Shuttle or Normal?

Right well, I have to decide between two systems. Trying to make a budget gaming system for under £750.

Shuttle SN25P-------------------------DFI Lanparty Nforce 4 Ultra-D
Athlon64 3200+------------------------Athlon64 3200+
2x512MB Crucial DDR400 (value stuff)---2x512mb Crucial DDR400 (value stuff)
XFX Geforce 6600GT 128MB------------Gigabyte 6600GT 128MB
NEC ND-3540A Black OEM--------------NEC ND-3540A Black OEM
--------------------------------------Tagan 480W PSU
--------------------------------------Asetek Waterchill KT12A-L20/220V
--------------------------------------ASUS TM-250 Case

Total £710.01(with XPsp2)------------Total £735.70(without XP)


Firstly, that RAM isnt overly rubbish is it? It should handle quite a bit of gaming and 'maybe' some small overclocking.

Secondly, will both these systems be suitable for new and upcoming games like FEAR and Battlefield2?

Thirdly, does active armour (not included with the SN25P) do anything important?

And lastly, which of the two would you prefer sitting on your desk at home?

HDD shall come from the system i have already and i can get the soundcard too from the one i have now but i suppose the Envy24 chip the shuttle has shall suffice. I hear it is actually pretty good.
I prefer the SN25P but thats only cause i think it looks pretty cool :cool: and also can be improved more and still be less than 750.

Thanksing you

on kompett there is this RAM http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=308282&s=sc

rated a bit faster and is only a bit more expensive than the crucial stuff. However i thought this ram needs to be charged with a whole 3.5 or more Volts for optimum results. the shuttle goes up to 2.8V. Will this cause problems with this ram even if i don't overclock it much?

The 25P does, indeed look cool but can you really justify NOT getting watercooling for a full tower system? :)

I've got a shuttle and it is very cool but watercooling in such a small system is very tight and very expensive :( TBH, unless you really want the shuttle go with the tower, you'll be able to overclock a lot more and it will allow you to expand for future use.

As the shuttle works out cheaper for a very similar specced system and it comes with XP i would go for that one.

There would be little difference between them

However if you are looking to the future, the Tower Case will run alot cooler, be easier upgradeable in future and most likely be quieter too!!!

If you are hoping to lug the system around a lot i would go for the Shuttle, but if you want a budget gaming system, drop the Watercooling, you don't really need it, a decnt heat sink ~ £20 will cool your CPU very close to what that water kit could.

I hope that helps, so i havent voted as both sets have their merits. But remember you have to live with it, if you prefer the Shuttle get the shuttle, there should be little stopping you.

Ian

just realised that the shuttle only has one ide connection. So i will need to buy a sata hdd but they aren't that expensive. Also i managed to scrap some corsair xms3200xl ram and stay within the limits including the hdd so yer the shuttle it is.

I don't really need to be that future proof with the shuttle. If i ever needed to upgrade it with anything (such as the new PPUs :) ) the one pci-e slot should be ok as i'll never need a tv card or whatnot. Also, I suppose that if i really wanted watercooling. I could always mod it :) or try