Please help me build my Shuttle

[TimJBart]

Hi there,

I've decided to nick some parts off my old pc and build myself a new Shuttle and I was owndering if you could give me any improvements or advice on the parts I'm going to use:


Shuttle SK43G AMD Barebones System (Got it bought for me so gotta use it )


AMD XP2500Heard it's a good solid processor and good for overclocking, although I've never done it before!)

1gig of this memory
(Or is it better to have 512MB of branded mem? How much faster is Crucial memory than a bog standard set of chips? Which brands are the best?)


Western Digital Caviar 120GB


NEC 2500 8x+/-DVDRW
(This is a good priced DVD writer but is the Pioneer 107 better as I've heard a lot of good things on the forums about it!)


MY old and trusty Nvidia Geforce 4 Ti 4200 64MB


Have I missed anything out? What could I do to improve it without breaking by bank!
Thanks in advance!

[MAS]

Looks like a pretty good setup, I built a mate a shuttle with the NEC and while the Pioneer 107 has a good reputation, so does the NEC and we've had no problems so far.

Personally I'd go for branded memory. Which brand you go for depends on whether you're going to be overclocking it or not. Crucial is reliable, but IIRC the 3200 they do has a CAS rating of 3, which is a little slow, better going for something with a CAS of 2.5 or lower. I got TwinMOS (without Winbond chips), it was only a little more expensive than the generic stuff and it's fine. But then I dont overclock.

[0iD]

Kingmax also make good reliable & cheap memory. I have some PC3500 that was the same price as corsair PC3200. U tend to get what u pay for ram-wise.
XP2500's are good chips, even the later multiplier locked ones will go 200mHz+ with little or no tweaking required.

[Rabs]

Although shuttles are great machines, dont expect big box overclocking tricks, remember due to the small space they tend to run hotter than standard big box machines. Spend a little extra on a bigger CPU and stick with branded ram - at least 512MB.

I've got a few NEC 2500's for me and friends, all work flawlessly. Pioneer used to be the best name but its more or less an even field in the DVD Writing stakes nowadays.

[andrewuk]

As far as I know the NEC 2500A and Pioneer 107 use the same chipset, so they are basically the same drive anyway. I have a 2500A in mine and it works flawlessly but whichever one you get would be fine!

[^^Gord^^]

You thought about getting the mobile version of the XP2500? They run at 1.45v so that should help to keep the heat down (they are also multiplier unlocked but I don't know if you get that option with the SK43G)

http://www.cpucitystore.co.uk/catalo...roducts_id=392