Shuttle XPC SS51G - anyone got one yet?

[Coherence]

I've been interested in this bare-bones system ever since reading the article in Anandtech. (The latest MaximumPC gave it a 9-Kickass award, as well.) However, Anand's review, and a couple others I've read, have indicated problems running the system with DDR2700 333mhz DIMMs or with the Data Bus at 533mhz instead of 400mhz.

Anand had indicated a follow-up review would be done after the system went public (since Shuttle told him his test unit had a bad mobo; still awaiting the follow-up), but I was hoping to hear if anyone out there in Anand-land has had any such trouble.

I figured on throwing one of these systems together with a 2.53 P4, 1GB DDR333, 120GB HD, Radeon 9700 or G4ti4600, and a good sound card (disable on-board sound and video).

 

[Workin']

I've had one for a little more than a month. It's been great for me so far.

Here's what's in mine:

P4 1.6A OC'd to 2.13GHz (133x16)
2x256MB Crucial DDR PC2100
120GB WD special edition HD
HP DVD200i DVD+RW
Gainward Geforce3 Ti200/450 Golden Sample

I use the onboard sound, it sounds great. Running with Altec 641's so any defects would be glaringly obvious. It sounds as good as the Audigy or Santa Cruz that I have in other machines. So unless you have something better than one of those (or comparable) in mind, I wouldn't bother.

The only trouble I had was that the rounded IDE cable that came with it was defective. I know of at least one other person who had the same problem. Many other people on the forums here have the SS51G, it seems to be pretty trouble-free.

 

[foofoo]

hi,
i've had mine also for just over a month. mine is
1.8a
512 samsung
wd120se
toshiba cdrw/dvd
gainward gf4ti4200 gs

i lost the 1.8a lottery and mine wont post at default voltage at 133 fsb so it's running stock.
this has been a great machine. stable, small, all of things you like. mine is paired with a samsung 151s lcd and the whole package takes up almost no space on my desk (since it's the 2nd system there, it needs to be small)
as workin' said, the sound is quite good. in fact, i've got an audigy laying around but havent installed it because i havent felt like it needed it.
i'm very happy with this box.

 

[Coherence]

foofoo, are you running 512MB of DDR2700 or DDR2100? That's one of the big issues. You said yourself that it won't boot properly at certain settings.

This is what's driving me nuts. Shuttle says the system supports DDR333 (2700), 533mhz FSB, etc., but when people actually try to do all that, it doesn't work.

 

[777php]

When I first read about the SS51G I wanted to get one as soon as it came out but, then I heard that Shuttle was coming out with a Nforce 2 based one, the SN40. Now I am impatiently awaiting that release so I can finally put together my home theater PC.

SN40 is Athlon based just FYI, but it isn't the reason why I am getting it.

 

[foofoo]

hi coherence,
sorry, i cant help you there. i'm running pc2100 and a 105 mhz fsb. the problem was that my p41.8a couldnt do the 133 fsb at stock voltage (dont want to creat too much heat in this little box)
the bios has the settings to do it (almost)...
freq/voltage control
cpuram choices 1:1, 3:4, 3:5
fsb min=100, max=165, increments of 1

but i havent really overclocked mine and i'm only on the 1.8a so i cant say for sure that it'd do it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Anyone tried the TV-out? How does it compare to the ATI gold standard?

How is the noise level? Quiet enough for a home theater PC? (Reviews have conflicted a bit on this, one said the fans kicked in full-speed just doing DVD playback).

 

[Workin']

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Anyone tried the TV-out? How does it compare to the ATI gold standard?

The SS51G as released in North America doesn't have TV-out. At least mine doesn't. And the manual makes no mention of it, either.

How is the noise level? Quiet enough for a home theater PC? (Reviews have conflicted a bit on this, one said the fans kicked in full-speed just doing DVD playback).

Noise level is extremely low (IMO) if you use the onboard video or if your graphics card fan is quiet. I have my system fan set to speed up at 58C (the "speed up" temperature is adjustable in the BIOS), and the only time it ever kicks in is when the CPU utilization is very high (like when ENcoding Divx or MPEG2). Just playing a DVD or just regular use never makes my fan speed up. The worst part however is that the fan on my GF3 is MUCH louder than anything else in the box, so that makes the whole system fairly noisy. But even then it's not nearly as loud as my AthlonXP 2000+ system. But it's still louder than a set-top DVD player.