• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Buy Shuttle or DIY Barebone?

C

Cri

n00b
Joined
Nov 4, 2004
Messages
29
Hi guys,

I´m thinking in one of these little beasts.

I don´t know what to do? Buy a Shuttle (assembled sistem) or just go the DIY way.

Graphic + cpu + memory will be almost the same on both, still dont know AGP or PCI-E.

In shuttle Would be one of those:
SN95G5 Socket 939, chipset Nforce3 + agp
SN95G5v3_top.jpg

http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SN95G5 V3.asp

ST20G5 Socket 939, chipset Ati Radeon Xpres + PCI-E
ST20G5_AD.jpg

http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/ST20G5.asp


SN25P Socket 939, chipset Nforce4 + PCI-E
sn25p_AD.jpg

http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SN25P.asp


For the barebone:
Case Aspire Q-Pack
X-QPACK-AL-0_500.jpg


Mainboard m-atx one of those:
ASROCK 939A8X-M Socket 939, Chipset Uli y AGP
ECS RS480-M Socket 939, chipset Ati Radeon Xpres y PCI-E
MSI RS480M2-IL Socket 939, Chipset Ati Radeon Xpress y PCI-E

Thanks for help?

Regards
 
Shuttle costs is lot higher than that of Qpack... But size factor also comes into play cause Qpacks' are larger than Shuttle (not by much).
 
I have owned all 4 of these that you listed and can give you some feedback.

The SN25P is without a doubt the best performing of the lot since it uses an Nforce4 Ultra MB and can take a video card with a double slot cooler. It also runs practically silent! My only gripe was that it has a PCI-E 1X slot which is totally useless. This was fine when I was using my double slot cooler and playing HL2, FArcry and CS:S, but once I discovered that BF2 suppports true 5.1 audio surround with an Audigy 2 - I sold my SN25P since I could not use my Audigy or X-Fi in it.

My search to build a better Shuttle or DIY MATX SFF has not lived up to the performance of the SN25P but I did find some viable alternatives that are close:

Shuttle SN95G5 V3 - you will be limited to AGP video but it is also a very good performer and works with all my CPU's including E4 stepping X2 3800+ which overclocks nicely!
Running X2 3800+ / X800XT PE / Audigy 2 ZS

Shuttle ST20G5 - Makes a great media center PC or OK if you are a casual gamer. I had high hopes for this model as I could use PCI-E video and an Audigy 2 with my FX-55. However I could not resolve HUGE interemittant performance drops that would last minutes at a time in demanding games. I even bought a second ST20G5 and it had the same issues. (Note : that all of the componments I used are working great in other PC's) I suspect there are limitations with the ATI chipset used on the MB.

SG01/Foxconn NF4/OCZ modstream - Had problems with the Foxconn MB working with my two clawhammer CPU's - would only post and boot up 1 in 10 tries. Only recognized single core of my X2 3800+. The SG01 was HUGE compared to my Shuttles and I could not get used to the size. Ended up RMA'ing everything back to Newegg after much frustration. Did not like the interanal setup and limited to 60mm fans!

X-Qpack - I took a chance and ordered the new Black windowless model and a refurbished MSI RS480M2 from Newegg - total cost $136. I am having some issues with lockups and replaced the PSU and added a Zalman 7000Cu CPU cooler since my FX-55 heatpipe would not mount secure. As it turns out it did not like my Audigy 2 ZS for some reason and is happy with my X-fi. Working great now with an FX-55 / X850XT / X-fi. Fairly quiet but not as quiet as Shuttle's at Idle. A very nice and inexpensive SFF MATX solution.

Shuttle SB83G5: Yeah it's an Intel model and not quite as fast as the SN25P/AMD but has been rock solid and is actually my main gaming rig now! I am running a P4 3.4 EE / 7800GTX and X-Fi with no issues at all! Definitely worth some consideration as Shuttle has a new 300W PSU available to use in this model as an accessory.

