Evolution case brings compact size to enthusiasts

REVIEWING A COMPUTER case isn't something that will generate a large amount of interest among most readers out there.

Yours truly is not a computer case nut, but I prefer to own a good case that can fit all of my additional devices and be able to cool down the components inside it.

Silverstone contacted us a while ago and asked whether we'd consider to review a case that does not fit into the conventional mould, but is able to fit Radeon HD 2900XT or Geforce 8800GTS without any modifications, while supporting 8800GTX if some modifications are made.

Given that we were promised a small form factor case, we immediately were interested in seeing what this high end company has in store.

Evolution or how to combine desktop and SFF?

Case is incredibly light, thanks to the fact that base material is aluminium

SG01S-Evolution case is a member of Sugo series, and can be placed between Shuttle's small boxes and Abit's long-dead DigiDice. This was done in order to combine (careful, oxymoron ahead) a full-sized micro-ATX board with a fully fledged graphics card and a powerful CPU, while keeping the portability of a small case.

So, at the end of the day, what did we decide to put inside? GigaByte's nForce 630A motherboard is a solid companion for our Athlon 64 X2 5200+, added two gigs of memory - we have to warn you that Corsair's Dominator or OCZ's Reaper modules will not fit inside this case, unless you choose to use stock cooling. In case that you do decide to stick with a stock cooler for the CPU, reverse the fan, so that you don't create air pressure point inside the case, since fan from the PSU will be taking the air out - thus killing the airflow of both.
If you were wondering how could a 8800GTS or HD2900XT exist in such a small space, take a look at how cooling can be organised

We decided to put Silverstone's own cooler to cool our X2 5200+ (2.6 GHz), model named Nitrogen

Corsair's 620W PSU is actually pulling the air through the Nitrogen cooler, thus cooling the CPU and the PSU components inside

We were worried that some air might get through between the PSU and the cooler, so it is wise to additionally tape the sides of the cooler and the PSU casing to ensure a tight fit. Given our ingenious approach, we wondered will the CPU cook in a matter of minutes or not. At this point, author thought it might be a better idea to reverse the fan on the stock cooler and go with it, but we wanted to see how will this pan out, and can Corsair's own PSU fan subsidy for this passive monstrum.

After several hours of CPU+3D load, results are interesting...

And in the end, it turned out that this concept is the ideal way for a silent gaming case, at far as CPU cooling is concerned. We have switched the AC off, and opened the windows to allow for hot air to come in. After the temperature inside the Lab reached 30degC, we started the test - Loading the CPU with Hot CPU Tester made both cores sweat, and the memory was loaded as well. For the GPU part, we went for the gold member of "I'm hot" club, Radeon HD2900XT. This baby was loaded with ATITool's own test that cranks the GPU to the max as well, and after 60 minutes of maximum load GPU was the only part running in the high70s - just as regular as it works in a good cooled case. Secret of success applies for HD2900XT, 8800GTS and 8800GTX - put a fan on top of the aluminium plate as an intake fan, so that your GPU fan gets fresh air from outside the case.

How to fit an 8800GTX?

Preliminary measurement will tell you that it won't fit...

...but, with a small modification, everything is possible.

If you want to put the currently worlds' most powerful and relatively affordable graphics card, the GeForce 8800GTX inside this small case, you can do it, with a small modification. It is necessary to remove the lower case for 3.5" drives, and you will have to put no less than one hard drive into the 5.25" cage, just below the optical media, and even this ultra-long PCB will be able to find the way in. We haven't tried the 8800Ultra, since we two boards we allegedly "have" are hopelessly stuck on Customs for the past week or so - sadly, Croatia is a tourist country, but if you're hack over here, you're in for some rough experience.

In short
All in all, this case can handle a powerful gaming machine, regardless of the CPU used. We opted for regular Athlon 64, which is easily replaceable with upcoming Phenom X4 or X2 processor based on K10 marchitecture. Fans placed in the computer were easily dissipating the heat generated by Radeon HD 2900XT, which was not a small thing to do. If you want high-end hardware in your HTPC, but want all the portability you can get, think about this cocktail of formats.

Then again, we wonder what will happen at Computex, when AMD DTX form factor makes a proper debut. Perhaps even hot HD 2900XT will find its way in smaller cases. ?

Bartender's Report