Pros/cons of a shuttle system?

[Red]

I have a powerful PC, if I do say so myself =) Matter of fact, it is overkill for what I need. I think the Shuttle systems are neat because they are small and mobile. I was considering swapping some components out of my current rig into a Shuttle system so I could have two PCs. I don't play many games at all, so this is what I was considering:

I have a P4 3.0 w/HT @ 800FSB. 1gb of PC3500 Kingmax ram (2x512). 250gb western digital harddrive. 9800 pro card. Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. Leadtek PCI TV Card. Wireless Keyboard + Mouse. 4x DVD burner in one slot, 52x liteon in another.

I was thinking of trading my 9800 pro for a barebones shuttle system + CPU. Take one stick of PC3500 out of main system and slap in shuttle. Trade my 250GB hd for two 120gb drives. Slap 1 in the shuttle and 1 in the tower. Leave the cd-burner in the tower, move the DVD burner to the shuttle. Put TV card in Shuttle.

I'm not sure why I would need two PCs, but I just like those shuttles for some reason.

 

[Bassyhead]

Pros: Quiet, lots of onboard features, runs pretty cool for their size, portable, lightweight.

Con: Only a single PCI and an AGP slot so not much expansion, and not as much room for drives, probably not going to be able to upgrade the motherboard.

I recently put together a SK41G for my sister. Someone like her would not need a lot of expansion and the only thing she would ever need upgraded is the CPU/RAM/HDD. Whether or not an XPC is good for you is based on your needs and evaluation of your own pros and cons.

 

[Busithoth]

Agree with Bassyhead, except for the 'quiet' part...

There are hundreds of methods of quieting your machine, but they don't all come quiet...

But very, very cool, in my opinion.
There's something very satisfactory in having such a small box kick so much ass, in my opinion...

 

[MrCraphead]

Yeah, my SK41G isn't too quiet, cuz the one 80mm fan is kinda loud. Another issue is the cooling, it doesn't ventilate very well with such confined spaces and limited # of fans, usually 1. So yeah, depends on what you're gonna use it for.

 

[Bassyhead]

It's 'quiet' relative to my other computers Not the quietest but still not bad.

 

[PCHPlayer]

I built an SN41G2 for my in-laws and I think it is quiet. Would I want to sleep with it right next to my head? No, but as long as the fan does not kick into high speed, it is quiet enough. Of course I used an old Duron 1G I had lying around. Just be sure not to overload the thing with a hot video card or a cutting-edge CPU, that way the system stays cool and the fan is quiet.

 

[Bassyhead]

The one I built has a 2200+ Tbred and using onboard video. The CPU temp is 28c idle, under 33c under load. Forgot what the case temp was. Fan runs at lowest speed at this temp.

 

[fragstar]

Now that Shuttle has the new Silent X PSU, these little boxes seem to be even more tempting.

I.e, ATI's power draining 9700 has no problems running in Shuttle's now.

Enjoy your system Red

 

[Psychosylph]

No reason not to - except for addiction!

 

[mrEvil]

Fragster - I have a 9700 Pro running in mine, along with a Barton 2500 with the default PSU.

I think it is like any hot deal here, YMMV.....the only issue I had was that the shim was shorting my 2500, so I ditched the shim. Shim worked fine on my 2000+.

 

[optimistic]

My only con that kept me away:

CON: Pricey. Latest Shuttle barebones have a $100 premium over buying a separate case ($100) & mobo ($100) yourself.

PRO: Features & Size

 

[Psychosylph]

Originally posted by: optimistic
My only con that kept me away:

CON: Pricey. Latest Shuttle barebones have a $100 premium over buying a separate case ($100) & mobo ($100) yourself.

PRO: Features & Size

Yes, but you've forgotten that you won't need a heatsink, fans or PSU, either. More like a $50 premium...

 

[Tiembo]

Originally posted by: Psychosylph

Originally posted by: optimistic
My only con that kept me away:

CON: Pricey. Latest Shuttle barebones have a $100 premium over buying a separate case ($100) & mobo ($100) yourself.

PRO: Features & Size

Yes, but you've forgotten that you won't need a heatsink, fans or PSU, either. More like a $50 premium...

Or video. Although I've noticed that my onboard video's output (SB51G - Intel Extreme Graphics, or whatever it's called) isn't as crisp as an AGP card's.

If you only have one system and need expansion capabilites, then don't go for a SFF box. Otherwise, it's a pretty neat solution.

 

[Dexion]

Originally posted by: Tiembo

Originally posted by: Psychosylph

Originally posted by: optimistic
My only con that kept me away:

CON: Pricey. Latest Shuttle barebones have a $100 premium over buying a separate case ($100) & mobo ($100) yourself.

PRO: Features & Size

Yes, but you've forgotten that you won't need a heatsink, fans or PSU, either. More like a $50 premium...

Or video. Although I've noticed that my onboard video's output (SB51G - Intel Extreme Graphics, or whatever it's called) isn't as crisp as an AGP card's.

If you only have one system and need expansion capabilites, then don't go for a SFF box. Otherwise, it's a pretty neat solution.

This onboard video is much better with the SB61G2 that I own(I only used it once after upgrading to a 9800 pro). I truly believe that the price is very similar to that of a regular sized computer.

Another point that people have missed:
CONS: Expandability, you can't get multiple drives with SFF systems because of the size. Most SFFs are limited to one 5' 1/4", one 3' 1/2", and one hdd bay(2 if your lucky).

 

[Psychosylph]

CONS: Expandability, you can't get multiple drives with SFF systems because of the size. Most SFFs are limited to one 5' 1/4", one 3' 1/2", and one hdd bay(2 if your lucky).

That's about the only con for them, though. Most will be fine with one combo drive and, if they really want to, by ditching the FDD they can get two hard drives in it, although most need no more than one.

