Shuttle or something else?

I want to change my Delll Dimension E520 to something a little more quitier and more energy efficient and have been looking at the likes of Shuttle. Anyone got one and recommend me some parts or suggest an alternative?

• Wanting something that run Visual Studio 2008 (not often, but should be smooth);
• The odd bit of video conversion i.e. avi to DVD;
• Wont be playing games;
• Room for an optical drive;

Would this setup be fine for the aforementioned?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Shutt...Board-VGA-HDMI
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...-8MB-Cache-OEM
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Micro...t-1Pk-OEM-(DVD)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Arcti...-Favourite-One!

You can either go the Shuttle route or use a Silverstone Sugo SG01 or SG02 case instead.

The Shuttle route will be easier to build. I have two Shuttles at the moment and they have been great computers although some caveats apply:
1.) Shuttles are very picky about the RAM they can use.Make sure you use RAM which is on the compatibility list.
2.) They work better with two dimms even with the models which can accept four.
3.) They can be a bit noisier than a full sized PC.

Good points include:
1.)Excellent power supplies.Shuttles use server power supplies.
2.)Excellent build quality.


I would go for the following Shuttle model(SP35P2) instead:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133504

It can take a double width graphics card and has four dimm slots. It can also take two to three hard disk and an optical drive. It uses the P35 chipset. I have the earlier SD37P2 with a Q6600,4gb of RAM, 2 hard drives, optical drive,card reader and a double slot HD4830 graphics card.

Also Shuttles come with an integrated CPU cooler which is part of the design. Only the K45 and K48 do not come with a cooler.

I would also go for the following CPU instead:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...ache-8x-Retail

It is faster than the Q6600 and has lower power consumption too!!

Thanks man. I actually clicked purchase on the SG33g5B before refreshing this thread but it turns out the one you had recommended is coming in much cheaper from Overclockers. All i need now is for my order to appear in Scan so i can cancel all but the heatsink.

Cheers Cat

Shuttles come with their own CPU heatsink so you do not need to buy one!!

Here is the spec sheet:

http://eu.shuttle.com/en/desktopdefa...69_read-14323/

This is what the included cooler looks like:

http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data...8/2490/ICE.jpg

The Shuttle on sale at Ebuyer is the Pro version whereas the one on sale at OcUK is the non-Pro version.

This is the spec sheet for the non-Pro version:

http://www.shuttle.eu/en/DesktopDefa...70_read-14950/

Please do heed my warnings about the RAM though!

The specs for both (ebuyer and OC) appear to be the same although one just doesnt have the Pro written in the title. Both come with the fingerprint scanner.

One thing, how is the SP35p2 more energy efficient that the SG33G5B when its a 400W PSU and the latter is only a 250W?

The Pro has a fingerprint scanner and some additional features.

To use a double width graphic card in the Shuttle, you will have to mod the 12v power cable on the motherboard.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by vicar

To use a double width graphic card in the Shuttle, you will have to mod the 12v power cable on the motherboard.

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Not with the P2 series though. My HD3870 fitted without any problems in my SD37P2 and so have an 8800GTS 320mb and an 8800GTS 512mb. All of these cards had dual slot coolers. I even fitted an Akasa Vortexx Neo to the HD3870! The mod was only for very long cards like the GTX280.

There was a post about this on SFFTech.

Stand corrected should have said with the Nvidia 200 series.

Any chance of getting some suggestions for a Graphics card for the SP35P2-Pro? I dont need anything high end to play the latest games...but not ****e at the same time.

I would get a Sapphire HD4830 for around £90:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...html?SAP-4830#

Reviews:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...re,2098-4.html

http://www.bigbruin.com/2008/sapphire4830_1

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...e_hd4830&num=1

http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=654

http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/ind...=629&Itemid=27

http://www.cpu3d.com/review/6382-17/...onclusion.html

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...e_hd4830&num=2

Also the Sapphire HD4830 also has low power consumption as it downclocks itself to 160mhz for the core and 250mhz for the RAM in 2D mode!! :) Not all HD4830 cards do this!!

The other alternative would be an HD4670:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s....html?NOV-4670

The Novatech model is actually the Palit HD4670 Super! It is review here:

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/169...ard/index.html

Both cards are dual slot cards BTW so you cannot use the PCI slot.