shuttle and ati power requirements

[kasplat]

I have been pondering my next PC box and am leaning towards a Shuttle, partially because I'm tired of noisy full-size PCs. I'm sure it is possible to build a low-noise Zalman-based PC, but frankly I just do software and building my own box is a bit much. Anyway, a Shuttle seems pretty appealling, but today I was looking at a 9800 NP video card at Best Buy and under system requirements they listed a 300 watt power supply and the Shuttle only has a 200-220 watt AFAIK. I guess I could go with a 9600 Pro, but that would be a dramatic drop in FPS. I'm wondering what recommendations and experiences with Shuttle and ATI 9800 NP or Pro cards people have had here.

ka

 

[MDE]

People stuff FX5900 Ultras and 9800 Pros in those things, you should be fine.

 

Shuttle XPC's are not as "quiet" as they say they are. I have one running next to me right now. Still loud even after I installed the P4 Heatpipe solution that cost me 50 bucks. Before the heatpipe was put on, I had the standard low profile P4 cooler provided by shuttle. I swear it sounded like a small hairdryer. No exaggeration. Now with the heatpipe, is sound quieter but I still hear the hairdryer as if it were on low. It seems the power supply fan spins very quickly because it is so small. It cant push the CFM's so it has to really crank.

Think twice about getting this. With the noise set aside, it is a very nice compact unit though. I love it because of the space it saves, I just wish it was dead quiet.
You have to keep these on the desktop because they are so small. Can you picture reaching almost down to the floor to put a CD in? No.

Heed my warning if you dont like noise. You are guarenteed 50 decibels.

GM