (it's $99.99 MSRP) to your build. That's a relative bargain compared to the D-Frame Mini ($350) and Graphite Series 380T ($140) mentioned earlier.

Design and Features

Many of SilverStone'due south cases stone a brushed-aluminum aesthetic, and the Sugo SG12 is no exception, at least on the front. While the body and skeleton are made of steel, the front panel is about entirely aluminum, though it's sandwiched by plastic columns on both sides. The cover over the 5.25-inch bay is besides made of plastic, and to keep it from looking out of identify, it features a faux brushed-aluminum terminate that blends in with the rest of the front panel...

At that place's a cutout in the middle that allows your hand to wrap comfortably around the steel handle. The blueish color is an interesting choice on SilverStone's part; perchance the designers felt it complemented the blue SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports, of which there are two on the front end panel. In between them are split up microphone and headphone jacks, and over to the left are the ability and reset buttons, along with LED indicators for power and drive activity.

Beveled edges effectually the buttons and along the top and bottom half of the front console have silverish accents that blend in nicely with the brushed-aluminum pattern. And while non askew, each of the I/O ports is also bordered in argent. The event is an understated elegance, especially when light hits i of the silver accents just right.

One matter that'due south missing from the panel is whatsoever kind of ventilation. SilverStone makes up for it by poking enough of holes into the sides and superlative of what's a single sheet of steel...

Cooling is further aided by an included 120mm intake fan on the right side, and if you demand more airflow, you lot tin add 80mm fans to the top and rear of the Sugo SG12 chassis...

Conduct in mind that all of the fan slots lack dust filters, so you'll want to brand a routine out of opening the case at least every few months and shooing away grit bunnies with a few squirts of compressed air. (Pro tip: Think to agree the can upright to avert spraying liquid onto your components.)

Opening the SG12 to work on the inside reminds us of the old beige cases that OEMs used to build their systems inside of. Whereas most modern cases permit you lot to remove each side panel individually, and sometimes the top panel too, a unmarried canvass of twice-aptitude steel covers all three sides on the SG12. To remove it, you'll need to grab a Philips-head screwdriver and have out three screws in the back. Once yous've done that, pull up and out on the three-sided panel.

Once you pop the paneling off the SG12, yous might be surprised to find that the interior is unpainted...

SilverStone tells us it left the case that way on purpose because it sells these enclosures to organisation integrators. For them, it's of import that cases maintain a bare interior so that assembled systems tin pass EMI testing. This isn't a concern for boutique builders and DIY-ers, as most don't submit their systems for EMI testing.

From a visual standpoint, we'd make a bigger stink out of the unpainted interior except that the only time you lot'll encounter it is when installing or upgrading components. In that location are no side windows to peer through, which puts the burden of aesthetic design entirely on the exterior. That also means you don't have to fret also much over cablevision management, so long as it'southward not messy enough that you impede airflow.

A discussion of warning earlier we movement on to the installation. Information technology'south probably been a while since you worked on a case with a unmarried-panel design like the SG12, and so you might have forgotten that it's easy to cut your fingers when negotiating that cover on and off the frame. The lips on the SG12'southward panels aren't quite as sparse as those establish on cases from yesteryear, but if you get impatient, you may leave a drop of blood or ii behind. Handle with care, like it'southward 1999.

Installation

Being a smaller case with shoebox proportions, the Sugo SG12 promises that things are inevitably going to get cramped when working inside. To help with that, several of the chassis pieces are removable.

Before you begin working within the Sugo SG12, we recommend getting a pen and paper to map out where the various screws go, specially if you're a kickoff-time or inexperienced builder. Information technology'south not overly complicated to work inside the SG12, but there are a lot of screws, and not all of them are the aforementioned size.

The Sugo SG12 comes with motherboard standoffs installed in the appropriate positions for a MicroATX board. That means you'll accept a few extra if yous're installing a Mini-ITX motherboard, which you tin can remove and tuck away in the included baggie of various-size screws and standoffs. You could besides leave them where they are, though if one should popular loose for any reason, it could brusque out your motherboard.

We as well recommend locating a short screwdriver before starting, if you have one. In that location's a steel support beam that runs downward the middle, and it happens to sit above a couple of screw holes on the motherboard. Without a shortened screwdriver handy, we had to angle our approach when mounting our Mini-ITX mainboard inside the Sugo SG12.

Before installing the motherboard, SilverStone advises removing the steel shroud that covers about a third of the space on the left-hand side. At that place's a hole in the middle and some other ane angled downwards at the back. (The shroud, and the holes, are very visible a couple of pictures downpage.) Both of these are for mounting optional 80mm fans. Given their respective positions higher up where a graphics carte du jour would exist installed, yous may detect that orienting them both equally intake fans works best.