After all my experiences I would definitely stear you towards a Shuttle as they are so quiet and and easily outperform the pitiful selection of MB's available currently for MATX!
 
ive used a shuttle and ive built a qpack and i prefer the shuttle. the sn25g is awesome and so is the sn85g5. worked flawlessly. the qpack is a little bigger but not by much as said above. i prefer the shuttles though. they have a proven track record and are very well made. good luck!
 
My experience (having only two of the systems you mentioned):

SN25P
Generally, Shuttles are excellent PCs. However, I had a bum PSU in it. Here's the damnable thing about Shuttles, though - ALL PROPRIETARY PARTS! If the PSU is bad....you can't replace it! If the mobo goes bad....you can't replace it! If the CPU heatpipe springs a leak....you can't replace it! If the side panel of the case breaks....you can't replace it! Etc, et al.

Shuttle WON'T sell spare parts of any of those things, either. So, your only alternative is to buy a Shuttle box and pray nothing breaks - or, if it does break, the system is still under warranty and Shuttle is still making the part that broke so they can replace it.

Otherwise, you are S-O-L and have to buy an entirely new system from them.

That realization - when trying to fight through what was wrong with my SN25P (I finally had to RMA replace *everything* before I just sold it off) - steered my away from Shuttle for good. I'm just too much of a tinkerer to be so completely locked into a specific hardware configuration.

As to the box itself - well, I gotta say, it DID feel fast. Fastest of any of the SFFs I've built - benchmarks don't show that (my current system is much faster) - but it "felt" snappier. The single-core-chipset design instead of the dual NB/SB-chipset-design of the alternative solutions may have something to do with that, dunno.

It was also "small". Bigger than the last XPC I had (SN45G), but noticeably smaller than the X-QPACK. I posted some side-by-side pics over here.

Aspire X-QPACK
First, let me start off by saying that I tried Foxconn NF4 mobo and it SUCKED. Didn't recognize both cores of the CPU - even with a BIOS flash - ran slow, unstable, etc. Also tried with an MSI RS480M2. OMFG, what a TURD of a motherboard! Course, MSI generally sucks anyway, but this was shockingly bad even for them. NO overclocking options of ANY kind, virtually no ram tweaking options, and SLOW AS HELL.

However, I'm now using a Jetway A210GDMS-Pro. Gotta say, this mobo is rock-solid stable at stock clocks, and overclocks *fairly* well (could be better, but, hey, it's SFF, what do you want?). Definitely heads and tails about the alternative solutions - although the ATI Xpress200/ULi chipset combination *is* a little odd to configure properly (if not, you'll see the problems the previous poster reported with the ST20G5...uses the same chipset combo).

Once you've got the right drivers in place, though, it's spectacular. See 3dMark scores in sig, for example. It's a fast, fast, fast system - and VERY stable. Only downside - as noted above - it's not quite as "snappy" as the SN25P felt. On the other hand, it's a standard mATX mobo so....if it dies, I can fix it. If a SLI mATX mobo comes out...I can upgrade it.

The integrated audio on this is the 'Azalia' HD Audio spec. Competitive with the Envy24 on the SN25P - although I'd probably take the Envy24 over this. On the other hand, the SN25P has no PCI slot, so....Envy24 is all you GET on that one. With the Jetway A210GDMS-Pro, you've got a pair of PCI slots in addition to the PCI-E slots (16x and 1x). Which is handy - Audigy or X-Fi fits fine in it.

As to the PSU - well, it sucks. Don't use it. For an $80 case, though, who cares? Just buy an Enermax Noisetaker with it (or something else - I understand there are some PSUs with "short" cables that might be handy), and you are good to go.

I have a pic of this one closer to my current configuration over here.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I´m still undeceided, but sure I ´ll find a good choice.
Now I was thinking of getting a Q-pack, with an Agp mobo, maybe a cheap asrock.
- Then I could use my Agp card, Radeon 9700Pro, I also have an GF6800 (actually Rma)
- And later... if it "really" happens, I´ll hope DFI finally releases a good matx mobo
then I could upgrade mobo with PCIe Graphic card.

Or, well finally ... maybe the best solution is go the shuttle way!

Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top