Shuttle XPC SN21G5 good?

[antbikerjl]

I am thinking of finally getting rid of my big ole' Stacker and going towards a new, small computer. Been looking at Shuttles recently and am really liking them. I have found one I seem to like on Directron, a Shuttle XPC SN21G5 and am just curious if it is a good system to start with. I will be putting in a Athlon 4400+ X2, 160GB HD, ATI Radeon x1900XT (512mb), Samsung DVD burner, and a Coolmaster Votex TX cpu heatsink/fan. Will this all work great together on the stock psu without much fiddling? Also, is the onboard lan and onboard sound decent as I am not needing high quality sound, just enough sound to play games with and listen to the ocassional music.

Link: http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SN21G5.asp

[antbikerjl]

wow, no comments yet? Heheh, stop partying people! ;)

[phalnax]

I am thinking of doing the exact same thing. Stackers seem lame now. I am currently using Asus's Vento 3600 which is too big...i mean its like there's an ugly looking ferrari *since the casing is red* parked on my tiny desk!
I am really interested in getting into SFF systems but no one has replied to my post yet...*feels like a bigger n00b than he already is*.... :confused:

[PsychoZA]

Imo, that PSU doesn't have a hope in hell of powering all that. Try the SN25P, but I'm even having issues with that PSU.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2695&p=6

At the bottom of the page, 300W on load just for the GPU. Even if that figure is off by 100W its still too much.

[PClark99]

I you want to go smaller I would recommend the Aspire QPack/micro-atx route over a shuttle. More for cooling and PSU flexibility over the shuttle than anything else.

[antbikerjl]

Yea, I am reconsidering going for the sn21 and going toward the SN25P because the SN21 does not have room to fit the double-wide 1900XT (using this card because I get half off ATI products), and it does have a preinstaleld media reader and also a bigger psu. But from what I hear, the psu mainly on any shuttle can usually handle the load I am putting on it due to their efficiency. Anywho, I am also lowering my specs to a 4200+ X2 and a 120 GB HD. Will this be able to be fully powered and work fine now?

[Bona Fide]

I'd just go for an Aspire X-QPack. It's larger, can fit a double-slot card more easily, and gives you more options for a stronger PSU.

[antbikerjl]

I looked at the Qpack, but didn't really like it too much. It does have better airflow but it is also bigger, I want something small, and the qpack is bigger than the sn25P. Any bad things about the SN25p that you guys can explain?

[Firelord]

You get a hsf with the shuttles so don't need that and the 350w PSU used in the SN25P is a very powerful little unit. Just becuase its 'only' 350w it has the amps etc thats required.

What about a sugo or q-micra with a matx board

[Soymilk]

the sn21g5 is a solid system, the only issue with it right now is overclocking; changing the voltages in the bios doesn't actually do anything, and i'm not sure about how high the fsb can go. i know it can get to 220, havent seen anyone get past that, but thats likely because of the voltage issues. i've heard someone got past it with stock voltage; that would mean the only issue is the voltage adjustment. i havent seen that for myself though.

a semi-issue for some people would be the 410 southbridge: it only has the alc650 or something like that, which sucks, and doesnt have gigabit ethernet. there is a pci slot though, so the sound is easily remedied, and gigabit ethernet doesn't really make a difference unless you're running a server or something off of it (which i doubt).



forgot to add:
i'd suggest getting a 7900gt instead of the x1900xt since the gt takes little power and has a one-slot cooler. two-slot coolers won't fit into the shuttle; the pci-e slot is against the outside, so you'd either have to cut a hole in the case cover or have the case cover off.

[Soymilk]

I looked at the Qpack, but didn't really like it too much. It does have better airflow but it is also bigger, I want something small, and the qpack is bigger than the sn25P. Any bad things about the SN25p that you guys can explain?
sn25p is good if you like the case. some people don't like the case, which is why they go with the sn21g5 instead. it's a solid overclocker, can do 300+ fsb.

i've seen some people say its noisy as hell, and some people say its the quietest thing they've ever owned, but they might've had different fan speed settings. plus "loud" means different things to different people.

it lacks a standard pci slot though. it has the pci-e x16 and a pci-e x1 slot.