SN21G5 questions

[Patton]

I'm building myself a new PC for college, to replace my ancient Athlon XP 2000+, and was considering going for a nice SFF system. I've heard good stuff about Shuttle, and I was looking at their PCI-e Socket 939 models. The SN25 looked really nice, but I'm not willing to shell out 350 dollars on case, mobo, and PSU, no matter how small they are. The next one that caught my eye (out of the three I saw on the Egg) was the one in question. It looks really nice, but I have a few concerns that you guys may be able to put to rest before I shell out the cash to get this thing.

1. Due to it being so small, are there any heat issues that I should watch out for? I don't plan on overclocking this comp, but I just want to make sure.

2. Is there room enough for two hard drives? I can live with one if two is overkill, and just buy an external enclosure.

3. I noticed the PCI-e slot is on the outermost edge of the mobo, does that cause any problems with video cards? I know this would rule out any with really large heatsinks, and I was planning on getting a 7600GT. Any particular brand you could recommend?

4. There are only two USB ports on the back, but I should be able to drop a USB card in that PCI slot, right? And should I make it half-height, to make it easier to work inside the case?

Sorry for the long-winded post, and thanks.

 

[bigshooter]

1. Due to it being so small, are there any heat issues that I should watch out for? I don't plan on overclocking this comp, but I just want to make sure.

You should be fine, especially when going with a 7900GT.

2. Is there room enough for two hard drives? I can live with one if two is overkill, and just buy an external enclosure.

The system has one 3.5" internal and one 3.5" external bay, so you should be able to put the second in the external bay. Most people on Sudhian have one drive I believe. The extra hard drive will draw more power if you are using it as the same time as the other one.

4. There are only two USB ports on the back, but I should be able to drop a USB card in that PCI slot, right? And should I make it half-height, to make it easier to work inside the case?

The PCI slots on Shuttle's are full height so get that. Half height are for the pizza box pc's that you buy from Dell etc... There probably won't be much to the actual card anyways, the mounting bracket should be much taller than the card.


I'd still take a look at the SN25P. Much better machine IMHO. Better sound, GBE, P series chassis so more room and a 350W PS. WHat you have should be fine with the smaller 250W PS though.