Log Silverstone SUGO 16 Noctua D9L Build

[Mark13]

On a lark, I purchased a Silverstone SUGO 16 PC case. This is the cheapest and only mass produced case I have purchased. I liked the component configuration with an SFX power supply and two 120mm fans for front to back air flow using an air cooler and shorter length graphic cards, and had already tried out an inverted layout in the Sliger S610. Yes, it is formed from stamped steel panels, but I was pleasantly surprised in the overall quality of construction. The filter holders inside the front and right side panels are nicely made. The vent pattern under the top panel filter has a nice pattern with no screw mounting holes or other indentations when the filter is removed. The two side panels are interchangeable. I would have liked to have had the same vents on both side panels – just for appearance. Also color choices – black or white. I would prefer to split the difference and have either a silver or gray color case. I was also glad no case fans were included – I wanted to select my own.

I installed my current testing rig with the Noctua D9L cooler:
Aorus B550 ITX MB; Ryzen 7 4750G; 32 GB Corsair LPX 3200 RAM; Metal block over NVMe drive not installed;
PNY RTX 3060 Graphics Card – Self Regulated
Front Intake Rear Exhaust – All fans at 100% PWM unless otherwise noted
Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste
CPU-Z Stress Test & Unigine Valley Ultra Settings for 10 minutes
Room Temp 21C;
Temp Sensor TZ10 read 16.8C on all test runs;



One specification that is not listed is how tall can a CPU cooler be before it starts to be blocked by the SFX power supply. That is approximately 112mm. A Noctua D9L cooler at 110mm is completely exposed to the front 120mm fan airflow. With the D9L cooler installed there is enough space to mount a 30mm thick Phanteks T30 on the rear panel. Using Corsair LPX memory also ensures that the lower CPU cooler fins are not blocked on the front side of the cooler. There was not enough clearance to install a second (front) 92x25mm fan on the D9L as the fan has to be set higher on the cooler to clear the RAM and will not clear the PSU connectors/wiring. Any tall slim CPU cooler such as the Noctua NH-U12S with a rear mounted fan should be a simple install. As the case is rather deep with only complete access to the interior of the case from the right side, attach all motherboard connections outside the case including the front I/O connections. I used a splitter cable on the motherboard for easy access to connect the two case fans after installing the motherboard.

For testing I had only two pair of identical 120x25mm fans – the Scythe Kaze Flex Black and the Arctic P12. The Kaze Flex are noisy at higher RPM but move quite a bit of air so I also tested them at 50% PWM / 1000 RPM. The front case filter made a substantial noise reduction with the Kaze Flex fans, not with the P12’s that are quieter than the Kaze Flex at all speeds. This may be the ideal case for comparing 120mm case fans in matched intake and exhaust pairs.

CPUID HWMonitor Readings:

CPU Cooler​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​
GPU​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​
Case Top Panel​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​
Case Front Panel​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​
CPU Cooler Fan​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​
Front Case Fan​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe KFB 50% PWM​	Arctic P12​	Arctic P12​
Rear Case Fan​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe KFB 50% PWM​	Arctic P12​	Arctic P12​
Temp Sensor 0 Max​	49​	48​	54​	53​	53​
Temp Sensor 1 Max​	46​	45​	50​	48​	47​
Temp Sensor 2 CPU Max​	74​	72​	79​	75​	73​
Temp Sensor 3 PCI Max​	21​	21​	22​	21​	21​
Temp Sensor 4 Max​	46​	46​	51​	48​	48​
Temp Sensor 5 Max​	47​	46​	52​	51​	50​
CPU Fan Max RPM​	1962​	1991​	1997​	2027​	2014​
Front Case Fan Max RPM​	1679​	1713​	1002​	1776​	1767​
Rear Case Fan Max RPM​	1679​	1713​	1002​	1776​	1767​
CPU Pkg Max Temp​	74​	72.4​	79​	75​	73.3​
CPU Pkg Max Wattage​	74.46​	75.34​	74.34​	75.02​	74.56​
NVMe Top 970 Evo+ Temp​	52​	51​	55​	53​	53​
NVMe Bottom​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​
GPU Max Temp​	74.1​	72.9​	76​	77.5​	74.5​
GPU Hot Spot Max Temp​	85.9​	84.8​	87.7​	89.4​	86.6​
GPU Max Wattage​	153.51​	154.16​	155.49​	169.53%​	152.98​
GPU Fan Max RPM​	1838​	1741​	1945​	2041​	1864​

