My Silverstone SG04B SFF case review

[Freezebyte]

Wooo, after two weeks I FINALLY get my PC completely built in the new case. Got my refurbished Seagate HDD rebuilt *cheap bastards* and Antec gave me a brand new TruePower 550watt to replace my dead NeoHE 500w!! With all that said and done, I was finally able to sit down and work/review this case that i've been waiting on for months!

http://i100.photobucket.com/al...ron/SFF/Picture177.jpg

There is still plenty of spacing for airflow for the Shuriken HSF and 120mm PSU fan in this case, but I wouldn't get any closer to keep them from fighting for air Its approx a 1/2'' gap. Again, have a modular PSU will be a BIG help to keep wiring messes down and allow for better airflow as seen here. It will also allow the top 120mm fan to give fresh air to your HSF, memory and other hot running components, a big thumbs up to Silverstone for the twin 120mm intake design


http://i100.photobucket.com/al...on/SFF/intakefront.jpg


You can get away with using the single Silverstone 120mm that it comes with the case if you wish, but if you put some nice quality 120mm fans, you can have a nicely cooled SFF case that has low noise as well. I still wish the fan cover had magnetic latches instead of screws but owell. A quick wipe of a wet rag or Swiffer duster will clean the air grills easily without needing to be removed

http://i100.photobucket.com/al...n/SFF/intakefilter.jpg

Back is well laid out and still has ample room for expansion, even a extra bay slot on the top for a fan controller, PCI slot fan or whatever you can think of. The large amount of ventilation mesh allows the 120mm fans to push the air directly out without the need for exhaust fans, and it works pretty well depending on the CFM your 120mm fans push


http://i100.photobucket.com/al.../Phantron/SFF/rear.jpg


If your good with wiring and zip ties, you can tie up and secure your extra wiring in the space between the PSU and the front of the case and keep it from impeding airflow.

http://i100.photobucket.com/al...ron/SFF/fansinside.jpg

Again, if you think about how to do your wiring, you can keep the case pretty tidy of messy wires and allow for ample airflow for your video cards and up to twin HDD. I have removed the 3.5'' bay controller and decided just to put the 3.5'' bay cover on to allow for a bit more working room.

http://i100.photobucket.com/al...tron/SFF/newinside.jpg



As you can see, the 120mm fan with clean wiring allows direct airflow over the video card, a very big plus in this case. The HDD's didn't get good airflow in their normal sitting positions whe using the HDD rails. So I used some antistatic bubble wrap and made a nice cushion for the HDD to sit on and be able to get some cooling directly from the fan as well as reduce vibration into the case itself

http://i100.photobucket.com/al...ntron/SFF/hddmount.jpg


Damn, its a sexy looking case! A very cool new trick is that the power and HDD LED are built into one light on the right hand side. When the case is powered up, a blue light is emitted. When the HDD is being accessed, it flashes purple. A cool new idea!


http://i100.photobucket.com/al.../Phantron/SFF/nice.jpg

I give it a 4 outa 5 stars, the same as my Newegg review! I'll be keeping this case for quiet awhile, its pretty damn close to perfection in my book and without that gawd awful handle!

 

[thilanliyan]

Hmm...I wonder if I can fit some watercooling stuff in that case.

 

[Zap]

Nice use of bubble wrap for the HDD tray. How are you liking the Shuriken? It isn't mentioned much around here.

 

[Freezebyte]

Originally posted by: Zap
Nice use of bubble wrap for the HDD tray. How are you liking the Shuriken? It isn't mentioned much around here.

Its better then stock HSF, thats for sure. Though don't expect cooling miracles out of it, if I push the E8500 to 3.8ghz, the temps go into the 70c range and the fan is a bit on the crappy quality side, its made random groans and buzzes at times and sometimes refuses to spin at boot up.

 

[Freezebyte]

After about a week of usage, I have to say I'm dissapointed enough in the case to return it newegg. The biggest gripe I have is that the entire case shakes and vibrates terriblely, mostly due to the HDD vibration that verbrates into the case. Because the case doesn't have any built in vibration dampening on the HDD mounts and the fact that the bottom of the case has feet that just have a small rubber strip which does basically zilch for vibration reduction, it transfers directly onto my desk vibrates everything and annoys the hell out of me.

Even after adding antistatic bubblewrap to the HDD and on the feet of the case, the vibration is still bad enough to constantly be annoying. I even went as far as to add sections of thick bathroom towel to the bottom of the case but even then, it still wasn't good enough.

Sadly, even though I like everything else about the case, the vibration is so bad, I can't warrant spending the money on the case that does this. I was spoiled for years from my Antec P180 and how quiet and no vibration came from that case, and I guess I can't really let go of it. I've decided to go with the mini P180 case to have the best of both worlds.

http://i100.photobucket.com/al...ntron/SFF/hddmount.jpg

 

[The Boston Dangler]

could you give us a complete of the hardware used? are those drives known to be loud models?

i plan on using this case with an i5 chip + gigabyte p55. if the onboard sound will support dolby digital live, i hope to use my existing pair of passive-cooled 9600gt's. seeing the box with hardware installed convinced me this was a good idea.