Time for the SN25POS to go -- What other SFF options?

P

phobic

Supreme [H]ardness
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Apr 17, 2002
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:mad: This computer is pissing me off to no end. For the most over the last 18 months or so it's worked ok but whenever it gets an issue, it becomes a serious pain in the ass. The latest (and probably final) problem is that my NIC simply refuses to work... at all. The drivers install properly but it won't get an IP from the modem or any of my routers. This is with XP and Vista (like Vista matters now but still...). Sometimes I really wish I knew nothing about PCs. :mad: /rant

Anyway, instead of investing more money into getting this POS fixed, I've decided to cut my losses and buy something (hopefully) more reliable. I like SFFs so I'm not ready to go back to mongoloid ATXs yet so what should I get?

Current system is:
SN25POS
AMD 3700+ San Diego (may upgrade to X2 4200+)
2GB PC3200 Corsair XMS
ATI X1900XTX
Segate 300GB HDD
NEC 3550A DVD Burner

All I'm really looking to get now is a case, mobo and power supply. I'm planning on doing a new build this spring so any future-proofed options would be nice but unfortunately I can't wait until then seeing that I just bought a Gateway 24" HD LCD monitor. Thanks in advance.
 
Ditch the X1900XTX and get a 8800GTS. That's like $250 more but you seem like you want to buy something ahead of the curve and DX10 is the major GPU step up at this point.
 
8800GTS would be the hugest waste of money right now.

Why not just have Shuttle replace it under warranty? Have not heard anyone else having major issues with the SN25P.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
8800GTS would be the hugest waste of money right now.

Why not just have Shuttle replace it under warranty? Have not heard anyone else having major issues with the SN25P.
Click to expand...

I've had the system longer than the warranty covers. I'd really hate to do it but I think I'm just going to build a new AM2 SFF system using most of the stuff I have... minus RAM, CPU, Case... :(
 
I just sold my SN25P, NIC issues as well. It ran great up until a couple of months ago, then buggy NIC performance. I blame Microsoft, I think it was some crappy automatic 'update' that tweaked something.
 
[LYL]Homer said:
I just sold my SN25P, NIC issues as well. It ran great up until a couple of months ago, then buggy NIC performance. I blame Microsoft, I think it was some crappy automatic 'update' that tweaked something.
Click to expand...

You know, I think this is what caused the problem. :mad: I did a Windows update and everything was working great until I rebooted. I'm still using the SN25P but I had to get a USB network adapter and since I formatted my hard drive, I'm pretty much forced to use Vista RC2 thanks to my SATA drive not being detected (I've tried everything for this...). Hopefully I can find someone to buy this.

Anyway, I've been looking at this setup:

SilverStone TJ08 - wanted something that I could at least install ONE PCI card in

Abit NF-M2 Mobo

AMD X2 4200+

2GB Patriot DDR2 800 RAM

Ugh... roughly $700 before shipping and a power supply. Maybe I should rethink this. Hmm... any other opinions?
 
I sold the SN25P as a compete system and needed a full new setup. I went with a Silverstone SG-01 and a Fry's E6300 and cheapie ECS mobo combo - AGP and DDR1/2 (running a 6600 agp and DDR1 now that I had) - since I wanted to wait for RAM prices to come down, quad cores to come out in strength, and DX10 cards to drop in price. Oh, and then I'm waiting for a killer mATX overclocker board! Then there's that Vista thing....

In short, I had the opportunity to sell so I did, but there are a ton of reasons to buy the good stuff in a couple of months.
 
I love my Q-Pack (both before and after having modded it to use normal ATX motherboards). It's well-laid-out, spacious relatively on the inside, and gets the job done for a relatively low price. The PSU that comes with it is garbage, I just took the fans out and cut the metal to use as scrap, but the case itself is pretty nice :). As far as normal mATX parts, I'm not so sure, as I haven't looked at them in awhile since I modded the case.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
8800GTS would be the hugest waste of money right now.

Why not just have Shuttle replace it under warranty? Have not heard anyone else having major issues with the SN25P.
Click to expand...

Oh sorry, misunderstood - thought the specs were for a new system.

For SFF, I recommend the Ultra microfly for $69.99 at Tigerdirect (with 400 PSU). Its a about an inch deeper than a Qpack and somewhat sturdier with a decent PSU. However, if you can afford a Silverstone then go for it.
 
I'm assuming the QPack/MicroFly cases are bigger than the Shuttle I have now? Reason I'm asking is that I'd like to have a little more room for PCI cards and bigger video cards in the future. Also what power supplies do you guys recommend? Thanks for all your help.
 
PSU is very subjective to what you want to do.

400-500Watt is fairly standard and a quality power source can handle a big card on a efficient system

500Watt+ for something hardcore
 
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