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

BTW: Did you test with the regular P12 or with the P12 PST CO? In my experience, the latter one has quite a bit better performance on CPU coolers and radiators.

cu, w0lf.

 

[Mark13]

BTW: Did you test with the regular P12 or with the P12 PST CO? In my experience, the latter one has quite a bit better performance on CPU coolers and radiators.

cu, w0lf.

This was the regular P12 fan.

 

[Mark13]

Some further testing notes:

The Arctic P12 fans seem to have an additional resonance in this metal case that I have never noted when using these fans in an acrylic case. Possibly anti vibration pads are needed when installed against a metal frame. I installed a pair of Noctua A12x15 fans front and rear but was disappointed by the noise created by the front fan when mounted directly to the front panel as the Scythe and Arctic fans had been installed.

I installed a Noctua A12x25 in the front and a Phanteks T30 in the rear of the case. (I only have one of each of these fans.) The Noctua was mounted with 10mm spacers in front of the fans to eliminate any intake noise through the perforated front panel. The T30 was set in performance mode (up to 2K RPM) directly to the rear panel. The T30 runs slightly slower than the A12x25 at the same PWM level and had the same perceived noise level as the A12x25 at various fan speeds when sitting in front of the case. This fan combination works very quietly and effectively.

I later swapped out the RTX 3060 for the RTX A2000 6GB blower graphics card to see what temperature differences would be noted. The cooler is near silent at its auto selected max RPM during the test that was at only 52% or 51% respectively. This tiny 70 watt blower style GPU leaves no heat inside the case. HWMonitor reports the A2000 power as a percent and not as wattage and is so noted in the testing results.

I have updated the testing spreadsheet with these additional fans and GPU.

CPU Cooler​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​
GPU​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	RTX A2000​	RTX A2000​
Case Top Panel​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​
Case Front Panel​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​
CPU Cooler Fan​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​
Front Case Fan​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe KFB 50% PWM​	Arctic P12​	Arctic P12​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​
Rear Case Fan​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe KFB 50% PWM​	Arctic P12​	Arctic P12​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​
Temp Sensor 0 Max​	49​	48​	54​	53​	53​	49​	45​	49​	47​
Temp Sensor 1 Max​	46​	45​	50​	48​	47​	43​	42​	42​	41​
Temp Sensor 2 CPU Max​	74​	72​	79​	75​	73​	71​	70​	70​	69​
Temp Sensor 3 PCI Max​	21​	21​	22​	21​	21​	21​	21​	21​	21​
Temp Sensor 4 Max​	46​	46​	51​	48​	48​	44​	42​	42​	42​
Temp Sensor 5 Max​	47​	46​	52​	51​	50​	46​	45​	48​	46​
CPU Fan Max RPM​	1962​	1991​	1997​	2027​	2014​	1991​	2008​	2020​	2008​
Front Case Fan Max RPM​	1679​	1713​	1002​	1776​	1767​	2115​	2083​	2109​	2109​
Rear Case Fan Max RPM​	1679​	1713​	1002​	1776​	1767​	1973​	1973​	1979​	1973​
CPU Pkg Max Temp​	74​	72.4​	79​	75​	73.3​	71.5​	70.8​	70.3​	69.5​
CPU Pkg Max Wattage​	74.46​	75.34​	74.34​	75.02​	74.56​	75.21​	75.2​	75.26​	75.68​
NVMe Top 970 Evo+ Temp​	52​	51​	55​	53​	53​	48​	46​	46​	45​
NVMe Bottom​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​
GPU Max Temp​	74.1​	72.9​	76​	77.5​	74.5​	73.8​	73.8​	79.4​	78.7​
GPU Hot Spot Max Temp​	85.9​	84.8​	87.7​	89.4​	86.6​	85.7​	85.7​	85.2​	84.6​
GPU Max Wattage​	153.51%​	154.16​	155.49​	169.53%​	152.98​	157.04​	155.19​	110.27%​	109.31%​
GPU Fan Max RPM​	1838​	1741​	1945​	2041​	1864​	1854​	1800​	4120 – 52%​	4060 – 51%​

