Help me build a Shuttle PC

[Jon12345]

How about a Shuttle ST62K Zen - will this be ok?

My needs are as follows:

Pentium 2.6 - 3.0 (somewhere in that range) or Athlon
80-120gig HD
512-1024 RAM
Motherboards built in graphics is fine
Motherboards sound is fine
Needs to be networked so built in motherboard NIC would be good
15" TFT is fine or no monitor
OS not required as I already have it. Otherwise Win XP home edition.
Keyboard and mouse optional

The PC is to be used for number crunching on an automated process so it is unlikely to get much user attention. But I need TFT screen as space is tight.

Would be nice if it was quiet too.

How about the Shuttle ST62K Zen? What other parts would I need, at what cost and purchase from where?

Haven't been in this forum much but it looks great!!

Regards,

Jon

[Byatt]

without checking, all you'd need is a cd-rom drive to install windows from. You've listed the rest. Be aware that the ST62K is a pentium 4 cube, and that it doesn't have DVI out...so you'll need a tft with a d-sub connector. No s-ata either, so normal HD required.

[r1zeek]

the Zen ST62k is somewhere around £205 (probably lower), Has onboard 9100 chipset (ATi), the usual sound, USB and LAN (10 - 100Mbs) but the Power Supply is external (not sure how it works) and so it has not fan. I'll try and found out some more about it but it might take up a bit more space. You can get it off Microdirect.co.uk for £205 bang on the dot inc vat. As Byatt says its a p4 cube so you'll be needing a P4. Something like a 2.8 would do the trick but it depends what type of program your using to "crunch" those numbers. 2.8 P4 will cost you about £127 inc vat (from overclock.co.uk) A Maxtor 120 gig drive with 8mbs cache will cost you somewhere in region of £76.40 inc vat (from overclock.co.uk) Kingmax does 1gb of 400Mhz RAM (1024Mbs) for £143 inc vat (again, from overclock.co.uk) I found a nice Microsoft Wireless Desktop Keyboard and Mouse for £35 at overclock.co.uk (you can probably get all this stuff cheaper but I just looked on overclock.co.uk as they have alot of stock) and all iiyama TFT's (15 inch upwards do DVI and and D-Sub so they are a good option) the 19inch version costs somewhere over £400 but you can get 15inchers for much cheaper. CD Drives are pretty cheap, and you could always use an external USB CD drive to install your OS if you knew someone who would lend it to you. Otherwise you could just get a standard CD ROM drive for about £10+
Hope that helps

[Jon12345]

Ok, I think I will go for a Zen because it is quiet. Now for my peripherals...

Memory
Should I buy 512K from Crucial.co.uk for £65.99+vat or get some from Microdirect.co.uk for £56.25+vat?

Processor
Do I need the Intel P4 retail pack with the fan included or does the barebones system come with a processor fan? I am thinking of getting Intel® Pentium® 4 2.8GHz Prescott (800MHz) 1MB cache Retail inc.Fan (3 year warranty) for £104.95+vat from microdirect.co.uk. A good choice?

Hard drive
Are the Samsungs nice and quiet and good value? Looking for a 120meg drive. Any suggestions on a suitable model? Did I here there are some issues with ATA or something like that?

Getting excited about having a SFF PC...!!

By the way, how quiet is the SilentX 250W PSU?

Jon

[Swafe]

Should I buy 512K from Crucial.co.uk for £65.99+vat or get some from Microdirect.co.uk for £56.25+vat?

MD...its the same stuff just cheaper..

Do I need the Intel P4 retail pack with the fan included or does the barebones system come with a processor fan? I am thinking of getting Intel® Pentium® 4 2.8GHz Prescott (800MHz) 1MB cache Retail inc.Fan (3 year warranty) for £104.95+vat from microdirect.co.uk. A good choice?

nope, get OEM for cheaper, you use the shuttle ICE cooling to cool your cpu in a shuttle, thats quite a wise choice, as the prescotts overclock quite well (someone got a 2.4->4.8ghz)


Hard drive
Are the Samsungs nice and quiet and good value? Looking for a 120meg drive. Any suggestions on a suitable model? Did I here there are some issues with ATA or something like that?

i dont know crap about hdds, but go for one with 8mb cache if you can - quiter and faster

Getting excited about having a SFF PC...!!

good goood


By the way, how quiet is the SilentX 250W PSU?


pretty damn silent, my old shuttle was quite with no fans with a normal shuttle psu, its really the exhaust fan and the like that made the noise in mine

[Jon12345]

I've just been told that Northwoods are the ones to go for as they are slightly faster and generate a lot less heat. Is this true? Will it make much difference in my system?

[MD]

not sure about the speed, but heat wise, the northwoods are cooler, but the prescott has more on die cache.

Personally, if you got a shuttle and it will take the latest chip, and it don't cost you much more for the prescott then I would go for the prescott....

m@

[Jon12345]

But does it make much difference if it is hotter? Doesn't the Zen Shuttle use a silent solution?

[5cupa]

you might want to try the SFF forum, lots of experts and help in there