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Question about Shuttle

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pjaank

[H]ard|Gawd
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May 10, 2001
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So, I've been thinking about going to a SFF system (from the one in my sig). Just the regular home use type of stuff, with the occasional bit of gaming (City of Heroes is the current game). I could fiddle around with building my own, for sure (I've built my last two machines), but I'm thinking it could just simply be easier to buy one.

Question is, for anyone who's done the price comparison, how much of a premium would I be paying to Shuttle for the convenience of them building the system? The one I just specced out was the G2 2200b with these changes:
- Athlon 64 3800+ (from Sempron 3400+)
- bumped the RAM to 2 gig (from 512 MB)
- Radeon X1300 256MB (from Via integrated graphics)
- 160 gb drive (from 80)
- 18x dvd burner (from 52x CDRW)

Ended up being just a touch over a grand. The other alternative would be getting the barebones Shuttle, or a Silverstone SG01, and doing the build up. Just not sure if the price differential is great enough (especially considering having to buy the OS as well).

Thoughts?
 
For a grand you can get..
- A nice SFF case (silverstone, microfly, lanbox, etc)
- biostar tforce AM2 board
- X2 3600+ 65nm brisbane (overclocks to 3GHz+)
- 2GB DDR2-800
- Raptor HDD
- Good graphics card (7600gt, or better)
- DVDRW

That is the route I'd take.. plus you can drop a quad core in when they come out. ;)
 
It is tempting to build my own, that's for sure. I've just not stayed abreast of the tech, especially w/ the matx stuff. Maybe I should start spec'ing some stuff out to see what all it would cost, plus $100 or so for XP.

Just want to build something that's stable, and quiet. And, though it might be considered a boo-boo for here, I've no plans for overclocking it.

EDIT: Just looked up a review of the Biostar TForce 6100 AM2 mobo. That's an interesting board to me - it can handle IDE drives, so I wouldn't need to upgrade just yet. And the integrated graphics (shudder) should be on par with what I've got currently. Or at least enough to suffice until picking up a PCIx card. Hmmm...
 
I suggest either the SN27P2 by Shuttle or the NF-M2 nView board by Abit if you go mATX. The SG01 case is nice but you also have the Ultra MX6 which comes with a PSU and a few other choices :) Let us know if you need any help with this!
 
I did look into that Abit board, and it does seem to offer a bit more than the Biostar one - slightly better graphics (6150 instead of 6100) and the fact it has 4 memory slots instead of just 2.

That Ultra MX6 looks a lot nicer than the Microfly's I've seen that have the handle on the front. Looks like it's only $150 w/ a 600W PSU, vs. $330 for the Shuttle. Even tacking in the mobo, it would cheaper to go non-Shuttle. Is anyone on the board here using that Ultra MX6 and PSU?
 
$142.95 for the MX6 plus $92.95 for the NFM2 = $235.90

That $100 cheaper but you still need the CPU heatsink if you want one. Even so, that is still cheaper.

Check your PMs by the way.
 
pjaank said:
So, I've been thinking about going to a SFF system (from the one in my sig). Just the regular home use type of stuff, with the occasional bit of gaming (City of Heroes is the current game). I could fiddle around with building my own, for sure (I've built my last two machines), but I'm thinking it could just simply be easier to buy one.

Question is, for anyone who's done the price comparison, how much of a premium would I be paying to Shuttle for the convenience of them building the system? The one I just specced out was the G2 2200b with these changes:
- Athlon 64 3800+ (from Sempron 3400+)
- bumped the RAM to 2 gig (from 512 MB)
- Radeon X1300 256MB (from Via integrated graphics)
- 160 gb drive (from 80)
- 18x dvd burner (from 52x CDRW)

Ended up being just a touch over a grand. The other alternative would be getting the barebones Shuttle, or a Silverstone SG01, and doing the build up. Just not sure if the price differential is great enough (especially considering having to buy the OS as well).

Thoughts?
Click to expand...


