Installation
For the installation portion of our review, we are installing the Zotac 9300-ITX WiFi motherboard that we just reviewed a couple weeks ago. We are also installing an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 processor, stock heatsink, 160GB SATA hard drive, and 4GBs of OCZ DDR2-800 memory.
After taking apart all of the various cages for different hardware in the SG06, we first installed the 3.5″ hard drive. This was a simple process and only included four screws to secure it to the hard drive cage. We’ll set this aside until we are ready to secure it to the chassis.
Next, we moved onto the slim optical drive. We wanted to use this drive via SATA, so we installed the SATA interface adapter and secure it to the drive with two screws.
Next, we placed the drive and SATA adapter into the optical drive cage. Then, we secure it with four tiny screws and make sure it would line up properly when we installed it in the case. Make sure you have a small enough screwdriver for this step because it will be a lot more challenging without the right equipment.
Here’s a quick pic of the motherboard, heatsink, and memory we will use in the SG06. Pretty sexy huh?
We flipped over the chassis and placed the four rubber feet in each corner of the bottom panel. It would have been nice if Silverstone included markers for where these should be installed, but use your best judgment so the case will be balanced and level.
Next, we took the entire optical drive cage and installed it into the SG06. This was another easy step that only involved tightening four screws to secure it to the chassis.
We plugged in the four-pin power adapter and SATA data cable and the installation of the slim optical drive was complete.
Next we installed the motherboard and attached all the power and front I/O cables. The motherboard fit very easily and even had plenty of room to spare . As you can see in the photo, cable management will definitely be needed to ensure proper airflow is established so the system can run at decent temps.
Next, we attached the hard drive cage to the chassis and secure it with two screws.
Here’s a close-up shot of the motherboard. There are a couple different power cables and front panel I/O cables that needed to be re-routed around the CPU heatsink so they didn’t interfere with the CPU heatsink fan.
Here’s the back of the case with the backplate and wireless antenna installed.
Lastly, we wanted to show you how flush the slim optical drive is and how well the color matches the brushed metal finish on the SG06. The entire installation process took a little over 30 minutes because we had a lot of prep work taking out the cages as well as doing a little cable management after all the hardware was installed. Overall, it was a very simple installation process that I think any novice or intermediate PC builder could do in their sleep.
