Case: For the case we decided to go with the Silverstone SG05. The SG05 is a Mini-iTX system with space for two PCI-e cards making it the ideal casing for a mini gaming machine. The SG05 also comes with a quiet 300w power supply which is a bonus as it saved us from sourcing that additionally.

Motherboard: Zotac GeForce 9300 ITX WiFi - Zotac are a relatively new name on the mobo market but they are quickly staking their claim as the providers of high quality, enthusiast equipment. The 9300 WiFi is perfect for small form factor HTPCs as it comes with on board Nvidia 9300m graphics, HDMI out, Optical out, and WiFi support.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - We had wanted a Quad Core processor but the 300w power supply was also going to limit us to a 65w processor, and the 65w Quad Core was going over our budget. This left us with the E8400 which despite only being dual core still performs at a very high level thanks to its 3.0Ghz clock speed.

RAM: 2 x 2GB Patriot PC2-6400 800Mhz - We often skimp on the RAM and this system will be no exception...

Video: Inno3D GeForce GTS 250 512MB - The GTS 250 is the fastest card the SG05 can fit without modifying the case. A GTS 260 can fit but it requires you cut part of the case. Again we skimped on the RAM here and opted for the 512MB version.

Hard Drive: Samsung HD501LJ  - 3.5", 7200RPM, SATA 2.0. We are big fans of Samsung's hard drives at the moment. Fast, reliable, and quiet. 500 gigs doesn't go far these days but again we had to make sacrifices to keep within our budget.

Optical: Sony AD7590S - The SG05 requires a slim line laptop optical drive and the Sony was nice and cheap.

VGA Cooler: Accelero Twin Turbo - The stock cooler on the Inno3D is very loud so we opted for a 3rd party solution. The Accelero is meant to both quiet and cool.

Monitor: Benq G2020HD 20" 16:9 - On the cheap side but it looks fairly nice.

OS: Windows 7 RC

The Build

The SG05 is a very small case and this was always going to make the task of putting this system together difficult. One of the major criticisms that other reviews have pointed out is that the wires from the power supply are full length which is obviously not required for a mini-iTX system. They tend to get in the way and limit the available space. Our solution to this was to flip the power supply around so that the cables are coming from the far side. This shortens their length just enough to make it manageable, and saves you from having to cut them shorter.

The 300w power supply that comes with the case allows enough height for some 3rd party CPU fans, the Scythe Shuriken comes to mind. We have found the stock Intel cooler to be perfectly adequate however. If like us your main concern is noise then you need not worry. The stock cooler makes hardly any noise, and is a lot quieter than the VGA fan so it really doesn't matter how loud it is.

While on the topic of noise we should also point out that the SG05 comes with a very quiet 120mm cooling fan at the front of the case, and the exhaust for the 300w PSU also produces very little sound.

The Zotac 9300 ITX is a very small motherboard. Even the box it comes in is tiny so prepare to be surprised if you haven't seen a mini-iTX board before. We did have some trouble mounting the CPU on to the retention bracket. The bracket was simply too tight and the motherboard was bending considerably from us trying to force the clamp down. After a bit of reading online we realised that we should screw the motherboard to the case before fastening the CPU. Even when doing it this way the motherboard was bending more than one would like. We eventually got it fastened but the board was still bending after it was secured. Hopefully it holds!

After getting the motherboard installed we then proceeded to place the rest of the components in. A bit of fancy cable work is required to fit everything and users should opt for a right angled SATA cable for the hard drive as there is very little room between the back of hard drive and the VGA card. Builders should also be aware that a special 3 prong cable is required for slim line optical SATA drives. There is a single cable for both SATA and power. It has a SATA connection on one end, a 4 pin molex on another end, and combined mini sata/sata power plug on the other end. We found this cable a bit hard to come by and eventually bought one off eBay.

After getting the DVD drive in we noticed our first problem with this case, the slot on the front cover for the DVD drive is about a millimetre too low for the optical drive bay. The DVD drive has a large gap underneath it where as the top is pushed right up against the top side of the slot. After reading online we have found a number of SG05 owners who have had this problem and it is an obvious design fault on Silverstone's part. By loosening the screws a little and moving the drive forward it will still be able to open and close but it is not very aesthetically pleasing to have a drive that doesn't sit flush.