 

[Cheetah8799]

Pro: Not too much more in price than a case, psu, hsf, and motherboard given that you gain a large amount of desk space with a XPC.

Pro: Much easier to go to lan parties with.

Con: case temp if you have good video for gaming.

Con: number of drives it can hold.

Con: replacement parts if you burn something out are not very cheap!

Con: You can't really upgrade the motherboard unless you are able to find out for sure if something will fit the design of your case's back IO ports.

 

[JKing76]

Given all the USB and Firewire drives and devices you can get now, I wouldn't even say expansion is an SFF con.

 

[erikistired]

there's an sb51g in fs/t i keep thinking of buying. i'd only need a combo cdrw/dvd and i could sell my case/mb/dvd/cdrw to offset the cost. i'd be swapping in my radeon 9700 and audigy2, 80gb hdd and 2.8b. i mostly play games on my system tho. i'd love to have the desk space back, but i'm not sure about heat issues.

 

[Busithoth]

I've got a SB51G now, but am getting an Abit DigiDice in a couple of days.

The shuttle's been really nice, and I haven't missed having such limited expansion capabilities, but I'm curious to test out the competition a little.

Heat was never an issue with my 2.4b running @ 2.9, and that's with an AIW9700Pro in the box as well as the GTXP in the pci slot.

the fan never even pumped up to full speed to cool itself off.

also, the noise factor is more in your face because, well, you can position the XPC directly in front of you.

 

[Psychosylph]

Originally posted by: fisher
there's an sb51g in fs/t i keep thinking of buying. i'd only need a combo cdrw/dvd and i could sell my case/mb/dvd/cdrw to offset the cost. i'd be swapping in my radeon 9700 and audigy2, 80gb hdd and 2.8b. i mostly play games on my system tho. i'd love to have the desk space back, but i'm not sure about heat issues.

Do it!

 

[Psychosylph]

Originally posted by: Cheetah8799
Pro: Not too much more in price than a case, psu, hsf, and motherboard given that you gain a large amount of desk space with a XPC.

True

Pro: Much easier to go to lan parties with.

Very true

Con: case temp if you have good video for gaming.

Case temps will be higher than what you are used to, but within tolerances for the equipment

Con: number of drives it can hold.

True

Con: replacement parts if you burn something out are not very cheap!

True

Con: You can't really upgrade the motherboard unless you are able to find out for sure if something will fit the design of your case's back IO ports.

Actually, they seem to have settled on an I/O standard, so it's pretty easy to switch out a board. Just have to make sure you get the matching backplate to the new board so that you can replace the old, removeable one.

 

[erikistired]

Originally posted by: Psychosylph

Originally posted by: fisher
there's an sb51g in fs/t i keep thinking of buying. i'd only need a combo cdrw/dvd and i could sell my case/mb/dvd/cdrw to offset the cost. i'd be swapping in my radeon 9700 and audigy2, 80gb hdd and 2.8b. i mostly play games on my system tho. i'd love to have the desk space back, but i'm not sure about heat issues.

Do it!

i did it! paid for it today, should have it by the end of the week. gonna do a fresh install (via chipset to intel chipset, plus i need to clean out some old software) and have it rockin and rollin. gonna order a liteon combo dvd/cdrw as well. the only thing i'm kinda sour on is only 2 rear usb ports (not sure i want my mouse or webcam coming out of the front one), but i'll get around it i'm sure (usb mouse, usb webcam, usb hub on my keyboard, which is probably optional since i don't use it much). might order that upgraded power supply they have out now, since i'll be running a 9700 in there.

 

[Psychosylph]

Originally posted by: fisher

Originally posted by: Psychosylph

Originally posted by: fisher
there's an sb51g in fs/t i keep thinking of buying. i'd only need a combo cdrw/dvd and i could sell my case/mb/dvd/cdrw to offset the cost. i'd be swapping in my radeon 9700 and audigy2, 80gb hdd and 2.8b. i mostly play games on my system tho. i'd love to have the desk space back, but i'm not sure about heat issues.

Do it!

i did it! paid for it today, should have it by the end of the week. gonna do a fresh install (via chipset to intel chipset, plus i need to clean out some old software) and have it rockin and rollin. gonna order a liteon combo dvd/cdrw as well. the only thing i'm kinda sour on is only 2 rear usb ports (not sure i want my mouse or webcam coming out of the front one), but i'll get around it i'm sure (usb mouse, usb webcam, usb hub on my keyboard, which is probably optional since i don't use it much). might order that upgraded power supply they have out now, since i'll be running a 9700 in there.

You'll love it! They're !

Probably want to wait on the new PSU, though; one of my SB61G2s is running a 2.4C, 1GB PC3200, Radeon 9700 Pro, TBSC, DVD-ROM and 80GB PATA HDD on the 200W PSU w/o a problem. No reason to spend the money if you don't have to.

 

[kaymack]

Congratulations on the SFF purchase!! I agree with Psyc on the PSU. I think the main reason most people were upgrading to the new 250W PSU was for reduced noise, rather than more power. I have the 220W PSU, not heavily loaded, and it seems fine. There is a little noise, but it is much quieter than the big beige box that it replaced. Try the stock PSU first, before shelling out the $69.00 for the new PSU. The jury is still out on the noise improvement with the new PSU.

 

[erikistired]

yeah i haven't heard many good things about the noise, but a few ppl on the sfftech forums said it was more stable for ppl with radeon 9700/9800 video cards. i'm going from a chieftec matrix with 3 80mm fans (vantec stealth), a 60mm vantec cpu fan and a 80mm psu fan to this, so i'm sure the noise factor will not be an issue. i'm gettin excited, i'm ready to be rid of this big case.