Shuttle SN41G2 Barebones System

[Jonty]

Hi Clowneh!

If you search the forums this has been mentioned a few times, but basically: both chips (Barton and Thoroughbred) are closely matched in terms of performance, FSB speed and cost; although the Barton core is the newer design of the two. Most people end up choosing the Barton, but whichever you get, you shouldn't be disappointed.

As for the SN45G, it's a good system, designed with overclockers in mind, and is the only nForce Shuttle to support 400Mhz FSB CPUs (of which only the 3200+ Barton currently supports). You could wait for the next generation AMD chips and Shuttles, but to be honest, it's probably not worth it.

Happy shopping

 

[Quige]

Originally posted by Clowneh!
So even tho the 2600+ has a higher clock speed, the 2500+ is faster or what?

err, I think the implication is that yes they are faster for the clock speed they run at ... if you have a look/read here there's a handy table that shows the actual clock differences,which aren't that big (c200/250Mhz)

Athlon XP Barton

This bit seems important -

" While Barton-core Athlon XP processors have all the features of previous Athlon XP processors, there’s one major difference: Barton combines the full-speed L2 cache design of Thunderbird and its successors with the larger 512KB cache size of the original Athlon processors. Thus, Barton-core Athlon XP processors have a more efficient memory design than any previous Athlon processor. Main memory access is also faster, as Barton bids farewell to the 133MHz clock multiplier and 266MHz (133 times 2) front-side bus used by most previous Athlon XP models. All Barton-core Athlon XP processors use the 166MHz clock multiplier and 333 (166 times 2) front-side bus that is also used by the Athlon XP 2700+ and 2800+ processors."

 

[Clowneh!]

Yeh, I've seen all that before, I just dunno what it all means
I just wanna know which is better, cuz they're both the same price

 

[Quige]

Well just do what Jonty suggests then given that the performance is't that different - I'd go with the newer one ... well in fact I did

 

[Clowneh!]

And a question about RAM if i may
I'm on the crucial website. I was meaning to go for some 333MHz memory or something (maybe... I can't remember what I'm talking about now). Which one do i get? I'm a bit shit at this innit?

 

[.Cask]

Go for the cheapest and redistribute the remaining funds among random taxpayers.

 

[Clowneh!]

Why?

 

[Jonty]

Hi Clowneh!

You need to get either 333Mhz DDR SDRAM (PC2700) or 400Mhz DDR SDRAM (PC3200). The performance difference between the two depends on your overall system setup. Some say having a 333Mhz FSB processor and 333Mhz RAM performs the best as the two are 'syncronised'; whilst others claim 400Mhz RAM outperforms it. The difference in price is also a factor (if there's not much difference between the two, then it may be worth buying the 400Mhz RAM).

Just one other thing, as I'm sure you know anyway, but if you're buying an nForce2 based Shuttle, try and buy two sticks of RAM instead of one (e.g. 2x256Mb instead of 1x512Mb). The nForce's Dual DDR setup means two modules of RAM outperform just one.

Kind Regards

 

[xane]

The PC2700 (333Mhz) RAM is okay, but the PC3200 (400Mhz) is not quite industry spec, check that the exact model can be used in the mobo, most will give a list.

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

we'll have to wait for ddr2 for that..

 

[Quige]

I've discovered that the majority of the noise coming from my Shuttle is down to the fan on the graphics card. I was thinking of swapping it for one of those Zalman things, but read that they were incompatible with the XPC range without extensive case modification.

Does anyone else have any recommendations for a quiet GPU cooler or should I just get a new one of these,

Geforce 4 Copper Cooler

which is what is currently on there, but has got dusty and unbalanced I think. I guess I could try cleaning it some more, but never really find that that works too well for long.

Or what about this?
Silent Video Heat Sink

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Well my radeon 9800 is pressed aginst the case side with it's standard heatsink/fan. This means i have a slightly blackend case side. I did also consider swapping the fan/heatsink over but i assumed they would only be bigger then my current one.

 

[Embattle]

That copper cooler made less noise than my original MSI cooler on my old GF4, it also worked better.

There isn't enough room for most of the fanless devices, as dead said.

Oh a picture from earlier in the thread, this was my older gfx card...the GF4 with the above copper cooler attached and in the shuttle:

 

[Quige]

Yes that's the exact one I've got too. I've taken it out and given it a good clean, so it's marginally quieter. Had a look whilst I had it open and I reckon I've got about 15mm of clearance from the base of the current heatsink to the inside of the case, and I reckon that second one in the post above might just make it. Now I've heard what it sounds like with no GPU fan going I want that quietness all the time
If not I'll get another of these as it was originally much quieter than it is now.

 

[Embattle]

The other problem is that Shuttle's normally have a higher internal case temp than most normal sized system, this may mean that it doesn't work properly.

 

[Quige]

That's a good point ... mine seems to be stable at about 44C at the mo, but I've no idea what a normal case would be. Maybe it would be better if it did actually press against the side of the case ... turn it all into a big heat sink? There's a thought - a copper shell for the thing instead of aluminium.