I have owned numerous shuttle's and SFF systems and here's what I would recommend:

Build it yourself and end up with a kick a$$ gaming system for significantly less!!

Shuttle SD32G2 barebone $259
C2D E6400 CPU $220
eVGA 7800GT video card $129 (re-certified)
2GB DDR2 Gskill memory $144
NEC DVD/RW $35
250gb Samsung drive $79
Creative X-fi Extreme Music $69


Total cost: $935
 
That is a good system. The downside to shuttles is that they don't upgrade well. The plus side is they are small and powerful for being so small.

Also, are you stuck on getting an AMD or is Intel ok?
 
Yeah, from what I've been reading up on, the Abit board does offer a lot more than the Biostar board, but for not much more. So that's my leading contender, for sure. I'm really digging that they have PATA on them. Can be a gradual upgrade, and I can reuse my HD and optical drives for now to keep costs down.

As for AMD vs. Intel, I'm not stuck on AMD, just that I've been using them in the last three machines I've built (Slot A 600, Slot A Thunderbird 900, Socket A now), so I lean that way.

Where are you seeing the $142 price for the case? I can only find TigerDirect offering it, as far as vendors I recognized. (FAKE EDIT: Checked my pm, and figured out where the price comes from).

CPU heatsink, I can prolly get away with using the stock on (if I get a boxed proc) to begin with, unless there's a good, quiet one (passive? heatpipes?).

Real Edit: In researching the RAM prices, just using Crucial, do you have to get a "kit" to be able to use dual channel, or can you just get two sticks (same specs) from the same mfr and use them in dual channel?
 
TigerDirect has them but I'm giving you free support haha.

I actually got a MX6 review unit today and I am thinking about making a barebones out of it that includes the NFM2 nView and selling that. Probably would be good in my opinion.
 
Steeeeve said:
TigerDirect has them but I'm giving you free support haha.

I actually got a MX6 review unit today and I am thinking about making a barebones out of it that includes the NFM2 nView and selling that. Probably would be good in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm more inclined to support one of our own, that's for sure. Let me know about the review unit. I'm not in a huge rush on the system at this point, just researching for now, the options. Once I figure out the tax situation, the refund may be funding a new box :D
 
pjaank said:
Hey, I'm more inclined to support one of our own, that's for sure. Let me know about the review unit. I'm not in a huge rush on the system at this point, just researching for now, the options. Once I figure out the tax situation, the refund may be funding a new box :D
Click to expand...

I already have a review of the Micro Fly. The MX6 is just a different face plate and a few minor changes to the side windows to allow for longer PSUs without modding.
 
this is what i would build if i had 1,000$ to spend on a computer

CPU- AMD Opteron 1210 160$ @newegg.com

motherboard- MSI K9AGM-FID Socket AM2 ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard 74$@newegg

video card- MSI RX1650XT-T2D256E Radeon X1650XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card 139$@newegg.com

memory- G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory 170$@newegg.com

storage- Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive 140$ after mir@newegg.com

psu- XCLIO X14S4P3 500W ATX 500W Power Supply 100-240 / 200-240 UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO
80$@newegg.com i know their are cheaper ones but this one has active pfc and modular multiple 12v rails

SAMSUNG dvd burner 31$@newegg.com
floppy drive 6$@newegg.com

Thermaltake VF1000BWS Black Aluminum Front Panel/ SECC Chassis MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 130$@newegg.com
this is an awesome mATX case
Product.asp


now the led fan that comes with the lanbox is blue but the mobo vga and ram are red so for a little bit more you can get red led stuff with all this stuff in their this would be badass looking not to mention that it would give this thing nice ocing capabilities

Thermalright SI-128 45$@petrastechshop.com

120mm Quad LED Case Fan 5$@petrastechshop.com

92mm Quad LED Case Fan 4$@petrastechshop.com as soon as it gets in stock replace the stock case fan in the lanbox

red cold cathode kit5$@petrastechshop.com

AS5-5$@petrastechshop.com

now this totals 1040$ the newegg total was 966 after 20$ mir but it can function without the 75$ shipped worth of stuff from petras

this would imo be better than spending 1k on a shuttle and would be so badass to have a red lanbox pc

