Log Salvo Studios S402 | Quick Build | Chassis Thoughts and Impressions

tnuhnivad

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Sep 17, 2018
13
9





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Firstly I want to say, Brian, from Salvo Studios LTD has been awesome. Shipping didn't even take a week and a couple days after ordering on the weekend he was reaching out to me updating me on my purchase. I highly recommend this case and company and look forward to future cases or revisions just based on his service alone.

Shipping packaging condition was good, there was no major damage to the box.

Unboxing the case from the packaging. There is a vinyl or plastic wrap around the case and two squares of bubble wrap on either side. I wish there was a small layer of foam or bubble wrap all around the including the corners. My case personally didn't have any damage, however, I'm not sure that with more blatant disregard or handling during shipping that this packaging would hold up.

Empty Salvo S402 in a vertical position. Immediately I noticed small imperfections in the joints and bends of the case. The most noticeable issues are here on the outside of the case. This top panel above the front USB headers isn't exactly flush. Upon unscrewing the main vented side panel I noticed it bows outward a bit. These are small imperfections and it really isn't a big issue for me, although, these kinds of imperfections echo throughout the entire chassis.

Included hardware is inside the case during shipping. On the Salvo Studios webpage for the S402 it is stated,

"70mm x 70mm x 20mm PWM fan set will be included with each S402 purchase until August 11th 2020. After that, the standard non-PWM 70mm x 70mm x 15mm 4-pin fans will be included."

I ordered mine on August 22, 2020 and received a set of PWM and standard DC fans but I'm not complaining. Here's a top down shot of the empty case. The Salvo Studios S402 standing vertically next to a Fractal Design Node 202. Here is a shot of both laying horizontal, one atop the other. Here is both cases open as I get ready to transfer components.

Installing the 70mm fans was a pain. The fans do not come pre-drilled/threaded and the case mounting holes are actually off by a few mm's. This resulted in me having using only two screws per 70mm fan and having to angle some of the screws hand driving them into the plastic. The 70mm fan closest to the power supply extension cable interferes with the length of the wiring for the power supply extension cable at the back of the case. The area between the mobo and the 2.5in drives is extremely tight and I dont have 90° SATA power cables so my 2.5 in drives under the power supply are inop ATM. Also, the mounting bracket for the PSU is the same plate for the 2.5in drives and it only mounts to the bottom two screw holes of the PSU. I would like to see this mount into all four screw holes in any PSU or some sort of catch tab in the front. This design will definitely bend and bent when installing the drives and PSU altogether. This is not much of an issue when the large side vented panel is on because it holds the PSU in place.

After installing the power supply and 2.5 storage mount, I realized there are no 120mm fan mounts behind the graphics card. For 120mm fans you'd need to sacrifice the 70mm fan on the bottom and use the two screw holes for the GPU cover plate on either side and use one of the small air slots with a screw and washer combo? Since I bought this case with other intentions in mind besides air cooling I'm not to bothered by these things and this build is only going to be used for a few months.

One of the main reasons I bought this case is the 3 slot GPU compatibility. The riser PCIe card has 3 mounting points to fit up to a 3 slot GPU. I currently have a two slot MSI AERO OC 1080ti GPU. In a build video Brian/Salvo Studios LTD posted on YouTube the user is instructed to install the metal tab to the GPU and then fit it to the PCIe riser and case. I couldn't do this as it just was not fitting correctly with my card so I had to install the GPU in a vertical position and then install the tab after. The end result is the same.

The power button and PSU extender components could be smaller. In a SFF case every mm matters. I definitely feel like there should have been a PSU extender cable which inserts with a 90 degree angle into the PSU as in the Node 202 and the wiring to the rear connector should sit more flush with the chassis. The same goes for the front power button. It sticks out right into the cables for the PSU. The front power button feels good to push, but, I would've preferred something smaller and more flush with the chassis. I actually had to flip my PSU over so all my cable inserts are upside down, but, that is a design issue with the Corsair SF600.

I had to grab some caffeine for the fun part. I'm using a Big Shuriken 2 Rev. B heatsink which actually doesn't fit with my ram so I have modified it with ye ol' Dremel. The header pins for the front panel power button and the reset switch on the back are unmarked. Also, if anyone knows the address of the guy who designed the USB pin header for motherboards please PM me, asking for a friend.

Test post was successful. Don't judge me on my wiring. Completed build with the feet and handle installed. The handle is great because with these cases I often forget how much hardware is packed in and how heavy they actually are. One time I tried to pick my Node 202 with one hand gripping the top and basically dropped it. The feet holes were also slightly misaligned but acceptable.

I think it compliments the style of furniture I have and love. With the build completed I'm pretty happy with the resulting configuration and chassis. The chassis looks really good in different lighting and the front Power/LED looks really good as well. Its brightness is perfect for dimmly light environments, that is to be bright but not to bright. The chassis has this raw and rugged quality to it with subtle quality of life improvements over cases like the Node 202. The power switch button is actually amazing to push and the look really adds to the previously mentioned qualities. Placing hardware and components in the case was definitely easier than the Node 202. Although, the little things add up and in the end the overall process was about the same with individual chassis quirks. I really like this rectangular console like design and upgraded from my Node 202 and it indeed feels like an upgrade. Getting rid of that center cross beam support does wonders for case cable management. Not to mention it has more airflow configuration options compared to the Node 202. Immediately after booting and playing around for a bit I noticed lower idle temps. Gaming under load I'm getting slightly cooler CPU temps and my GPU runs quite a bit cooler and I did take the rear GPU/HDD plate off. The 70mm fans work really well but they are loud. This rig sounds like a mini turbine. I'm usually using my PC in a dark or dimmly lit environment. The case being really open with a lot of ventilation means that my mobos RGB actually refracts around my desk space. It looks really good which and is something I couldn't see with my Node 202.

I previously had all my components in a Fractal Design Define Nano S which has dual 240mm radiator support and was running a custom loop. Due to some water cooling specific issues I needed to tear it down. I decided to put all my hardware back into my Node 202. I loved having my hardware in these extremely portable rectangular console like cases again. I decided to attempt something when purchasing this case I tried to attempt with my Node 202 and failed. In the near future I'm going to be doing a water cooled build in the Salvo Studios S402 and was the reason I purchased this case. Since the GPU riser slot can be reconfigured I should be able to fit a 240mm rad and slim fans behind my GPU when fitted with a water block making it a single slot GPU. I'm going to be using a CPU block/pump combo instead of trying to use a separate pump and res which is where I failed in the Node 202. There are a few of these CPU block/pump combos that have recently hit the market and I'm just waiting on parts ATM.

edits; sorry mods
 
Last edited:

grsychckn

SFF Guru
Salvo Studios
Oct 11, 2017
1,093
1,845
Thanks for the detailed write-up. Your notes are very valuable to me as I try to improve the design moving forward. Not to excuse, but rather to offer hope of improvement: the fabricator for the S402 was a new fabricator I had not previously used. I had a few small problems (damage during shipping being one), but my previous/current fabricator just has a better QA process. I have decided to use the same fabricator for the S700 as I had for the S400 and S401 which has proven so far to produce excellent results.

Thanks again for your post and all the time you put into it. Your build looks great and if you need anything please let me know!
 
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