First time shuttle build. Anyone got an recommendations on this build!

[Grey M@a]

Hi all

Always built my own machines but this is the first time I will be popping my small form factor cherry so to speak.

I am looking at this build below:



Anyone recommend any changes to this?

I already have the usual like 19" TFT Dell 1907FP, WD 500GB 24/7 sata2 hard drive and a nec 7150 SATA dvd burner so covered on that front. Also with the 4gb of ram I know I will need to go 64bit on the OS front but would you recommend XP 64bit or Vista Ultimate 64bit?

Thanks for any advice people can give

Fox

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would advice you to go on the SFFTECH forums as there are many Shuttle users on there and there is even a dedicated Shuttle forum.

I have issues running 4gb stably with my SD37P2 but I am uncertain whether the later models have this issue?!

[Grey M@a]

Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

I would advice you to go on the SFFTECH forums as there are many Shuttle users on there and there is even a dedicated Shuttle forum.

I have issues running 4gb stably with my SD37P2 but I am uncertain whether the later models have this issue?!

Will check them out.

Might stick with 2gb of memory then from scan for £40 ish for the same memory and stick with xp 32bit

[staffsMike]

The 400W psu should be just enough for that graphics card. hoefully won't cause problems.

Also be careful with double width graphics cards. The PCIe on shuttles is normally the outer of the two slots but the case is usually designed to fit double width these days

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

With a bit of wriggling you can fit a 8800GTS 320mb or HD3870 without any major issues. I can run a HD3870 in my SD37P2 which has the 400W PSU.

Also Shuttles tend to be very picky about which memory you can use. I would do my research regarding this!

[Grey M@a]

Thanks for the heads up, I have been reading the compatibility lists on the shuttle site and the corsair memory is listed with a few other makes and some crucial sticks etc.

Other than Shuttle could anyone recommend any other similar cases/barebone systems from other makers?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Silverstone Sugo SG01 or SG02. However I prefer Shuttle more!

[staffsMike]

The silverstone SG01 is such a nice case.

My only beef with it is the room you have for a HSF. It's designed to fit the silverstone NT-06lite which is a pathetic passive cooler (it's supposed to use the PSU's fan but of course we all buy psu's with fans that spin slowly and quietly so it's ineffective)

You can fit the thermaltake blue orb though which is a good cooler

There's the Thermaltake Lanbox which is a great cube case. Looks nice an you can get them without a handle.
Thermaltake VF1000BWS Lanbox - Black

There is this one to which I think is great. Bit cheap looking though.
Aerocool Cube Case > M40 - No Psu- Coolest Cube Case On The Planet- All Black - XCASE No1 For pc computer cases, atx cases & rackmount cases

It's split into two layers and you fan fit some half decent HSF's in there. It also has 3x 80mm fans on the back and a 120mm at the front so it's very nicely cooled.

The shuttle's are nice and small but I don't like the PSU's they use as they seem to fail quite a bit. That might be unfounded though.

If it were me and I didn't want the Shuttle I would buy the following,

Silverstone SG01 or Thermaltake Lan Box or the Aerocool M40
Thermaltake blue orb or Scythe mini minja (for the Aerocool as I think it would fit)
Asus/Gigabyte G33 Motherboard or the new Gigabyte 630i
Corsair 520w HX
4GB of RAM
Q6600
512mb GTS etc..

I Think it will be cheaper in the end, especially with the 630i motherboard and you get all the extended warranties of the seperate peices.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think that the Shuttle PSUs are fine and that their ratings in watts are quite conservative. They are made by FSP BTW.

[Grey M@a]

Been looking at all the options and thinking I will stick with the shuttle option.

Just noticing all the GTS cards I can find are 512mb what happened to the 640mb ones?

[staffsMike]

The 512mb ones use the new G92 core. They give performance closer to the GTX so it's a much better card.

[Ady168uk]

Lian Li V350B

considering this for my next build, supports M-ATX and has pretty good cooling. I am currently still using a shuttle but rather get a case where I can upgrade parts if I need to, gonna shove a corsair or seasonic psu in there, should be nice quite box for HTPC.

The SP35P2PRO does looks damn nice though hehe, tough choice

self built, case £80, mobo £100, psu £70 CPU/HS £20 works out slightly cheaper.

[Grey M@a]

Sorry for the late reply, had a busy few weeks, as have most I would assume

Thanks for the suggestions, will have a look at that lian li case Had their cases in the past and always been happy with them.

Thanks for the heads up on the GTS card to

[MSIC]

I have a couple thoughts on the graphics card really, although i must emphasise this is opinion only, not experience...
I recognise that shuttles PSUs are good, and possibly rate the wattage under what they can really do, but still a 400W PSU for a Quad core CPU plus an 8800GTS seems to be concerning for me from a safe power delivery point of view.

Your monitor appears to be 1280 x 1024, so the 8800GTS appears to be dramatic overkill. A 256MB memory card is ample for nearly any game (apart from Crysis of course).

Finally, from a heat point of view, even if that particular Shuttle is good at removing heat, it's still alot of heat generated in a small space, not a good situation for anyone.

With these factors in mind, i would wholeheartedly recommend you consider an AMD 3850 (probably best) or 3870 (if you really want to cover yourself).

[Grey M@a]

Yeah the heat and power was a concern of mine and started looking about for info on it. Found the majority of the reviews were all using the same quad cpu but they were on GTX cards instead.

If it comes to the crunch I could just buy the parts to stick it in my current cheiftec case but that case is years old and probably not the best thing to use :/

Will wait a while to see when and if hexus or bit-tech get this unit for reviews

[MSIC]

Am just curious though - why such a powerful card for your resolution? Planning for a bigger monitor in the future, or something else?