Shuttle XPC supposed to be quiet but isn't?

[terthen]

I recently purchased a Shuttle SK41G, and added:
Athlon XP 1700+
512 MB Crucial PC2100 RAM
40 GB 7200 RPM Maxtor HD
Verbatim 48x16x48 CD-RW

After reading raves about how quiet Shuttle XPCs were--almost "whisper" quiet, I was expecting a really quiet system, quiet enough that I wouldn't really notice it was on, but I must say this system is about as loud as my old Dell P3 450 (w/ 2 7200 RPM HDs). I was just wondering if the SK41G is louder than other XPCs or if this is considered really quiet, or if maybe I got a defective fan or it's just my 7200 RPM HD making most of the noise?

I check the PC Health in my bios after running the computer for 2 days and restarting--CPU temp is at 44 degrees so fan is only running at 2200 RPM, the manual says the fan will always run at around 2000 RPM if CPU temp is fine, so I guess this is just how it's gonna be?

any opinions would be appreciated--thanks!

 

[loup garou]

I don't know where you were reading about them being whisper quiet, everywhere I read people complain about the noise! The common fixes are replacing the fans, check the Sudhian forums for more info.

 

[terthen]

thanks for the reply--i did a google search for the shuttle cases but i failed to actually see what knowledgeable people said. now everywhere i look they say it is fairly loud, i'm second-guessing my purchase now because not only is it not any quieter but i don't like trying to figure out different ways to increase the cooling in my case... i'd rather just have a bigger case and not worry about cooling. not fond of touching the case and it being hot!

 

[Plester]

sadly to get a XPC quiet and have it cool effectively you will have to roll up your sleeves and do some case moding, fan swapping. the end result can be a little beast that puts out some horsepower. just a matter of what spins your wheels.

 

[Psychosylph]

Aaaaahhhhhh... It's all a matter of perspective; when you go from a mid-tower with 6-7 (or more) fans, the Shuttle IS whisper quiet. If you're looking for quieter, though, you will have to look at getting other fans. I tried a Vantec Stealth in my SN41G2, but it made things too toasty; keep in mind, this works in a spot that is not that well ventilated so YMMV. I then went with this Evercool aluminum fan that is a little quieter and has a higher CFM rating than stock and that is pretty nice. I suppose I could try the Adda PSU fan but, really, I can't hear it that much over my wife's overclocked mid-tower anyway...

 

[terthen]

yeah i guess compared to other computres it is whisper-quiet, and i failed to check the forums (and read online reviews) so i didn't get a full picture of what i was buying--i am still satisfied with the case tho becaus the size is great.

my cpu idles at 45 C and it seems my case is supposedly at 46 C. I was just wondering if this should be ok or if i should really plan to do some modding to drop the case temp so that i don't kill my HD or something?

i read an online review that had their cpu at 49 and their case at 47 and they were saying that "so the SK41g does a good job with the heat and we werne't concerned at all". seems a little hot to me...

 

[Psychosylph]

You should be alright - my proc runs at 48-52 w/ a case temp in the 46-48 range. Warmer than a normal case but well within specs and my case sits in a less than thermally ideal location...

 

[vladgur]

you should have gotten a pentium4 shuttle(ss51 or sb51). I had ss51 and other than the initial fan spinup at the boot, it was virtually quiet due to the fact that p4 northwood cpus are extremely cool and dont require high fan speeds....

 

[terthen]

dammit now i find this out...i haven't kept up with cpus and stuff in about a yr so i shoudl have done more resarch...if aynone else has a similar opiniona bout the ss51 i will probably try to switch to that...so if you agree it's quiet please let me know!

 

[Psychosylph]

I've heard that this is true because the P4 runs at a lower temperature thus the fan runs at lower speeds, usually. But if you're going P4 Shuttle, you have to look into the SB61G2.