 

[Mark13]

I did some additional GPU temperature testing after reading The Tech Buyer's Guru YouTube posting regarding high GPU temps with a large graphics card.
I posted the following testing results on his YouTube review page:

After your comments regarding GPU heat, I had not noted my GPU fan running at full speed in the testing I had conducted. I went back & tested my own installation with a PNY RTX 3060 ITX length single 100mm fan to see temps when running Unigine Valley (and nothing else / GPU stress test only) over my Ryzen 7 4750G Pro with a Noctua D9L. After 10 minutes the GPU fan was running at 79% - 2193 RPM with a GPU temp of 77 to 79C with a hotspot of 80 to 84C. The top rear of the case behind the top IO connections was moderately warm. The rest of the case was just a bit above room temperature. I manually increased the fan speed to 100% - 2691 RPM and after an additional 5 minutes the GPU temp was reduced to 68 to 71C, and the hotspot 78 to 82C. The case fans Noctua A12x25 front & Phanteks T30 rear were set to silent in the BIOS.

I also tried out the tiny 70 watt RTX A2000 6GB blower style GPU. After 10 minutes the GPU was 80.1C, hotspot 85.9C with a the fan running at only 54% - 4179 RPM (and quite silent). After an additional 5 minutes with the fan turned up to 75% - 5245 RPM the GPU was 69C and the hotspot was 75C. The case was cool to the touch – it expels all its heated air.

It seems the factory automatic setting for these GPUs are not concerned about temps around 80C.

 

[Valantar]

BTW: Did you test with the regular P12 or with the P12 PST CO? In my experience, the latter one has quite a bit better performance on CPU coolers and radiators.

cu, w0lf.

That's odd - the performance of those fans should be identical, as the motor and blades are the same, but the CO has double ball bearings rather than whatever type of sleeve bearing the regular version has (with the added low rpm noise of all ball bearing fans).

The Arctic P12 fans seem to have an additional resonance in this metal case that I have never noted when using these fans in an acrylic case. Possibly anti vibration pads are needed when installed against a metal frame.

Sadly the Arctic P series have a bit of a reputation for strange resonances, and apparently its a design fault that Arctic has recognized to some extent. I've never seen anything like it from my P14s, but it seems to either not apply to every fan, or be very dependent on the case. My P14s sit against a metal frame in the Meshlicious with no issues, and that's within a few mm of the front mesh. It could be down to the hex pattern grilles on your case, as I've come across cases where patterns like that generate a ton of turbulence noise.

It seems the factory automatic setting for these GPUs are not concerned about temps around 80C.

They aren't, and there's no reason for them - or anyone else - to be. 80°C is well within the comfortable operating range of high performance silicon. Heck, most silicon can operate at well above 100°C, but the increased leakage current from higher temperatures will drive up power draw at that point, and performance might be unstable (and generally lower). That's why most GPUs have tJmax set at 110°C. No GPU has ever taken damage from 80°C temperatures alone. And, of course, modern silicon is riddled with thermal sensors and has complex monitoring systems for protection - if it reaches even moderately unsafe combinations of voltage, current and temperature, it will throttle.

