SG03 - Revisited

Soldato
Joined
21 Sep 2005
Posts
14,837
Location
Bradley Stoke, Bristol
I’ve been running my main rig in a Silverstone SG03 for approaching 10 years; I think it looks great from the front and it's both compact and sturdy - ideal for travelling to LANParties regularly (around 10 times a year)
I’ve always accepted the subpar cooling (particularly for the cpu) and never found a case I’d rather have overall. However modern hardware has made keeping it cool more and more of an issue, mainly due to powersupply placement.

Switching to an AIO cooler was a good step to improve airflow, see the review I did here. No longer was my PSU always hot to the touch, but there was a long way to go - plus it was a real pain to work in. My old i5 setup was also long in the tooth and starting to struggle with a few games, it was time to switch things up a gear…

A few months back I got chatting to @cobalt6700 after having a good look around his custom build during a LAN. I had two main takeaways from here, firstly not letting the case restrict where I can mount components, and secondly using using CAD to toy with some ideas I had, scratching the 3d modelling itch I’ve not had since University. The main aim I had was to get the powersupply out of the way and get an exhaust vent into the case somewhere.


First thing first I had to piece together a model of the case as it was. After buying some precision rules and a digital caliper I was able to start learning Autodesk Fusion 360 and put the following together. I put a good deal of care into the rear panel, what with it being the main target for change - the rest was less important.

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For comparison, with block models in place simulating the components. The psu takes up a load of room, and there’s a lot of dead space above it - just not enough for an ATX supply.

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SFX powersupplies are really strong these days. Comparing specs of most models I quickly saw I could easily match my old 600W’s output, lose the overly long cables and gain a big step up in efficiency - that’s without even considering the size difference. A quick test in 3d showed me that an SFX should fit in the dead space at the top of the case, whilst allowing enough room for reaching the cabling and not obstructing the motherboard. At this point I spotted a good deal on a Corsair SF600 Platinum and pulled the trigger, I could now sanity check my 3d theory in practise. A day later, my planning turned out correct, providing I could mount it I’d be able to get the SFX psu in place. Forgot to take a picture here though, so another render to illustrate intentions...

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At this point I’d picked up a Ryzen 2500 bundle from a friend and built it in my old Globalwin YCC61F1 (Akasa Eclipse 62) to allow me to start modding the SG03. I also got to experience something in a case I’ve missed for years - room to hide cables! The mATX motherboard looks lost in here, sorry about the terrible phone picture.

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After another week or so toying around in 3d I had a deign for a new backplate to replace the existing psu + top pci plate area. My plan was to get this laser cut in aluminium, but my source being busy in real life combined with a workmate keen to use his 3d printer led to me giving plastic a shot. Until now I had no idea how strong it would be, so went with caution and simplified the back plate into 2 thicker pieces that would be attached separately - the original design was too big for my mate’s 3d printer anyway. First print was the psu mount, modelled 5mm thick and shaped to press over an existing part of the case (one of the 2 protruding screw thread bits - no idea what to call them, or what they were even on the case for - nothing ever screwed into them!). The piece also worked it’s way around a rivet holding the top of the case in place and had a 20mm hole for a rocker switch, thinking forward to some future toggle switch for lights or similar.

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3D Print in progress...

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Following day I collected the printed bracket and stripped down the SG03 ready for attacking with a newly purchased Dremel as I’d lost my old one…

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Started by clamping the printed bracket in place to sketch the shape onto the metal including all holes. After this I removed the bracket and manually marked where I’d need to cut around the pci slot for the toggle switch to fit.

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Didn’t take any pictures during the cut, but the larger Dremel speedclic cutting disk made pretty short work of the 1mm Alu. It was only when cutting through parts of the roof at the same time I had to take things slower. After nearly burning myself on the case metal I was cutting, I spread the cuts out to stop anything getting too hot, and following some filing I ended up with this. Pretty happy with the result!

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Time for a test fit. I’d bought some longer bolts that could go through the rear panel, psu bracket and securely grip the psu - but could only get these with allen heads from the shop i used. I like the look and think I’ll keep it this way, I don’t plan to have to regularly remove the powersupply down the line. In order to get everything fitted comfortably I had to make some of the holes a little larger to give some wiggle room as a combination of my lacking measuring, marking and drilling skills lead to things not quite lining up. No big issues here though, the psu isn’t going anywhere unless I want it to!