EDIT:if you do choose to build this or something similar PLEASE post pics
 
Thanks for the input. At the moment, I'm leaning towards the recommendations that Steeeeeve has given earlier in the thread, in regards to the case and mobo. Bare minimum, I'll also need to figure out the proc (leaning towards a 65nm AM2 chip for less power consumption) and the ram (1 gig or 2 gig, supplier?).

When the building commences (post-taxes being done) I'll get some pics put together.
 
depending on your budget...2gb is going to be much better. Mushkin is my favorite with regards to memory but OCZ is good as well and Kingston is not bad for those on a budget.
 
In researching the components available, when it comes to a new optical drive, is it worth a 50% increase in the price to go from an IDE to a SATA interface? Looks like Samsung offers both, whereas Liteon only offers IDE.
 
well imo the lanbox is probably the best sff case out there except maybe the fragbox but that costs 2x as much

and as for the memory its 2x1gb ddr2 800 g.skill memory as i hear very good overclocking and i looked around because i have a friend considering building a pc and that mobo seems to have the best features in matx for that price 4xsata3gb trusted brand name good reviews

and you cant really go wrong with an opteron that has the L2 cache as the cpus that cost alot more and for the opterons they use their best cores very good ocing from opterons

i would either get the video card i posted or the 200$ after mir sapphire 1950xt for 60$ more

i really wouldnt recommend getting the shuttle mobo&case youl be kicking yourself later when you want to oc it
i am convinced that all manufacturers that prebuild computers skimp out with cheap parts somewhere and shuttle is probably no exception they have to make a profit somewhere

if you want links to any of the stuff i recommended just ask me and i will that was just a long list
 
Did some more reading up, and it looks like onboard video will be fine for getting the ball rolling, but for playing any sort of game, a discrete card will be the way to go. So, something more to research!
 
Right now the only game is CoH, which I've been playing (now) on variants of the GeForce 5200 - agp card in the desktop, Go chip in the lappy. Once I've got a more powerful system, might jump into Dungeon Siege 2, KOTOR 2, and/or Neverwinter Nights 2 (can you tell I like the RPGs?)
 
What is your budget again?

You could just max it out with an 8800 or go with a 7800 or x1800 from ATi.
 
Whoa, how does the game run on the FX 5200? I had a 6800GT and S754 3000+ overclocked to 2.4GHz and the framerate was pretty bad (and by bad I mean stuttering, 5-fps-bad) at times, especially after Issue 8 went live. I played on 1280x768, windowed, with most settings low/off.

Just recently upgraded to a C2D E4300 @ 3.0 and 8800GTS and the game runs much better now.

Specs:
- XQpack
- E4300
- Asus P5L-MX
- 2x1GB Kingston ValuRAM DDR2-667
- 8800GTS/320
- Antec Trio 550W

I paid less than $900, and I'm reusing my old drives.

For CoH I'd recommend dual-core and an NV card.
 
Steeeeve said:
What is your budget again?

You could just max it out with an 8800 or go with a 7800 or x1800 from ATi.
Click to expand...

Trying to keep things under 1k, I think. Don't think I need to max it out, per se... especially if I buy before DX10-capable cards come out. So somewhere sub-$200 will more than likely suffice for my needs. Just so many frickin' flavors of the same cards. Was much easier back when I bought my Voodoo3!
 
vipz said:
Whoa, how does the game run on the FX 5200? I had a 6800GT and S754 3000+ overclocked to 2.4GHz and the framerate was pretty bad (and by bad I mean stuttering, 5-fps-bad) at times, especially after Issue 8 went live. I played on 1280x768, windowed, with most settings low/off.
Click to expand...