 

[Mark13]

The As a further followup to GPU heat buildup issue in the top of the case, I installed an Evga 3060Ti XC GPU in the SUGO 16. At just under 202mm in length there is still considerable open space around most of the GPU at the top of the case. With a current draw of nearly 200 watts it has substantially higher heat output than the 3060 GPU at 155 watts, but it is disbursed over a larger area with two 92mm fans instead of one 100mm fan in the 3060. The case fans Noctua A12x25 front & Phanteks T30 rear were set to silent in the BIOS. I conducted the same Unigine Valley only 10 minute stress test as with the other two graphics cards. After 10 minutes the GPU fan was running at 76% - 2147 RPM with a GPU temp of 68C with a hotspot of 78C. The top of the case was warm, both on the vented side panel as on the motherboard side of the case. There was also noticeable warn air being expelled though the side panel vent that was not noted with the single fan 3060. Overall the top of case was warmer over a larger area than the 3060, while at a lower temperature. I then increased the GPU fan speed to 85% - 2597 RPM. After an additional 5 minutes the temperatures were reduced to 63 to 65C for the GPU and 75 to 76C for the hotspot.

Later I conducted my usual combined CPU-Z and Unigine Valley full system stress test that are noted below in the updated testing table. With the 2 case fans now running at 100% the entire top of the case remained just above room temperature with no warm air being expelled from the vented side panel. Increasing the case fan speeds when the GPU is under heavy use makes a substantial reduction in the warm air retained within the case. The case filters make only a 1 to 2 degree C temperature increase but also decrease the fan noise being emitted from the case.

CPU Cooler​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​	Noctua D9L​
GPU​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	PNY RTX 3060​	RTX A2000​	RTX A2000​	Evga 3060Ti XC​	Evga 3060Ti XC​
Case Top Panel​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​
Case Front Panel​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​	Filter​	No Filter​
CPU Cooler Fan​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​	Noctua A9x25​
Front Case Fan​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe KFB 50% PWM​	Arctic P12​	Arctic P12​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​	Noctua A12x25​
Rear Case Fan​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe Kaze Flex Black​	Scythe KFB 50% PWM​	Arctic P12​	Arctic P12​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​	Phanteks T30​
Temp Sensor 0 Max​	49​	48​	54​	53​	53​	49​	45​	49​	47​	51​	49​
Temp Sensor 1 Max​	46​	45​	50​	48​	47​	43​	42​	42​	41​	45​	43​
Temp Sensor 2 CPU Max​	74​	72​	79​	75​	73​	71​	70​	70​	69​	72​	70​
Temp Sensor 3 PCI Max​	21​	21​	22​	21​	21​	21​	21​	21​	21​	21​	21​
Temp Sensor 4 Max​	46​	46​	51​	48​	48​	44​	42​	42​	42​	46​	44​
Temp Sensor 5 Max​	47​	46​	52​	51​	50​	46​	45​	48​	46​	49​	47​
CPU Fan Max RPM​	1962​	1991​	1997​	2027​	2014​	1991​	2008​	2020​	2008​	2002​	1991​
Front Case Fan Max RPM​	1679​	1713​	1002​	1776​	1767​	2115​	2083​	2109​	2109​	2115​	2109​
Rear Case Fan Max RPM​	1679​	1713​	1002​	1776​	1767​	1973​	1973​	1979​	1973​	1979​	1979​
CPU Pkg Max Temp​	74​	72.4​	79​	75​	73.3​	71.5​	70.8​	70.3​	69.5​	72.5​	70.8​
CPU Pkg Max Wattage​	74.46​	75.34​	74.34​	75.02​	74.56​	75.21​	75.2​	75.26​	75.68​	75.25​	75.88​
NVMe Top 970 Evo+ Temp​	52​	51​	55​	53​	53​	48​	46​	46​	45​	52​	51​
NVMe Bottom​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​	N/A​
GPU Max Temp​	74.1​	72.9​	76​	77.5​	74.5​	73.8​	73.8​	79.4​	78.7​	66.3​	64​
GPU Hot Spot Max Temp​	85.9​	84.8​	87.7​	89.4​	86.6​	85.7​	85.7​	85.2​	84.6​	77.4​	76.6​
GPU Max Wattage​	153.51​	154.16​	155.49​	169.53%​	152.98​	157.04​	155.19​	110.27%​	109.31%​	174.67​	177.61​
GPU Fan Max RPM​	1838​	1741​	1945​	2041​	1864​	1854​	1800​	4120 – 52%​	4060 – 51%​	1933 / 1938​	1838 / 1836​