After getting the DVD drive sorted we put the case cover back on and fired it up. Our first reaction - damn that thing is loud. Really loud.  The Inno3D sounds like a bloody jet engine! We should also point out here that the SG05 case has very thin sides with a lot of venting holes, and no sound padding/dampening to speak of. The hard drive was also quite loud as the all metal case was rattling from the vibrations.

This simply wasn't going to do. We first tried a number of different fan control programs but the stock cooler is loud even on the lowest setting. Some sort of modification was going to be required. The VGA fan being the main culprit we decided to look into getting a 3rd party cooler. The Accelero Twin Turbo has had some good reviews and is said to be a lot quieter than a stock fan. We decided to give it a go and ordered one online.

Installing a VGA fan is not too difficult. One simply has to remove the exiting fan + heatsink and screw on the new one. The Twin Turbo also comes with ram heatsinks which the stock card does not have. After getting the new fan on and placing it back in the computer we hit another snag with the SG05.  While there is space for two PCI-e cards the Twin Turbo unit is actually a little bit taller than a standard 2-slot VGA fan, and we could not close the case cover.

The only way to get around this was to cut a hole in the side of the case. Using some metal cutters we cut out a spot for each of the Twin Turbo's fans in the side of the case. This is leaving them exposed and likely to gather dust quickly so we are going to have to look at installing a perspex window or something similar down the road.

After getting it installed we were happy to find that the Twin Turbo was indeed a lot more quiet than the stock VGA fan. It is certainly not silent however, and the VGA fan is still the loudest part in the system but it is a vast improvement.

The next problem was the hard drive. The Samsung's are very quiet drives but the SG05 case is so thin and open that it amplifies the vibration greatly. Some people recommend rubber grommets to be placed in between the hard drive and the screws but the hard drive bay in the SG05 is too tight and they will not fit. You could however try this with a 2.5" hard drive in the 3.5" bay.

Having already purchased a 3.5" drive, our solution to was to soft mount the hard drive. Soft Mounting means that you actually suspend the hard drive inside the case using cables and p-clips. We purchased some plastic p-clips that we found on eBay, simply screwed these into the case and the hard drive, and then run some hair elastics though them. Doing a good job of soft mounting takes a little bit of hardware skill and we certainly make no claims to be any sort of  handymen. Some examples of good soft mounting can be found here. Ours does not look quite that neat but it has got the job done.

After booting up again the loud hum of the vibrating case was reduced significantly. Together the new VGA cooler and the hard drive mod have reduced the noise of this system significantly, and it doesn't sound too much louder than a laptop computer with its exhaust fan running.

Performance

After the hardware mods it was time to get Windows 7 installed and start to put the system through it's paces. Installation with Windows 7 was a breeze and we did not have any problems finding drivers or with compatibility.

For hard drive performance we used ATTO Benchmark.

In this test the HD501LJ reported a read and write speed of about 100MB/s. We then ran PC Mark 05 and 3D Mark 06 which yielded the following benchmarks:

For CPU and GPU temperatures we have used Real Temp and the EVGA Utility:

The CPU rises quite a few degrees under load with the stock cooler but it is very quiet and 63° is well within acceptable limits. The Accelero Twin Turbo does a fine job with the VGA card and only rises about 10° under load.

The SG05 case itself does a good job of managing the system temperature. The large 120mm fan on the front creates a good airflow and the large number of ventilation holes on the sides give the fans room to breath. Unfortunately this also does nothing to dampen the sound of the fans and it mean that the system is not as quiet as one that is completely covered.

Summary

So what do these numbers mean? The performance of our Mini ITX gaming rig is consistent with the performance of the components installed. What sets this system apart is the its incredibly small form factor. It takes up very minimal desk space and can quite easily be hidden away behind a flat screen monitor.

Unfortunately the quality of the SG05 case is rather disappointing. The steel frame is not of the highest quality and several parts, such as the DVD slot and top cover, do not fit together properly.

Despite the poor build quality the SG05 is quite well thought out and its design does allow for good air flow, making the system run quite cool. Again the large number of ventilation holes are a doubled edged sword as they also allow a lot of noise to escape.

While the challenge of building a Mini-ITX gaming system was fun the end result is a case that is not the most attractive, and a little on the loud side.

Related posts:

1. Silverstone ML02 HTPC
2. HP Mini 311 Benchmarks!