I'll probably give it a go (the cooler not the copper shell - all thumbs when it comes to DIY/3D!), if it looks like it'll fit ... If I start crashing out a lot in games then it'll be an obvious culprit I guess

 

[Quige]

Then again maybe not ... that second one seems only to usable on Geforce2 cards ... bizarrely if you want to use it on a Geforce4 card you have to buy a seperate fan unit to fit above it to suck the hot air away ????

so back to buying a new one to replace my aged one.

 

[PR.]

The number one annoyance of my Shuttle is that stupid automatic fan control, it increases the speed toreduce the tempreture then reduces again straight away, which means then the PC sounds like some revving moped :/

 

[Uncle Sick(tm)]

Alright - teh wife's shuttle is done now, too.

768 MB DDR RAM 333 (a mix - 512 mb Kingston/256 MB no-name.. had that one laying around still).
2.53 PIV
Gforce 4MX/400

Built in about 30 mins - it runs absolutely quiet other than my first shuttle.. it still does the bubbling sound. Maybe the faster chip?
Can't be the Radeon - the fan is blowing the hot air straight out at the wholes in the side of the case.

Too much thermal grease? It runs absolutely stable, though... just the sound of boiling water freaks me out - the air coming out in the back isn't too hot either.

Btw - are their any utilities for shuttles - I read that if you install a "regular" cpu temp display utility the fan will run top speed even if that is unnecessary (the "revving" sound that was mentioned here before )- that will display the cpu temp?
The link to a shuttle cpu temp thingie on shuttle.com is dead.

 

[Embattle]

Originally posted by PR.
The number one annoyance of my Shuttle is that stupid automatic fan control, it increases the speed toreduce the tempreture then reduces again straight away, which means then the PC sounds like some revving moped :/

Erm you haven't got the latest BIOS then, in fact I think it was the one before the most recent....this enabled you to set it to 4 different levels

 

[Ch3tan]

Ordered!

From Microdirect.

shuttle sb61g2, Pentium 4 2.6ghz with 800mhz fsb, black samsung cd-rw dvd combi, 120gb Western digital sata and 2*512meg pc3200 geil mem.

Now I just have to twiddle my thumbs and wait, weekend offers aren't shipped till Tuesday morning :/


For Clowneh's benefit.

It was £666.24 inc. VAT and delivery.

 

[PR.]

Originally posted by Embattle
Erm you haven't got the latest BIOS then, in fact I think it was the one before the most recent....this enabled you to set it to 4 different levels

Yer but I presumed that only made it permanent so I would have to listen to it running noiser all the time. I like it quiet and most of the time its happy at that setting as it doesn't usually run any heavy CPU tasks

 

[Embattle]

Another BIOS update to the SN41G2:

http://www.shuttle.com/hq/support/download/dwn2.asp?model=SN41G2

Added:

1. Support Thorton core CPU

 

[xane]

Originally posted by Uncle Sick(tm)
SB51G - definitely no thermal paste in teh box.

Just a note to say my Black Shuttle SN41G2 was collected from the depot this morning and there is a small packet of thermal grease with it

 

[Ch3tan]

Argrrhrhrhrgg. Shuttle have a SB62g2 up on their site now. Black version of the 61g2, but uses Intel ICH5-R southbridge. So it has a dual lan and raid 0 as well.

No idea when its shipping, a bit annoying as I just ordered the 61g2. Oh well, such is life.

Edit. Okay found one Uk supplier selling it here. You do get two lan ports, BUT, despite this, its cool black looks and raid 0, it has NO firewire. SO I guess I wont be cancelling my current order.

 

[Jonty]

Hi there

As Ch3tan posted, the SB62G2 is coming At a glance the 'FB62' features the Intel 865G + ICH5-R chipset bundle, and naturally offers an 800MHz FSB, dual-channel DDR400, Serial ATA w/RAID, AGP 8X and PCI slots, USB2.0, SPDIF, and a new 6-in-1 card reader for 3.5" bay (available separately). And it even looks nice too (just like the 'special edition' black SN41G2, which makes finding matching CD/DVD drives etc. far easier).

Also, Shuttle are planning price reductions following the SB62G2 launch on previous P4-based products.

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. Would people like a dedicated Small Form Factor sub-forum?

 

[Ch3tan]

Was joking about the shuttle sub forum, no point splitting things up too much. We only really have two threads about it at the moment, hardly enough to justify its own sub forum.

Didn't notice the 6-1 card reader included on the shuttle site, where did you find that?

The price breaks thing is very annoying for me as I jsut ordered. I wont bother cancelling now, as I doubt the 61g2 will get significant reductions, although the 51 and 52 probably will.

 

[Jonty]

Hi Ch3tan

I believe the black 6-in-1 reader will be merely available as an accessory, for the first time. Previously such readers were (I think) only available in 5.25" formats. Sorry for the way it was phrased above, misleading

Kind Regards

 

[Ch3tan]

Hmm, if they make it a colour mathed one it will be nice. Hoping they will do silver and black versions. The XPC accessories show a grey 6 in 1 reader on the microdirect site, which is quite frankly, ugly.

 

[xane]

Oh huge hairy bollocks.

Whilst assembling my Shuttle I just dropped the HDD on the floor and its gone kaput.

Poo.