SG05 build without a Dremel

[Steve149]

I wanted to post my SG05 build to balance some of the very extreme modification stuff that this interesting little MITX case has been subjected to. I am using the latest version of the SG05 with black interior and 450W power supply. The power suppy comes with a 6/8pin and a 6 pin PCIE power cable so you could go more exterme...

This is the basis of the build. A Gigabyte H55N-USB3 motherboard with i3 540, Intel stock cooler, 4GB Corsair DDR3, Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB Hybrid SSD/HDD and the hot Gigabyte GTX 560Ti Super OC card running a factory clock of 1000MHz!

Stock cooler on an Overclockers thread - surely not! Well I had this running for a couple of months in a midi tower with the side off right next to me and even overclocked to 3.4GHz I can't hear the Intel cooler above the PSU fan and the temperatures are just fine. Since most of my use is GPU limited there was little point in pushing the CPU beyond 3.4GHz. It is very difficult to find a good air cooler for this case and I urge you to give this a try.

The graphics card is a peach. Very quiet and eats all the games I have maxed out. The graphics card is longer than a standard 560 but the power connectors point up so it fits no problem.

The reason for not using a 3.5inch HDD is shown below.

The 3.5inch caddy is right in front of the fan but it can be removed if you only need the 2.5inch mount. The internals post build.

It is very clean inside as most of the case cables and the sata cables are routed under the motherboard. The extra length on the power cables is up top with the slimline optical drive. The very observant will spot the resistor on the fan header which drops the 120mm case fan speed down to a near silent 740rpm. Both the CPU and the graphics card have PWM fans that stay remarkably quiet even when gaming with the low speed case fan.

The final result

One very happy builder. So put away your Dremel and try the non modded revolution...

 

[Steve149]

Temps and length

Early days for temps but according to CPUID

When browsing the web
Processor 35 deg C
GPU 30 deg C

When 3D gaming
Processor 60 deg C
GPU 60 deg C

The GPU temperatures are pretty much in line with the major test sites so the case is not really having any effect on them. Since the card is up against an open mesh on the side of the case for the entire length it is not really surprising.

Not sure of the card length although I did find it on the web at one stage but it is about 12mm longer than the reference 560 IIRC. The position of the power connectors is very important when it comes to getting the card in. Although there is space at the end of the card (see photographs) this is about the limit on length because the card has to get past the frame of the case with the power cables plugged in. A cool head and nimble fingers help when getting everything into the case but in truth this was one of the easiest builds I have done.

Thanks for the positive comments.

 

[Steve149]

Slot drive

Yes I am using a Sony DVD slot drive. It gets very little use in my case as all of our CD's just get ripped onto ITunes and WAV so they only go in once. In total I probably load about 30 disks (CD's and games) in a year so durability is not a major concern for me. Somehow I just prefer slot load and it was only about a tenner more than a cheap tray load drive.

 

[Steve149]

Size isn't everything.

Thanks for the approval. I am with you on the size issue. If all the games could be registered to a steam account there would be no need for an optical drive other than a removable external drive for maintenance purposes. The only problem is that the height and length are dictated by the graphics card and the width by the MITX so you could only lop off about 20mm from the height of the case without compromising something else.