Shuttle Shopping

Stimpy

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
674
Ok guys I thinking of getting myself a shuttle because quite frankly the noise from my pc is driving me mad :)

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to shuttles though so if anyone can answer a few questions I'd be grateful - I know a few of you gave have them.

First the one I'm thinking of getting Link

1) Just how quite are these things? Hard question to answer I know, I'll keep doing some research myself on this one :)
2) I play alot of music of my pc (I burn all my cd's to my HD they aint warez - well most aren't... :D ) I would want to use the on board soundcard anyone have experience with this model is it any good? (Realtek ALC650 6 Ch Support Digital SPDIF Output).
3) All the cooling is supplied in the unit right? I don't need a seperate CPU Fan?
4) Is the power unit on these things sufficient...200W just seems a little weak.
5) Will people think I'm cool for having one? :)

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 

Clown

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
4,292
1) On full, the ICE fan is loud. Couple this with a decent graphics card and you have a mini hoover. Not nice to go to sleep to :(
2) The sound is fine for me, but then again, I was using AC97 quite happily.
3) There would be nowhere to put a separate CPU fan anyway ;)
4) Aint had problems with power, got a GF4 in there as well as am internal modem, and I have a printer and camera plugged into the USB ports.
5) You will think you're cool! That's all that counts... right?

I was gonna get that Shuttle, but in the end I went for the SN45G... cheaper and works with the bits that I bought.

Great!
 

Xavier

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,542
Hi Stimpy,

While I can't speak for the 'l33t status' owning a shuttle will bring in your social circles, i can probably answer the rest quite simply.

Units such as the one you've selected include Shuttles I.C.E. system, which consists of a heatblock which is clamped to the top of the CPU socket and connected to a radiator at the rear via a pair of heatpipes. The fan on the radiator is pretty quiet, and depending on how hot a CPU you fit it's possible to have the bios slow the fan down based on operating temperatures.

Power wise, the Shuttle chassis are quite small which limits how much kit you can cram inside, as a result all but the most hardcore spec is going to be a-ok on the standard PSU. If you were thinking of putting an extreme edition P4 into aspringdale shuttle however you might want a little more in way of power, for which Shuttle produce an accessory CPU rated at 250W.

I've got a couple of shuttle chassis on here 24x7 and the noise is almost unnoticeable. One of the machines serves as the TechNation exchange server and even with 4x200Gb harddiscs seems fine with the standard power supply.

Sound on that particular model is pretty good, though it doesn't quite deserve the soundstorm logo Shuttle originally advertised it with. After sending a test system to NVIDIA for certification, shuttle changed the codec chip used which lowered the output quality and removed some of the input/output sockets, but for your needs it should be perfect.

Xav
 

Jonty

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,411
  1. Just how quite are these things? Most Shuttles are fairly quiet, but certainly not silent. The main causes of noise, as Clown highlighted, are the main exhaust fan, PSU fan and the graphics card fan (if you install one). There are now Shuttles shipping with a 250W PSU which are extremely quiet, but the SN41G2 doesn't ship with this as standard. If you search for some Shuttle reviews, you should find some with noise level tests.
  2. I would want to use the on board soundcard anyone have experience with this model is it any good? nVidia's integrated Audio Processing Unit is very sophisticatd for a bundled solution, and suits most people just fine (think around the quality of Creative's Audigy (1)). Edit ~ Having read what Xavier has written, however, I'm now unsure, but it sounded and performed well for me.
  3. All the cooling is supplied in the unit right? I don't need a seperate CPU Fan? That's right, you simply need to buy the CPU. With AMD CPUs, you can often save money by purchasing OEM units, which omit the heatsink and warranty included in the retail products.
  4. Is the power unit on these things sufficient...200W just seems a little weak. The 200W PSUs aren't powerhouses, but you should be able to run most things without any problems. I've known many people install a high-end graphics card (which can a PSU connection), top-end CPU, RAM, DVD, hard-drives etc. and run the system without any problems.
  5. Will people think I'm cool for having one? I doubt you'll get ladies swooning for you, but they certainly are asthetically pleasing even to those from a non-technical background :) And if you're into LAN gaming, then the system's size is ideal.