Playing it at 1440X900, I do get some lag/choppiness, especially in Atlas Park, or in team missions with a lot of baddies, but it's playable. Then again, that's the only experience I've had with it, so maybe once I've go the new machine built, my eyes will be opened.
 
i honestly would wait a few weeks to get a new video card as i hear ati's direct x10 card the r600 is coming out soon even if you dont buy this card i would wait till it comes out because right now nvidia controls the whole dx10 market and the 8800s arent a smart buy as of now but i wouldnt buy a non dx10 card if your interested in upgrading to vista and with crysis coming out this year

my friend is building a sff and using this it seems to be the best matx board for am2 i mean i put all the features you might want in a motherboard into the newegg powersearch and this seemed to be the best choice i would recommend using drives from your older comps as that can save you some $$ here are the links

the mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130066
the memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820231098
the cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819105015
the psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817189012
i would use these core components and wait maybe a month before getting a video card and use your old drives and get the case you like
 
Yeah, as far as components go, I'm pretty much settled on:

- Mobo: Abit NF-M2 nview
- Case/psu: Micro Fly MX6 w/ 600W psu
- Optical drive: Samsung SH-S183L
- HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS

Of course, the drives are optional, since I could reuse my PATA drives if need be. The only things left to figure out are the RAM (decide 1gig or 2 gig) and the processor (want to go 65nm for lower power consumption).
 
I see them at a couple of other stores. Any which way, I'm not rushing to build this thing just yet. If the Abit board does end up proving to be scarce, what's everyone's thoughts on the Asus M2NPV-VM? Seems like a comparable board - give up the Optical in/out, and gain a parallel port. Also give up two channels of audio.
 
Well it seems that the NF-M2 nView is going bye bye and is to be replaced by the AN-M2 due out soon. No more information on this yet but that was the word from my distributor.
 
Hmm, so I'll have to find it where I can find it, wait for the new board, or possible fall back to that Asus board then, it looks like.
 
pjaank said:
Hmm, so I'll have to find it where I can find it, wait for the new board, or possible fall back to that Asus board then, it looks like.
Click to expand...

If you promise to buy one I found one distributor that has 4 left and I'll just order all 4 and sell them once they arrive....or perhaps find a way to drop ship while avoiding the handling charge.
 
Steeeeve said:
If you promise to buy one I found one distributor that has 4 left and I'll just order all 4 and sell them once they arrive....or perhaps find a way to drop ship while avoiding the handling charge.
Click to expand...

I'll pm this as well, but when do you need to know by?
 
Steeeeve said:
Well it seems that the NF-M2 nView is going bye bye and is to be replaced by the AN-M2 due out soon. No more information on this yet but that was the word from my distributor.
Click to expand...

Sheesh, Google is letting me down on searching for AN-M2. It keeps finding the phrase 'an M2'. Grr.
 
pjaank said:
Sheesh, Google is letting me down on searching for AN-M2. It keeps finding the phrase 'an M2'. Grr.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure many people know yet.

This board is probably nothing special and is just a name change...but we will see.
 
Even though I'm kind of late to this thread, I'll still put in a plug for the SD37P2.

I'm a first time SFF owner and I gotta say that it has been a positive experience to have this beauty on my desk. Specs are in sig. The whole system (excluding monitor) ran me to the tune of about 1500 bucks in December. I'm sure it's slightly cheaper now. Built it and it has been running smoothly without a hitch ever since. Even though this Shuttle isn't really designed for overclocking I was still able to squeeze some very decent performance out of it. Most of all I've been impressed by the 400 watt psu they crammed into a case of this size, wow.
 
If I had the money I would just get a shuttle. Shuttles are nice since they are much smaller than the mATX cases.

The drawbacks are that its limitited in upgrades, and in overclocking is also limited, but you still can get some gains. However having a small shuttle on your desk definately wins the cool factor over the bulky mATX cases.

For my next SFF I am getting a mATX case since I am a poor student. If I had the money to spend though, I would definately get a shuttle.
 
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