Just got Shuttle SN45G for 2nd Time

[tehkylez0r]

Hey guys,

Looking for some expert opinions. I just got my 2nd SN45G back from Newegg, because I had to RMA the first one after it just died after not 4 hours of usage. I think it was a result of me changing the BIOS settings when I first recieved the unit. Here are my system specs:

Athlon XP 3000+
Geforce 4 Ti4800 AGP 8X
1 GB (2 512 Sticks) of PC3200 RAM (Corsair value variety)
80 GB Western Dig 7200 RPM HD
NEC DVDRW 4x +/-

I have a few questions:
1- Should I get the 250 PSU upgrade I have seen around? Is it worth the extra 50W?

2- What is a good fan to replace the big 80MM fan in back with, since it is really loud and revs like a ************? Also, where can I buy it?

3- I would really appreciate if someone could give me a safe set of RAM timings and other BIOS options I must change from the defaults so this baby doesnt get toasted again.

Thanks in advance for anyone who responds, I am really hoping to avoid another death for my Shuttle.

[Wurzel]

Well regarding the psu, i had one of the dodgy enhance ones with my shuttle so i got the silenx jobbie. It is nice and quiet and i think i lets my system run a little cooler aswell, so i think its worth it

For the fan, the noiseblockers from www.ultim8pc.co.uk seem to be good or perhaps a vantec stealth fan from www.kustompcs.co.uk

The setting that breaks the mobo is the vdimm (ram voltage) so as long as you don't go near it with a bargepole you should be fine btw some people have reported some success using it with the newer shuttles, have a look at the www.sfftech.com forums for some more info, although personally i wouldn't risk anouther dead shuttle

[0iD]

Corsair ram timings can be found here

I use a pabst fan on my shuttle, very quiet.

Good luck btw.

[tehkylez0r]

Thanks alot!

Yeah, I think I may go with the Vantec stealth and I'm leaning towards getting that psu. Just want to be safe. Thanks again, and I'm sure I'll have more questions. Hehe

[tehkylez0r]

Well, this SN45G is doing the same rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish the one I RMA-ed did, so I will try and explain it below and hope someone can help.

Basically, I make changes to the BIOS as follows:

I remove Floppy support and change boot order so CDROM boots first (in place of floppy) and take away Floppy boot seek, because I dont have a floppy drive.

I then change the FSB to 200 like I am supposed to be able to run. I Change AGP aperature size to 128MB, and I turn off AGP fast writes. Other than that, I maintain the settings that are loaded when Optomized defaults are used. When I try to restart, I cannot. System powers on, but doesnt get past post. I can only run past post in safe mode after I have used the jumper on pins 2-3 to reset to fail safe defaults. When I boot up, my XP 3000+(2.1Ghz) appears as a 1050MHZ (yes, half) and the memory frequency says its at 400 Mhz. Then I get this message:

CMOS Checksum error - defaults loaded
Warning! Now System is in Safe-Mode
Please re-setting CPU or Memory Ratios/Frequency in CMOS setup

I then have the choice to continue or go into setup. When I continue, I am obviously running at half speed for the chip, and whatever else the fail safe defaults load. When I go into setup and make changes, after I do save and exit I get stuck back at square one again, unable to pass post.

This is driving me nuts, I dont want to have to run my chip at half speed. ANy suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[tehkylez0r]

Just thought Ide be more specific on my RAM type

Corsair
Part Number: VS1GBKIT400 PC3200 1024MB 2x64Mx64