 

[Mark13]

I installed a Thermalright Silver Soul 135 dual tower CPU cooler to see if it would fit. Yes - sort of. There is space behind the cooler to fit a Phanteks T30. However, you are going to need really flexible cables to connect up to the PSU. There is very little clearance. CPU temperature results were unimpressive with so much of the cooler blocked off from intaking air flow. I am not posting any exact data as this build had a different CPU to earlier tests so I have no data to compare it against. I think a cooler like the Noctua D9L, Thermalright Silver Soul 110 or a slim single tower cooler would be a much easier and better performing solution. A couple of photographs:

 

[nightshift]

Bit off-topic, but how's that Palit 3060 ITX gpu - thermals and noise-wise? Also what is the size of the fan and how flat is the heatsink?
This SG16 case seems kinda nice due to the cpu cooling clearance while still being small. Wish someone would made a sandwitch-style case for itx mobos and itx gpu's back-to-back but with the sfx psu turned 90'degrees so towards the front panel instead of being on the side.

 

[Mark13]

Bit off-topic, but how's that Palit 3060 ITX gpu - thermals and noise-wise? Also what is the size of the fan and how flat is the heatsink?
This SG16 case seems kinda nice due to the cpu cooling clearance while still being small. Wish someone would made a sandwitch-style case for itx mobos and itx gpu's back-to-back but with the sfx psu turned 90'degrees so towards the front panel instead of being on the side.

Mine is the PNY 3060 - I believe they are the same model with different branding. The card is a true 2 slot width. 100mm fan is not too noisy and I have not had any excessive temperatures in the SUGO 16 or other installations, but I am not a gamer so I cannot address extended gaming usage.

 

[Mark13]

Problem - the SUGO 16 power button failed - 2 days after the light surrounding the button failed. Confirmed the failure with use of alternate vandal switch. Silverstone uses a small circuit board for all front/top IO connections. After removing the front IO unit, I can install a vandal switch while I await a replacement part. Question - if I wanted to get rid of the entire circuit board assembly, does anyone know who offers USB 3 connectors that would fit? Reset button & combined audio jack are not vital for my build, but if those individual parts are also available please advise. Thank you. After contacting Silverstone warranty service they promptly advised they would be sending me a replacement power button. Complete replacement power button was received from Silverstone.

 

[Mark13]

Some additional thoughts regarding the SUGO 16:

Additional GPU cooling could be accomplished if Silverstone were to add an additional cooling slot on the internal motherboard panel above the large rear motherboard access cutout, and switch out the solid side panel for an additional vented side panel as used on the opposite side of the case. The two side panels are already interchangeable.

The case is not accommodating for the frequent substitution of (an already installed) motherboard components. Only the two case fans and the GPU are reasonably accessible for replacement on a completed build. This makes the case less suitable for a hobbyist wishing to swap out components on a regular basis. Access to the installed motherboard components is limited to a very narrow angle through the right side of the case. For a hobbyist or regular PC component tester, the case would need to be redesigned for both the fixed top and bottom panels to also be removable. With additional removable panels the case would allow easier access to topside motherboard components.

 

[BaK]

Question - if I wanted to get rid of the entire circuit board assembly, does anyone know who offers USB 3 connectors that would fit?

There are plenty options on aliexpress, like this one:

3.33US $ 30% OFF|Rgeek Dual 2 Port Usb 3.0 Front Panel Extension Cable A Type Female To 20 Pin Box Header Female Slot Adapter Cable - Pc Hardware Cables & Adapters - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

But then you will have to find a way how to attach them.