SFF Recomendations

[patsun123]

Is Shuttle still the best company to get these from? I see so many different options now then when i was first interested in it (about when they first came out).

And unless i'm wrong they all still come with
1) case
2) psu
3) mobo
4) heatsink

is that right? I have an AMD chip if that influences anything.

 

[Gioron]

There are some decent competitors out there now, but Shuttle still sells good cases, and they all come with the 4 items you listed above. There are a few niche markets or special situations, but I don't have a problem recommending shuttle for most SFF uses.

 

[jbass]

I just built a SHUTTLE SN95G5 (AMD 64 version box). The thing is damn powerful for such a small thing. I remember the days of a need high tower with 10 fans blasting away to keep things in check (exageration). But seriously, i did alot of research and this was the one to get. Do a search on "Shuttle sn95g5" on google and read some reviews. They have a P4 version as well in the G5 line. Not sure of their models for regular amd chips though.. check here: http://us.shuttle.com/

There were a few bugs in the bios which showed wrong temp readings, but that has been corrected with the latest Bios. I havnt had any issues with mine.

 

[patsun123]

so... dumb question. Can an athlon XP chip fit on a mobo thats made for athlon 64, like the shuttles are?

(i'm thinking no)

 

[Ouminan]

Nope. You could grab any of Shuttle's SFF's for Athlon XP chips though. I've built 6 of these shuttles starting from back when the SS51G came out for various friends/relatives/associates, and they're ALL still working, even with the old, noisy, underpowered power supplies. I'm really debating whether or not I should upgrade the power supply to those SilentX models.

Anyway, I recommend Shuttle highly for their build quality and reliability.

You could take a look at these...

Shuttle SN45GV2
Shuttle SN41G2V2

 

[AtlantaBob]

And, just to throw in the "if you're really on a budget thing" the SK41G from Newegg (and some other places) is/was around $170. Good if you've got an Athlon XP under 2600+ (although I think there are ways to get around that--not something I want to mess with though). Anyway, for an office computer, and some light photoshop work, I love mine.