A re-release of the SG05 without the power supply. Perfect for those budget ITX builds? let's find out!
Here's the spec:
| Material: Dimensions: Weight: M/B Type: 5.25" Drive Bay: 3.5" Drive Bay: 2.5" Drive Bay: I/O Panel: Expansion Slots: Cooling System: Power Supply: Maximum Compatibility: | Plastic front panel, steel body 222(W) x 176(H) x 276 (D), 10.8 litres 2.3KG Mini-ITX 1x Slim Optical (12.7mm) 1 1 2x USB 3.0, 1x Mic, 1x Audio 2 1x 120x25mm Front Intake Fan SFX (Variants can come w/ a 300w, 450w or w/o a power supply) VGA card length: 254.0mm, CPU cooler height: 82.0mm |
Exterior:
The SG05 was designed and released back in 2009 and while this will be obvious to you once we go onto the interior, the external design of this case has lasted years and years and still fits in with the current cases you see being released onto the market even now.
 On the left hand side of the case we have a large punched out grill, perfect for for any graphics card you choose to put in this system and will accommodate all cooler types with relative ease. |  On the front we have our I/O, Slim optical and a 120mm fan intake with included fan. This also features a dust filter which is white in accordance with the colour choice we went with for this case. |  On the right hand side we have a smaller punched out grill that is located right next to where the CPU cooler should be located. This is most scenarios is the main exhaust along with the back. |
For a while, case manufacturers went through a face of just cutting out a hole and then sticking a cheap grill over the top of it as this has worked out cheaper in the long run. Silverstone haven't done this and while it was unavoidable on the plastic front bezel, the sides and top as you will see later are all punched straight from the metal. This helps in my opinion keep the nice sleek and professional look that Silverstone tend to produce with their cases. The front cut out actually works having the extra metal grill over the top as it takes that minimalist look and gives it just a little something to make it special so it stands out.
| The front I/O on this case consists of two USB 3.0 , headphone and microphone jacks and your standard power a reset switches as well as activity LEDs. I like this layout, separating the USB ports being that it allows space for the larger memory sticks that would otherwise block your second port. I also am a fan of the switches as they have absolutely no travel, automatically making them feel high quality.  |  |
When we go round to the back we find a few things. You will notice the case takes SFX power supplies (variants can come without a PSU or with either a 300W or 450W) situated above the motherboard tray and we have two expansion slots, very standard for this size case. More importantly you will notice the internal section of the case is unpainted. This is not the case with the black version and the internals will also be painted black. I am rather confused as to why the black variant gets this treatment and not the white variant though I will mention that it really does not matter here. The case being designed in 2009 does not have the most impressive internals but for a case this size you will not be opening it up or showing off its interior therefore there really is no need for the internal to be painted. Then again I would happily pay a few quid more to have it come painted rather than risk making a mistake in the search of perfection by doing it myself.
 | The case cover is a single piece of bent steel that goes over the top and is not something we haven't seen before. This part of the case fits in with my main gripe with working on it and that is that its so hard to get on and off again. Various parts and connections in this case are incredibly hard and frustrating to deal with. Lets just say tool-less is out of the question here! |
Interior:
This may not exactly be the inside of the case but on removing the front fascia which was a long and arduous process, we revealed the front 120mm dust filtered fan!
| Upon spending 5 minutes trying to remove the fascia and pulling at the dust filter I have come to the conclusion that this really isn't one of them quick to remove kind of deals and that your best bet is to just take a hoover to the front of the case. For looks though the dust filter gives it a nice clean white look through the grill but if you want to use a different coloured fan and have it stand out I would recommend removing the filter. The front panel also has a small cut out that you can see below the fan and corresponds with a removable faceplate on the plastic bezel. I have not been told what it's for so I assume absolutely nothing but as a modder this looks like an amazing opportunity to work in something cool that's hidden. |   |
I was disappointed to see that the front panel audio connection cables that could of been an easy removal have been glued on meaning I have to put in a little bit of work to remove the cable if I will not be using them. In Mini-ITX cases, cables such as this that may not be used just become a liability and so I would have preferred they didn't actually take that extra step and left them untouched. Still on the conversation of cables, we do find a nice little extra that shows Silverstone really are thinking about the end users here as they have supplied a metal fan guard onto the back of the 120mm supplied fan. In a case this small, cables will be cramped and guards definitely become a necessity, albeit one that many people will actually not think of when purchasing their components. Silverstone is a life saver here.
 All the drive bays within this case are housed in a top mounted cage that splits off into two separate sections. The main section houses the slim-optical bay with the 2.5" drive bay below it and the lower section houses the internal 3.5" drive bay. Both cages connect to each other and the case through the use of screws and while this isn't a problem in its self and is something I prefer, it is a hassle | 
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getting them to line up and slot in together. This being said I do like the holes for cable management and the design simply because it really gets me thinking about mods that could potentially be done and little things you could add here and there. If you are an end user that doesn't mod and likes everything to just be simple this is not for you but if you have any sort of imagination and like to do more than plug a few components in, this will be interesting.
For those who are interested in water cooling, the hard drive cages will block the 120mm fan mounting in the front though if you remove them and stick to a single SSD somewhere else, I don't see why you couldn't fit any sort of 120mm radiator in the front of this case but be aware of your video card length as this may come into play. Moving onto our conclusion!
Conclusion:
The SG05 in itself is quite a versatile option in the sense that you can buy it in both white and black as well as with a choice of power supplies wattages to be bundled along with it. This being said the SG05-Lite has only recently been released and is the one without the power supply which is perfect for those who want to customise their system even more but unfortunately with the re-release no structural changes were made to the chassis leaving this very far behind in its internal 'features'.
On the surface of it, re-releasing a design that was made in 2009 and at a similar price to much newer cases may not look like the best thing for a company to do. But this case intrigues me. At only 10.8 Litres in volume YET still fitting 88mm CPU coolers and 254mm GPU's (even the much larger Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced only fit 65mm CPU coolers) this makes this just as if not more capable than the newer products on the market. If this is not enough you don't have to rely on small whiny fans as even the 'old design' that is has was based around the use of a front 120mm fan which comes with the case adding extra value to the product as I for once recommend actually using the supplied fan.
After covering the trade off's you get with this case, as long as it fits your needs it will always come down to looks. And this is where in my opinion the SG05 really shines. The whole look of the case from the outside far exceeds other ITX cases in the same price bracket. This goes all the way down to the ratio of its dimensions. It just looks... right. Couple it with the AP123 and you have an amazing combination of both looks and performance.
To summarise, if you can deal with not having the newest 'noob friendly' features and want a fully capable Mini-ITX case that actually resembles what I believe a SFF case should then you might have just found the case for you. This case unfortunately fell short from receiving a standard award from us at 14.5/20 in total, it HAS however received our EDITORS CHOICE award and will be used in various upcoming projects we are working on simply because we feel it is that good regardless of it not meeting certain criteria.
On the surface of it, re-releasing a design that was made in 2009 and at a similar price to much newer cases may not look like the best thing for a company to do. But this case intrigues me. At only 10.8 Litres in volume YET still fitting 88mm CPU coolers and 254mm GPU's (even the much larger Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced only fit 65mm CPU coolers) this makes this just as if not more capable than the newer products on the market. If this is not enough you don't have to rely on small whiny fans as even the 'old design' that is has was based around the use of a front 120mm fan which comes with the case adding extra value to the product as I for once recommend actually using the supplied fan.
After covering the trade off's you get with this case, as long as it fits your needs it will always come down to looks. And this is where in my opinion the SG05 really shines. The whole look of the case from the outside far exceeds other ITX cases in the same price bracket. This goes all the way down to the ratio of its dimensions. It just looks... right. Couple it with the AP123 and you have an amazing combination of both looks and performance.
To summarise, if you can deal with not having the newest 'noob friendly' features and want a fully capable Mini-ITX case that actually resembles what I believe a SFF case should then you might have just found the case for you. This case unfortunately fell short from receiving a standard award from us at 14.5/20 in total, it HAS however received our EDITORS CHOICE award and will be used in various upcoming projects we are working on simply because we feel it is that good regardless of it not meeting certain criteria.
Verdict:
Rating: 7.5
Value: 7
Value: 7
