SilverStone Technology Mini-DTX, Mini-ITX Small Form Factor Computer Case

Disclaimer: This is not the smallest SFF case out there, and it also doesn't have rgb lights all over the place.Now that you're aware, let's continue with the details you might want. Packaging was adequate and the case was protected with styrofoam holders. The case was painted inside and outside (powder coat maybe). There were no sharp edges anywhere. It included a small baggie of screws and some foam rings for fan mounting. The finish is "slick" feeling and nicely done inside and outside. This model did not include any case fans.Honestly, there's not a lot of room for extra fans. I picked up a Noctua NF-P12 redux, 120mm fan and installed it in the front (see photo). Don't bother with rgb fans on this. The case is very easy to disassemble. Be careful with the front - it's attached by screws on the side of the frame and some tabs. Remove the screws and be careful to thread out the front I/O cables. Once the fan was installed, there was plenty of space to reinstall the cables and the front panel. The front panel has a removable dust filter. There's another photo with a measurement touching the front dust filter to the back where a video card would be installed. If you wanted, you could buy some magnetic dust screens to cover the other vents.I recommend a modular power supply. There's only 4 mother board standoffs. Install your CPU, CPU fan, ram, and connect power cables to the mother board first. Then connect the power cable to the power supply once it's installed.The case has 4 nice, soft rubber feet on the bottom.All-in-all, this is a great, small form factor case with a few nice features. Note that the user's manual is online - not included in the box.

For a long time, computers have not gotten much faster with newer-generation of CPU chips. CPU clocks have maxed-out around 3-4 GHz, and have got only slightly improved IPC (instructions per clock) efficiency and quad-core has been the norm since 1st generation Core ships. There was rarely any much reason to upgrade based solely on performance, and the only real improvements were in power efficiency with smaller and smaller lithography, although these days, it's proving difficult to shrink any smaller than 14nm.With the new 8th generation Intel chips, facing steep competition from Amd Ryzen, Intel has upped their game with the only thing left to improve, upping the core count. Now with 6-cores in a mainstream desktop chip, there is finally a pretty good reason to upgrade. There is also another trend in new system builds, the small-form-factor. More and more users are building systems that are small, low-power and lightweight, with today's Mini-ITX motherboards, that are without largely without compromise featuring high-end overclocked desktop CPU and high-end graphics.Today, there are some solid choices for tiny cases, from as small as 7 Litres to about 25 Litres in size. The smallest possible case has an STX power supply, and the graphics on a riser, making it parallel to the Mobo, and a low-profile CPU air cooler. The largest ones have full-size cooler, a 5.25" bay and room for 3-4 hard drives. At 11.5 Litres, the Silverstone SG13 allows a liquid CPU cooler, decent air-flow and room for a hard drive. It's about as small as you can go, without making heavy compromises on cooling and performance.Unfortunately, most tiny cases do not have room for an optical device, because the standard 5.25" bay is bigger than it needs to be for an optical device, and it takes up way more space than the drive itself, with wasted extra width, to fit the mounting hardware. Silverstone makes several cases that feature a slot for a "slim optical" device, found in laptops, and the SG08 is a great choice for this. But these tend to be for a "media center" style PC, which feature fancy front bezel, and not as good for air-flow and cooling. A better choice is a tiny USB external optical drive. So if you can live with that, you can get an awesome tiny case, without compromise.I finally decided onthe Silverstone Sugo SG13, after reading a lot of case reviews, and watching review videos. This case, is simply the best choice I could find. The SG13 incorporates design improvements over years of development of the SG series. It's suitably tiny at 11.5L, has all the right air-flow, allows liquid cooling, and a graphics card up to 10.5" fits a GTX 1080 if you want. The SG13 has either a solid front, which looks nice, or a grille for better air-flow. With a 120mm fan at front, this case can achieve excellent air-flow and cooling, surprisingly as good or better than the air-flow in a tower case.This layout seems to be the optimal one for tiny cases: graphics card right next to an external vent, pulling in fresh air, cools it better than most larger cases. The power supply pulls its own fresh air and exhausts it without involving warm case air, and the CPU and Mobo is cooled by relatively huge air-flow from the 120mm fan in front. It works amazingly well. For liquid cooling, the front 120mm radiator pulls warm case air and expels warmer air straight out the front.Finally, the price, at $44 is just amazing, leaving you extra cash to buy a better CPU than you normally would. I'm super-happy with my choice, and I know this case will last me for years, even surviving several upgrades -- until we can finally get rid of solicon chips, go optical, or bio-computing or whatever. Viva la tiny computer.

If you're looking for an affordable itx case that can fit in a backpack and is easy to build in- just get this one. The sandwhich style itx cases are all $150 minimum and all the other cases don't come in this form factor. I also love the white version - great style.This case is really easy to build in - I've build dozens of systems and this one was actually one of the least cumbersome cases I've worked in. Sometimes itx builds can be a nightmare, this was not one of those times.The build was uneventful, which is a very good thing. I could not fit a 120mm radiator in the case without screwing with the front IO and I ended up having to force the face back on to keep the front IO and now it sticks out a bit. It's not noticeable but it seems like quite the oversight on a case that specifically has room for a 120mm radiator not to have the wires compatible with a 120mm radiator. It is for this reason that I am removing a star.Otherwise, the case is very solid and is sturdy and logically laid out. Other than my specific grievance - I feel as though there is absolutely no better way this case could have been laid out and built, it's very smart with impeccable hardware compatibility at a shockingly great price - so this is largely a thumbs up from me.