The steel shroud is also habitation to a bulldoze cage that can concur seven 2.five-inch solid state drives, which you tin can see here, higher up the 3.5-inch trophy...

Ah, only that's just the beginning. SilverStone advertises the ability to concord upwards to nine 2.five-inch drives, though there's actually room for up to a dozen.

Adjacent to the shroud, across the case'due south top forepart, is a apartment metal drive bracket that can hold two additional two.5-inch laptop-size hard drives or solid-state drives (SSDs). The drives sit apartment on tiptop and screw into place on the underside. If you wait at the meridian of our built organisation here, you can meet 2 skull-bedecked Intel SSDs installed on the bracket...

Even if you don't plan to apply the bracket, you'll need to remove it to install an optical drive or breakout box into the 5.25-inch bulldoze bay.

Underneath the shroud and bulldoze subclass is a three-bay drive cage that works with both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch storage devices. Y'all tin see it upwardly close hither, with one of the bay trays sticking out...

Feel free to check our math, but no matter how many times we crunch the numbers, we come up with 12 potential SSDs (three in the bulldoze muzzle, seven in the shroud, and 2 on the flat metal drive bracket).

Unfortunately for storage junkies, installing a dozen drives inside the Sugo SG12 would be somewhere between a cabling nightmare and a wiring apocalypse. Other than a few included wire ties and cable clips, there'southward non much in the manner of cablevision management. Things become specially tight if you lot install an ATX power supply and an optical drive, as there's not much room left betwixt the two for routing cables. A pair of SATA and power cables for each of a dozen drives? Joseph Conrad had it correct: The horror.

Every bit previously mentioned, the power supply gets installed in a higher place the motherboard and behind the optical drive. Information technology'due south a lilliputian tricky getting information technology into place. The easiest way is to drib information technology in from the meridian, though yous'll need to lower it at an angle then that it fits between the steel beam and side of the example. One time it is in identify, y'all'll notice that there are lips on the side and rear of the case for the power supply to rest on meridian of while you secure it from the case back with screws. You can encounter information technology installed here, and how it hovers over the mainboard...

To examination the build process, nosotros used a Mini-ITX Asus AM1I-A motherboard, AMD Sempron 3850 processor, AMD'due south stock AM1 CPU cooler, 8GB of RAM, two 480GB Intel 730 Series SSDs, and an OCZ ModXStream 780W PSU. Past going with a Mini-ITX motherboard, we had a chip of actress room in the bottom of the Sugo SG12 for excess cables. However, things felt a scrap tight.

The other challenge with edifice a system inside the Sugo SG12 is that null is tool-less. For a modest setup similar the one outlined above, yous're looking at having to remove 11 screws, and using two dozen more to secure all the components.

Decision

When information technology comes to judging computer cases, at that place'due south a correlation between blasphemous and craftsmanship. If by the terminate of the build yous've shouted out enough obscenities to makes a sailor blush, there are probably some things about the instance that could be improved. (Several, in fact.) Likewise, if y'all spent the build process whistling Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah from start to stop, well, you've found yourself a top-notch enclosure to work with.

Where does the Sugo SG12 stand? That depends on how you approach it. If you effort to rush through the build process, you might end up misplacing screws and perchance fifty-fifty bleeding carmine while muttering bluish. Just if you take your time, you'll find there's a lot to appreciate nigh the SG12.

One of the biggest selling points is support for standard components and the number of items you tin clasp within. Despite its pocket-sized footprint, the Sugo SG12 can fit a MicroATX mobo, a standard ATX ability supply, a total-size optical bulldoze, upward to four graphics cards, and as many as nine SSDs or ii.5-inch drives, and three 3.5-inch hard drives (or 12 two.v-inchers and no full-size difficult drives). That'southward no small feat for an SFF enclosure.

We also like the overall expect of the Sugo SG12. The brushed-aluminum front panel and black body combine for a classic aesthetic that's not the least fleck gaudy. A example window would take been a nice option, though if you're not interested in spending time cleaning up the interior, it's no large loss.

LAN-party attendees might complaining the lack of aggressive styling, simply for the college student or abode-function-ite in need of a portable desktop that doesn't scream for attending, the Sugo SG12 is a solid option. The same goes for anyone who desires a compact enclosure that favors elegance over an LED calorie-free testify.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/cases-products/9740/silverstone-sugo-sg12-review

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