MicroDirect tend to sell Shuttle systems cheaper on the weekend, although other stores are now matching their prices as the norm, so be sure to shop around before taking the plunge.

Kind Regards

Jonty

Edit ~ SFF Tech tend to include sound ratings in their Shuttle reviews.
 

Stimpy

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
674
WoW you guys are quick I go to raid the biscuit tin and already 3 replies, thanks :)

I'm basically planning on ripping the essential stuff out of my current pc and sticking whatever will fit in the shuttle.
That would be
AMD 2100+ or 2800+ (not sure yet)
1 GB Memory - 2x512 sticks
120gb HD
DVD Writer
Radeon 9700pro
I think that's about it - oh and my modem in a usb port.

The SN45G looks quite nice plus I'd save some money maybe I may get that one.

The shuttles shipping with the 250w are they the higher end models or something thats just being phased in on all models?
I'll go hunt out some reviews now, the quiter the better tbh I just want to leave it on 24/7.
 

Jonty

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,411
Hi Stimpy

The SN45G is a nice system. It's based on the revised nForce2 400 Ultra design, which boasts, amongst other things, support for the 400Mhz FSB. The system as a whole has also been designed to appeal more to overclockers. Unlike the SN41G2, it omits any onboard graphics solution, hence part of the reason it's cheaper. Note, however, that it uses the older (and uglier?) 'G' case design.

As for the new 250W PSU, it's only available on one or two high-end systems at the moment. You will, however, be eventually able to purchase it as an upgrade if you want to, and I think it should work perfectly with existing models such as the SN41G2/SN45G.

Kind Regards
 

Bodhi

Once agreed with Scouse and a LibDem at same time
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
9,270
Not much to add above what jonty and xav have said, only that the Realtek sound card you mention seems pretty good. Does a great job of mp3's even if the CPU utilisation seems higher than my old SB Live! Value. I've had a SB51G for about 9 months now, and it's been excellent. The fan stays pretty quiet (especially compared to my old case with its multiple exhaust fans), and if you get a model you can get interchangable fronts for - the day-glo blue one looks awesome.
 

Xavier

Can't get enough of FH
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,542
They also do a rather funky electro-luminescent faceplate here but it's only compatible with the SB51G, SK41G and SS51G units :(
 

xane

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,695
I have a black SN41G2 with Athlon XP 2000+ in it, for my kids PC.

1) Noise: I don't actually find the CPU fan noisy, I have the temperature limit set to 52 deg anyways so it rarely kicks in, but I do find the PSU fan is noisy, which you notice on standby, there is a replacement "quiet PSU" out now.

2) The onboard soundcard is fine.

3) As there is only one AGP slot (which will have its own fan if used) and one PCI, I can't see the need for extra cooling.

4) Power is certainly going to be fine if you are using the internal video card, which is atually quite good; a dual-monitor GeForce 4 MX with up to 128MB allocated.

5) The black case version is mucho sexeh, but you need a black DVD for it too :)

Shuttle.jpg
 

Stimpy

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
674
I've been checking out the thingymejigs you can get for a shuttle and the remote controls looks nice ooooooh, is there any particular one which is the daddy? :)

Also if you decide to upgrade in the future do you need to buy a brand new shuttle or do they do the motherboards seperatley?

Oh and xane, is that a ps2 to pc pad convertor you got there or just a pad that looks like a ps2? :)

I only ask because I got a convertor from play.com for christmas this one, mainly for use in Need for Speed Underground and the damn thing doesn't work with the game, the cursor just scrolls madly through the menu's like it needs calibrating but there is no way to calibrate it.

I was considering starting a thread to ask about this but I'll throw it in here, so anyone got one of these things and made it work with NFS:Underground? :)
 

Jonty

Fledgling Freddie
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
1,411
Hi Stimpy

Shuttle are beginning to produce a lot of their own accessories, although you needn't be confined to their solutions (so if you found a similar product by another company, it would work just the same with your Shuttle as with any other PC).

As for upgrading, I believe Shuttle small form factor motherboards can be now purchased separately. That said, I'm unsure of the specifics, so I'll look into it for you if needs be. Of course Shuttle probably will rework their internal design at some point, so that may cause problems if/when they do, but right now pretty much all Shuttle motherboards should be compatible.

Kind Regards
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom