Hey. Ive decided to bring a desktop to college, and for portability and power I am going with a shuttle SB61G2BV3. I am going to use a p4 3.0e processor. 2x512 Geil Value Ram pc 3200, radeon 9800pro aiw, 120gb Maxtor Hd, a cdrw/dvd combo drive. I plan to do some gaming, half life 2, doom 3, but not as much. Is installing the heat pipe difficult? Will this system be loud? Ive priced it at newegg for around 1000 dollars, any problem with the build? Thanks.
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Building My First Computer for college, Going XPC.
- Thread starter Javalio
- Start date
Looks like a pretty solid system, I dont' think you'll have any problems, and Shuttle's tend to be pretty quiet because of the heat pipe system. And I'm assuming you need the AIW functions, but otherwise I'd recommend an x800 or 6800 based card, for not too much more you get a lot better performance on the newer games.
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
- Messages
- 7,090
If you're going to be using a Prescott, maybe you should think about the P series chassis which is based off of a 915 chipset at the moment. If you don't plan to overclock much, it may be a good idea.
I need the aiw for a tv, since i want my dorm to be as simple as possible. This system would be everything i need, stereo, tv, computer, etc. As a matter of principle i wouldnt trust a brand new chipset, id give it a year. How well does the heat pipe handle overclocking a prescott btw?
"Is installing the heat pipe difficult?"
No. Not at all.
"I am going to use a p4 3.0e processor."
Don't. The "e" P4s are prescott cores. You would be better off going with the "c" revision - it's cooler and faster.
I'd also recommend Athlon 64 if you're not doing a lot of media encoding. It draws less power and has "cool and quiet" which downclocks the CPU and reduces noise/heat/power usage.
"120gb Maxtor Hd"
If you want space, that's fine, but if you have the money, I'd go for a 74GB Raptor.
"2x512 Geil Value Ram pc 3200"
Avoid this stuff. I've had problems using it with various platforms. In the budget DDR category, Corsair Value Select or Crucial is better.
"radeon 9800pro aiw"
If you want the video-in capabilities, this is a great card. Otherwise, I'd recommend the faster 6800GT.
"a cdrw/dvd combo drive"
An 8X DVD+RW is only $80, so I wouldn't bother with the combo drive.
Here's what I'm going to build:
Shuttle SN85G4V2 ($298 at Newegg)
Athlon 64 2800+ ($173 at Newegg)
2x 256M (1GB total) Crucial DDR400 ($176 at Newegg)
BFG Tech GeForce 6800 GT ($400 at chumbo.com)
WD 74GB 10K Raptor ($183 at Newegg)
NEC 8X DVD+RW DL ($79 at Newegg)
$1309 is the total. A little more than what you wanted to spend, but it will absolutely smoke in D3 and HL2.
No. Not at all.
"I am going to use a p4 3.0e processor."
Don't. The "e" P4s are prescott cores. You would be better off going with the "c" revision - it's cooler and faster.
I'd also recommend Athlon 64 if you're not doing a lot of media encoding. It draws less power and has "cool and quiet" which downclocks the CPU and reduces noise/heat/power usage.
"120gb Maxtor Hd"
If you want space, that's fine, but if you have the money, I'd go for a 74GB Raptor.
"2x512 Geil Value Ram pc 3200"
Avoid this stuff. I've had problems using it with various platforms. In the budget DDR category, Corsair Value Select or Crucial is better.
"radeon 9800pro aiw"
If you want the video-in capabilities, this is a great card. Otherwise, I'd recommend the faster 6800GT.
"a cdrw/dvd combo drive"
An 8X DVD+RW is only $80, so I wouldn't bother with the combo drive.
Here's what I'm going to build:
Shuttle SN85G4V2 ($298 at Newegg)
Athlon 64 2800+ ($173 at Newegg)
2x 256M (1GB total) Crucial DDR400 ($176 at Newegg)
BFG Tech GeForce 6800 GT ($400 at chumbo.com)
WD 74GB 10K Raptor ($183 at Newegg)
NEC 8X DVD+RW DL ($79 at Newegg)
$1309 is the total. A little more than what you wanted to spend, but it will absolutely smoke in D3 and HL2.
Javalio said:I need the aiw for a tv, since i want my dorm to be as simple as possible. This system would be everything i need, stereo, tv, computer, etc. As a matter of principle i wouldnt trust a brand new chipset, id give it a year. How well does the heat pipe handle overclocking a prescott btw?
OK, but not great. The Prescott is one hot chip.
You can always get a standalone TV card. $35 is reasonable.
bsoft said:OK, but not great. The Prescott is one hot chip.
You can always get a standalone TV card. $35 is reasonable.
That would use up his one PCI slot. Personally, I plan on going with a USB 2.0 TV card (waiting on ATI's right now). Sure, it's an extra box to carry around but I look at it this way: if I'm going to a LAN party, I don't need a TV tuner so I'm still at 1 box, and if I'm moving the computer between my house and school, I have so much other crap to carry (speakers, cables, mouse, keyboard) that that one box does not matter too much.
This would also let you get an X800 or 6800-series graphics card.
i like this thread. i helped my girlfriend build a computer very similar to yours just a few weeks ago.
The SB61G2V3 is a great case, it's pretty quiet on its own. The silenx psu is very quiet. Right now on my girlfriends computer the loudest part is the CPU fan. You may want to repalce it with a Panaflo M1A. BUT the fan on the SB61G2V3 is a 80x80x15mm fan. I'd recommend the M1A with speed sensor. Just cut off certain corners to make the fan fit. That'll quiet down the computer pretty well.
Just like everyone else has said, dont go prescott. It's too hot for the little shuttle. The 3.0 or 2.8C is the way to go.
The videocard is a great choice. My girlfriend has the 9600xt AIW, no problems. You may want to change the videocard fan for an iceberq, but that'll requires a little dremeling to make it fit on your card. But the features are great.
I'd reccommend that you hold off on 1gb of ram and just get 512 of GOOD ram and then get the other 512 when time and money permits. Look for Corsair XMS. I hear it works great with the shuttle.
As for the hard drive you may want to look into getting an SATA drive with atleast 120Gb. You might want to consider more space, for games, files, and encoding. If this is yoru first year in college, you'll be downloading ALOT.
The heatpipe is very simple to put in. Since your using a p4 it comes with the heatspreader so no worries about chipping and expensive cores.
Also if you're really looking for portability you may want to pickup a nice LCD. I recommend the Samsung 710T. It's a bit expensive but a great monitor. If you need help with modding your shuttle check out these forums or www.sudhian.com. Beyond that I don't know what else i can tell ya. Good luck with your build.
The SB61G2V3 is a great case, it's pretty quiet on its own. The silenx psu is very quiet. Right now on my girlfriends computer the loudest part is the CPU fan. You may want to repalce it with a Panaflo M1A. BUT the fan on the SB61G2V3 is a 80x80x15mm fan. I'd recommend the M1A with speed sensor. Just cut off certain corners to make the fan fit. That'll quiet down the computer pretty well.
Just like everyone else has said, dont go prescott. It's too hot for the little shuttle. The 3.0 or 2.8C is the way to go.
The videocard is a great choice. My girlfriend has the 9600xt AIW, no problems. You may want to change the videocard fan for an iceberq, but that'll requires a little dremeling to make it fit on your card. But the features are great.
I'd reccommend that you hold off on 1gb of ram and just get 512 of GOOD ram and then get the other 512 when time and money permits. Look for Corsair XMS. I hear it works great with the shuttle.
As for the hard drive you may want to look into getting an SATA drive with atleast 120Gb. You might want to consider more space, for games, files, and encoding. If this is yoru first year in college, you'll be downloading ALOT.
The heatpipe is very simple to put in. Since your using a p4 it comes with the heatspreader so no worries about chipping and expensive cores.
Also if you're really looking for portability you may want to pickup a nice LCD. I recommend the Samsung 710T. It's a bit expensive but a great monitor. If you need help with modding your shuttle check out these forums or www.sudhian.com. Beyond that I don't know what else i can tell ya. Good luck with your build.
Heh I stiill cant decide whether to go a64 or p4. I already have a 15in lcd, so i may hold off on a bigger one until i decide I need it. I may pick up an x600 or an x800, but ill see what happens. I still dont know my budget, and i didnt want to put a whole lot of money into a system. I know this sounds stupid, but id rather get out, meet girls, and do homework than play games all the time, yet still have a solid gaming system. Would I notice a difference on the p4 by not having dual channel ram?
Javalio said:Heh I stiill cant decide whether to go a64 or p4. I already have a 15in lcd, so i may hold off on a bigger one until i decide I need it. I may pick up an x600 or an x800, but ill see what happens. I still dont know my budget, and i didnt want to put a whole lot of money into a system. I know this sounds stupid, but id rather get out, meet girls, and do homework than play games all the time, yet still have a solid gaming system. Would I notice a difference on the p4 by not having dual channel ram?
Javalio said:Heh I stiill cant decide whether to go a64 or p4. I already have a 15in lcd, so i may hold off on a bigger one until i decide I need it. I may pick up an x600 or an x800, but ill see what happens. I still dont know my budget, and i didnt want to put a whole lot of money into a system. I know this sounds stupid, but id rather get out, meet girls, and do homework than play games all the time, yet still have a solid gaming system.?
A64 is my choice. I've looked at P4 but it's the features of A64 that always have me coming back. A64 is comparable in price, but it has features - particularly "Cool n' Quiet" that make it very attractive for a SFF system. With an A64 system, that rear fan will spin up less often and your system will use less power. Not to mention all of the other nice A64 features (low-latency on-chip memory controller, 64-bit instructions, NX for increased security).
If you do a lot of movie editing or other such work, P4 may be better.
I'm a fan of NVIDIA cards. I've had bad luck with ATI cards (incompatibility with my LCD) and I find that NVIDIA's drivers are better. Your results may vary. I still highly recommend the 6800GT - you get the same performance as the top of the line for a decent pricepoint. Plus, if you get a BFG Tech card, you don't have to worry about it crapping out in the future.