Why SFF?

[agogley]

I can't decide what to buy. I am overwhelmed with the choices. I thought I wanted a SFF but now I don't know. why did you build yours and what would you do now?

 

[QurazyQuisp]

Why did I buy an SFF? (I have my sn25p, but I won't be finishing it until late august) Because I figured that the cost of building a nice tower would cost nearly the same as purchasing my sn25p for $350. Plus, I don't have to worry about getting quiet components because everything is engineered the the case to make it a quiet computer. Here is how I justified the $350:

Decent case: Antec P180 - ~$120 (P180 was my top choice for a case, before I decide to go for a Shuttle SFF)
Decent nForce 4 Ultra motherboard - ~$110
Decent Quiet Powersupply - ~$80
Decent CPU Cooler: Zalman - ~$35
Two Quiet 120mm Fans - ~$20

Total: ~$365, While it does offer more expansion, the quietness, the size, and the overall look of the shuttle is what made me buy it, everything matches with the shuttle, the drives are stealthed, usb and audio is also stealthed.

Now, I'll know if this is actually worth it if the shuttle preforms with out a hitch aswell as it looks.

 

[agogley]

Do you primarily think of saving space? It seems to me that you could get some of the same cosmetic features with the mid-tower. Many people seem to complain that SFFs are hotter and therefore louder than a mid-tower. Additionally, your expansion options are more limited with a shuttle since you can't replace the mobo. I am just trying to get a glimmer of your motivation as I try to weigh the pros and cons myself before I purchase anything.

 

[QurazyQuisp]

Space was part of it, but I really don't care that much. The P series shuttles run at about 27 db, which is quite quiet. I actually like the antec p180 cosmetic better then the shuttle, but the smallness and everything about the shuttle is why I bought it. I'm not really worried about the expansion options, right now, I only use one PCI slot and that is for my tv tuner, I've really never had a need for anything more then that, besides that, nearly everything that I want is made with a USB version, and with the 8 USB ports the shuttle has, I doubt I'll run out. (4 on back, two infront, two inside). Once you own a shuttle, you'll know why people like them. They are very nice in build quality and the engineering that goes into them is amazing.

 

[Megamixman]

Let?s put it this way: When you bring your small "puny" box to a LAN, and then see it perform as well your friend's mammoth, you get one of those happy feelings. It doesn't stop there. The real fun begins when your getting ready to leave, because you can take your Shuttle with you, put it in the car, and then return to watch your friend lug the mammoth out the door. ;p

 

[w00t]

LAN see silver bullet

 

[piasabird]

I did not choose SFF, but I have thought about it. I have 2 main concerns; heat and technical ability.

With a smaller case design you have to insure that the case can get rid of more heat than it creates. These custom cases may be qetting quite nice. I have seen on or two made by A-Open that run on P4-M which have lower watt usage and less heat to get rid of at a fairly competitive price.

The other problem is the ability of the computer to do what you want. This depends on your needs. If you are a gamer or some kind of power user you may have to really worry about storage capacity and the extra heat made by high-end graphics or high speed drives or by having multiple hard drives.

Even when looking at shuttle cases you need to look at the air flow patternes and make your own choice. Some models are better than others. I am more of a minimalist and a realist. I like my big bulky case and 19" Flat Tube Monitor because they work well and are less expensive.

What is smaller is more expensive!

Personally I wish smaller computers would use and be designed for things like a thin laptop DVD+-rw/DVD+-rw and maybe a thin laptop hard drive. They tend to be slightly slower but they are good for excess or secondary storage.

 

[w00t]

why not go sff? is the real question.
memtest 10hours passed.
3dmark05 3rd place with same gpu and processor
pcmark05 1st place with same gpu and processor
prime95 8hours 32min did last night passed 0 errors.

 

[w00t]

why not go sff? is the real question.
memtest 10hours passed.
3dmark05 3rd place with same gpu and processor
pcmark05 1st place with same gpu and processor
prime95 8hours 32min did last night passed 0 errors.

 

[ShellGuy]

The Aopen u were talkin about uses the P-m processer not the P4-M i wager.


Will G.