 

[RedRonin]

There is also the fact you are using an Athlon XP 1700+, which if I remember correctly, actually runs hotter than later CPUs such as the Barton core AMD Athlon XP 2500+. You also have the Shuttle SK41G, which I think is slightly different in configuration from (and thereby perhaps louder than) the Shuttle SN41G2, an nVidia nForce2 based solution. Overall, the other responses are correct - it's all relative. If you want a small PC that is truly silent, go with a fanless Mini-ITX system with a built-in CPU. The more power you want, the more cooling you will need, the more noise you will endure. If all you need is a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive, a floppy or multimedia disk drive and a hard drive, the Shuttle XPC can fit the bill and still be immensely quieter than a seven bay tower while looking a lot better.

HUN-YA!

Red Ronin

 

[terthen]

yeah; i don't have a need for a bunch of bays or expansion so this system seemed to fit the bill. the temperature is something i'm worried about as a long term solution--i'm worried about my hard drive and motherboard being ok in this kind of environment, so i'll probably take out my floppy and add a hard drive cooler, but it seems the people in this forum (who definteily have more experience than i do with computers) are pretty confident that the temperatures in the shuttle may be high but not too high, so i'll stick with this and hope for the best!

i'll have to do some research on other CPUs, maybe i can land one that works w/ my shuttle (266 mhz) and doesn't produce as much heat

 

[Psychosylph]

Try a 1700+ TBredB - they run at 1.5V (DLT3C), so they are cooler, and if you want , they overclock like crazy (currently running 11.5 X 175 on my 1800+ DLT3C, JIUHB).

 

[drewshin]

from what i've read on the sudhian forums, the biggest noise maker is the ps fan. you can get a replacement for this fan by going to compusa and buying their "chipset cooler" which includes a 40mm fan. then rreplace the existing fan and run the cables and connect to one of the extra fan connectors on the motherboard.

 

[NeoZGeo]

that's def not a good idea, you should never change your PSU fan to a low speed fan. Especially the power supply isn't any ordinary unit. The shuttle box tends to get very toasty inside due to poor air ventilation.

My gBox does 20 idle/ 36 heavy load when running a 2.4 @ 2.7. You might want to check out the gBox barebones, suppose to be one of the best. Maximum PC reviewed it 9/10 from last issue. These cools the best, but a little bit louder since using active cooling. You can mod the fan from 7v to 5v and that should give you a really quiet system.

And they sell it @ lower price, better quality build than shuttle too.

$234.99 @ SVC New model too!

 

[terthen]

that gbox looks great; anyone else have any opinions on it?

i shoudl probabyl start a new thread, i've dragged this one out on everybody..

 

[Psychosylph]

The GBox is cool, but it still has an 845 chipset; I'd go with the Shuttle SB61G2 as it has an 865 chipset...

 

[bluemax]

I'm very disappointed that my Shuttle XPC is so darned noisy. My Dell is much, much quieter - even with one fan kinda' with one foot in the grave and making a slight buzz.

I'll be selling my SK41G and moving to another platform - something actually quiet. I'm content with microATX, so long as I don't need low-profile slots. I want to avoid the big, klunky tower though. I want something that looks nice on the desktop under the monitor.

 

[codeyf]

I like my SN45G. At default speeds (not OC'd) the system itself is VERY quiet. But I run the fan at "Mid" speed cuz I upped my 2500+ to 2.25ghz. So, it's in no way loud, but definitely not silent.

Thing is, for me, my Ti4800SE and LiteOn drive are whats so loud. I hear the vid card fan over the fans. And when I put a disc in the drive, it drowns out EVERYTHING!

 

[karmasalad]

It's hard to get a quiet PC these days in something the size of those Shuttle XPC boxes because of the amount of heat that today's components produce. It's much easier to get a quiet PC in a tower because of the greater airflow and the ability to use slow, quiet case fans.

I'd love to get an XPC for myself because I think they look fantastic and are a great idea, but the amount of noise that they make and their price premium are too much for me to ignore.