HEXUS.reviews :: Silverstone SG03 - WORLD EXCLUSIVE!

[MD]

Silverstone have a new SFF chassis coming to town and we have one of the first to come off the production line.

The SG-03 is undoubtedly one of the most eagerly anticipated SFF chassis of 2007 and we have completed our review in double-quick time!

Find out what we thought about the diminutive little wonder here.

[Tobeman]

I was frantically refreshing this forum when I saw the "latest review" box change to this..

Let me be the first to say, giggity!

I haven't even got round to reading this yet, but I hope my prayers have been answered...

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=103979

Edit: good choice of lager there too

[chuckskull]

Looks like a finky little case. Out of curiousity can you mount the PSU the other way around and use it to cool the CPU?

[DR]

It looks amazing in real life as well as in this review

I can't wait to get one!

[MD]

Looks like a finky little case. Out of curiousity can you mount the PSU the other way around and use it to cool the CPU?

As per the review indeed you can.

You have to be careful though, the PSU fan is sucking air in, the CPU fan is blowing it down, therefore putting the PSU like that could cause cooling issues.

Matt.

[chuckskull]

Oops must of missed that part of the review. I was thinking a decent passive heatsink, combined with the PSU fan would be ample cooling for a HTPC and remove another fan, therefore lower noise.

Now if only I had any need for a HTPC I could try it out

[DR]

Where does it say it has to be an HTPC

[Tobeman]

http://img.hexus.net/v2/cases/silverstone/SG03/2.s.jpg

bleh.

My SG01E is my lan box, but I have my headset plugged in the front, I dont want to have the "flap" open all the time. I shall have to find another usage for the chassis...

chassis for the small business, home enthusiast and HTPC market

Home enthusiast - Check, already sorted.
HTPC - Check, 360

Think I need to start me a small business!

On a more serious note, I don't suppose you guys have a Sugo Pack lying around and see if it will fit inside.. do you?

[kalniel]

Kingfisher > Cobra

But yeah, nice case - shame about the cost. I love mATX cases but it's hard to justify this kind of price when it doesn't even come with a PSU.

[Gordy]

Any chance of some pictures of the side panel with the grill as it may be removable looking at the pictures?

Other than that it looks good, no mention in the review of clearance for coolers, that I saw, I would have thought its going to be tight.

[R3MF]

cheers for the revirew, been waiting for this for a long time.

two points:
> you imply that the fifth PCI slot can be used with the crossflow fan. I did suggest this to SST, but as as far as i know the only place the crossflow fan can be used is underneath (relatively speaking) the power supply. using the fifth PCI slot for the crossflow fan would allow an extra exhaust option for those who go down the NT06-lite route (the majority).
> you chose to mount the PSU face up, thereby limiting the choice off CPU HS/F (due to the 78mm clearance), in what is a small and cramped case. I am fairly sure your thermal results would be much improved if you had used the NT06-lite heatsink and mounted the PSU face down. I do exactly this with my SG01 and have never had a problem.

regards

p.s. hopefully SST will listen to your advice about rubber grommets for mounting HD's, and extra motherboard mounting points.

[DeSean]

But yeah, nice case - shame about the cost. I love mATX cases but it's hard to justify this kind of price when it doesn't even come with a PSU.

Silverstone cases are always expensive - I am constantly trying to not buy a TJ-09 for about £170 (to put that in perspective £170 = music festival ticket - I'm a poor student). Plus, I think most people want to choose their own PSU these days - as we all know they are one of the most important components etc etc...

As for the review, it was good as always, but a mention of Silverstone's modular PSUs and the shorter cable pack would have been good (can you tell I'm an SST fan? - see my system). Also 6800 Ultra SLI would have amused me.

Lastly, crud PSUs can die if their intake temperature is too high, plus they won't perform as well - so I think you have to be brave to rely on one to cool a fairly high end system packed into a small box

[MD]

cheers for the revirew, been waiting for this for a long time.

Your welcome

two points:
> you imply that the fifth PCI slot can be used with the crossflow fan. I did suggest this to SST, but as as far as i know the only place the crossflow fan can be used is underneath (relatively speaking) the power supply. using the fifth PCI slot for the crossflow fan would allow an extra exhaust option for those who go down the NT06-lite route (the majority).

There are four PCI slots down the bottom, the 5th is at the TOP of the chassis, see the rear pic for what I mean. This would give direct heat extraction from the CPU area.

> you chose to mount the PSU face up, thereby limiting the choice off CPU HS/F (due to the 78mm clearance), in what is a small and cramped case. I am fairly sure your thermal results would be much improved if you had used the NT06-lite heatsink and mounted the PSU face down. I do exactly this with my SG01 and have never had a problem.

We would have but the NT-06 Lite hadn't turned up from Silverstone in time, we might get the chance to retro test that part and report our findings, I will see what I can do.

p.s. hopefully SST will listen to your advice about rubber grommets for mounting HD's, and extra motherboard mounting points.

We hope so, but only time will tell in regards to this.

Matt.

[MD]

As for the review, it was good as always,

Thank you

but a mention of Silverstone's modular PSUs and the shorter cable pack would have been good (can you tell I'm an SST fan? - see my system).

Like the cooler above, this was due to arrive but hadn't by the time we decided to test and go to press with the article.

Also 6800 Ultra SLI would have amused me.

Hmm interesting idea

Lastly, crud PSUs can die if their intake temperature is too high, plus they won't perform as well - so I think you have to be brave to rely on one to cool a fairly high end system packed into a small box

I would be very weary of doing this with the SG03, the Corsair is a very popular PSU at the moment and we went for it in our test bench based on reliability and performance.

Thanks

Matt

[this_is_gav]

Excellent review. Looking from the underneath at those hard-drive heatsink thingies, the case just looks tiny - tinier still than the height.

[MD]

Any chance of some pictures of the side panel with the grill as it may be removable looking at the pictures?

Of course, I knew I would have to do them, I just didn't get the chance with the various deadlines. Its not good news I am afraid, the way the panel is made would result in needing a thick beading round the edge or a fair amount of cutting to make it look 'good'

Here you go, click for a large version...

Other than that it looks good, no mention in the review of clearance for coolers, that I saw, I would have thought its going to be tight.

There is a very good reason for no other mention at this time, we had hoped for a NT06 lite but this didn't turn up, so we could only test at stock for the time being. We hope to recieve one soon and are keen to take a look at it and will publish our opinions then as that and the intel cooler are the only two we know of that fit at this time.

Matt.