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Happy with my success with the backplate, I tweaked my CAD designs and sent an stl file to my colleague for the fan bracket print. If I could wind back time I wish I took this step and the next couple a little slower, double checking things as I went. Instead I rushed things more than I should have, as I wanted to get the pc rebuilt for another LANParty. Design as follows, shaped to match the outlet shape of the fan: (in hindsight… not the fan I’ve ended up using here...)

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Following morning (Tuesday 7th) I turned up to work to find the bracket on my desk. At the end of the day I went home, drew the outlines of the bracket onto the back of the case and attached it with drill and Dremel. I’d committed to playing Badminton with friends in the evening so rushed through the cuts and drilling, plus forgot to take pictures again. Whilst the main cut out was ok, I’d botched drilling the holes and had to make them a lot larger to line up with the bracket. Luckily due to the design of having the bracket on the outside and the fan on the inside - this won’t ever get seen.

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Later that evening, I put the psu back in and fit the fan bracket. As mentioned, I’d rushed things - the bracket clashes with the lower psu bolts… I’ll come back and tidy this up, either by cutting an indent into the bracket or by reprinting the bracket. Due to my self imposed timeline I skipped this to get the pc rebuilt

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Wednesday evening, needed to get the PC built up to confirm everything was running well in the new case on the new powersupply, but leave enough time to switch back to the other case for the LAN on Friday. But first, a side by side comparison of cases! Again sorry for the poor photo.

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The pc rebuild went well, I was in the zone - so “in the zone” that I forgot to take any in progress pictures, or even any post build pictures before plugging it in upstairs and running benchmarks and load tests to confirm everything was working as expected. Thursday night was much the same, before packing everything away in preparation for the LAN Friday through Sunday.


Now that I’m back home, I’ve had time to take some finished pictures and write up the build. The whole pc build process went so smoothly, things just aligned nicely. A few notes
  1. The MSI B450m gaming plus motherboard is a shorter than standard mATX board, this gave me a little more room at the front of the case for cabling, and meant I got some clearance between the radiator and bulky power supply cabling
  2. The SFX psu cables are short, really short. Ideally I would have liked an extra inch or so on the 24pin and PCIe cables, but having them a little taught over the corner of the motherboard is a huge step up from having an huge excess of cable.
  3. With an NVMe drive in the motherboard, and the rest of the SSDs in the 5.25” bay, I’ve been able to keep the Sata power cables completely out of the way, and the data cables in an unobstructive position.
  4. I flipped the radiator 90° - this was at the expense of the front usb ports, firewire and audiojacks. I barely used the usb and never used the others. This allowed for much smoother tubing runs to the AIO block, plus the intake fan is no longer partly blocked by a solid part of the front grill. Win-win here.
  5. The motherboard has one downside in that the PCIe 16x slot is lower than normal. Less than optimal for airflow, and a frustration that I can’t fit my soundcard at all as it won’t fit under the card. I do have room to run a riser cable away from the gpu, so a potential next phase is a new PCIe slot on the rear of the case that allows me to use the souncard in a riser. That’s if I don’t replace the motherboard.
  6. The tension in the AIO tubing bend, with it being a little longer than I’d like it’s not quite a smooth 90 degree curve. It’s also pushing the radiator and fan mount forward, so it’s a little pronounced from the case front. This is a bit of a limitation in the way the AIO is mounted to the removable front fan filter/grill assembly, it just clips in and flexes a little.
Overall a stark contrast on the inside from previously. Whilst there’s room for improvement I’m happy I’ve managed to hit the goals I set myself, I’m glad I didn’t try and go more ambitious for the first bit of custom modding I’ve done. I’ve got the bug though, so I think I’ll be doing more. Some finished pictures:


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All in all I met the goals I set myself. Ventilation is massively better, heat gets vented out of the case, cabling is really tidy and it’s easy to work with. It feels like a significantly bigger case with the re-arrangement of components. Bar a tweak to the fan bracket, I’ll likely not make any changes for a while and ponder what next, I’ve got a couple of things in mind already.
  1. New floor/feet. Get rid of the 3.5” drive mounts to improve airflow, give me the option of somewhere to fit the souncard and generally clear things up
  2. A side window, I don’t think the vent is vital any more now that I have the rear fan and psu in a different location - it would be nice to see the insides without having to remove the side panel
  3. Custom water loop? I could just about fit a 240mm radiator in the front, I’ve got around 2-3mm clearance from my 1070! Not sure what I would do about pump/res yet.
  4. Paint the silver parts of the case black
  5. More lighting - connect that rocker switch so it serves a purpose!
  6. Sturdy radiator mount at the front, ideally allowing me to pop off the removable front gril piece and reach sata ports on the motherboard without me having to worry about the radiator moving.
 
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