To Shuttle or not to Shuttle?

[hyt3k9]

I have decided to go SFF with the limited space I have in my office. I just decided if I am going to go SFF, might as well go the smallest I can right?
This rig will be mainly used for gaming, and I have a nasty habit to want to play all the newest games, will be pushing dual 24" monitors, gaming on a single screen at 1920x1200 resolution.

I have searched this forum, and can only come up with some of the answers to my questions, and I have several specific questions, I figured I would just start a thread and get them all answered in 1 spot.

So, I been looking at the Shuttle SX38P2-Pro and the Shuttle SP35P2-Pro. I know the SP35 is quite popular, but I am worried about 2 things I have read about this one.. the 400w PSU, and the crappy BIOS to play nice with 45nm CPUs. Plus this one doesn't do dual graphics?

I know the SX38 is rated for cross-fire, but I am only using 1 Nvidia card, so this should work right? (I used to own an Asus Pw5-DH that was cross-fire, but would support a single Nvidia card)

The reason I am looking heavy into the SX38 is because it ships with the biggest PSU in the Shuttle lineup (450w) Which brings me to my other question, is this enough power to run the following setup, with NO problems? Also need some advice on a great CPU heatsink to keep this Q6600 cool in this tight case.

Q6600 (G0) - I plan on running this around 3.0GHZ OC'd on AIR.
4GB Crucial PC-8500
8800 GTX
1TB (2x500GB HDDs)

Also, will it stay cool enough with a 8800GTX graphics card in there? Also, the size is a question, since the 8800 is a double slot card, it might be better to go with a 8800GT for the single slot and cooler temps? I just noticed that EVGA has released the 9600GT (512MB) is this card worth anything, or just stick with the 8800GT for proven solid performance for the buck?

Please give me all the advice you can offer, would love to hear from some folks that own these barebones setups.. or have found good info out there on them at least.

 

[Blahman]

the SP35 will easily run those components. I'd recommend it over the SX38 because the PSU in the SX38 is extremely loud, and the 50w difference is meaningless. however Shuttle did a little false advertising with the SP35 by saying its onboard sound was capable of Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect. It isn't, because they put the wrong audio chip onboard (ALC888 vs ALC888DD, which is in the SX38P2). It can still pass-through Dolby tracks e.g. on DVDs, but it can't do realtime multichannel audio (e.g. in games) over SPDIF, only analog. If realtime SPDIF encoding is important go with the SX38, otherwise I'd say stick with the SP35.

I'd also recommend a dual slot card like the 8800GTS 512, 8800GTX, EVGA's 8800GT Akimbo, or AMD's 3870. Single slot cards exhaust air back into the case, while dual slot cards exhaust out the back which can greatly improve airflow and cooler temps all around.

As for 45nm chips, if you do plan on upgrading to one, just get the latest BIOS, which is up to "R" as of now, which does NOT have the infamous fried E8400 problem.

 

[coolrunnings]

I've built 8 Shuttle systems in the last 6 months and had 4 failures... If you get a Shuttle, be sure to test the hell out of it IMMEDIATELY after you get it so that you can return it if your board is bad. So far the count is 3 bad motherboards and a bad power supply... Hope you have better luck than me if you go with Shuttle. On the bright side, once you do get through to their tech support, they're usually fairly accommodating in getting your problems resolved.

 

[Ace07]

I ran a Shuttle SN25P with Opteron 175, 2gb OCZ Ram, Optical Drive, Floppy Drive, Two 320gb Seagates in Raid and an Evga 7800gtx ko on the stock PSU with absolutely no problems. I am confident that you would have no problems with your setup when it comes to power....the only thing I would mention would be to have the latest bios. When it comes to Shuttle computers BIOS is everything as it can make or break a system. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[hyt3k9]

the SP35 will easily run those components. I'd recommend it over the SX38 because the PSU in the SX38 is extremely loud, and the 50w difference is meaningless. however Shuttle did a little false advertising with the SP35 by saying its onboard sound was capable of Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect. It isn't, because they put the wrong audio chip onboard (ALC888 vs ALC888DD, which is in the SX38P2). It can still pass-through Dolby tracks e.g. on DVDs, but it can't do realtime multichannel audio (e.g. in games) over SPDIF, only analog. If realtime SPDIF encoding is important go with the SX38, otherwise I'd say stick with the SP35.

I'd also recommend a dual slot card like the 8800GTS 512, 8800GTX, EVGA's 8800GT Akimbo, or AMD's 3870. Single slot cards exhaust air back into the case, while dual slot cards exhaust out the back which can greatly improve airflow and cooler temps all around.

As for 45nm chips, if you do plan on upgrading to one, just get the latest BIOS, which is up to "R" as of now, which does NOT have the infamous fried E8400 problem.

This is GOOD stuff, thanks for this information.. I see you have one of these in your sig

So you think the 8800TX has plenty of room in there eh? The difference in price to the SX38 is only 28 bucks, and allows for a second card in the future, albiet AMD cards, but still.. Just forward thinking.. is this a bad way to think? Or just go with the setup that is proven.. the SP35? Didn't hear alot of information as to why to not go with the SX38 (since the price is so close) And this setup should work with a single Nvidia card, too right?

Also, Blahman.. got any pics of your setup? Would love to see it!

 

[Blahman]

I don't think Crossfire in the SX38 is that big of an attraction -- the slots are close together so obviously if you do get two cards they must both be single slot. The only ATI cards that fit the bill are the 3850 and a few custom branded 3870's with single slot heatsinks. So it's doable but the selection is quite narrow, and the heat dissipation versus airflow would not be pretty IMHO.

Also keep in mind that there are dual PCB, dual slot cards such as the ATI 3870X2 (out now) and NVIDIA 9800GX2 (coming soon). I know the 3870X2 fits and the 9800GX2 will probably fit. They are each about the same size as an 8800GTX, which fits with a little bit of coaxing. The nice thing about dual PCB cards is they usually scale better in games and have less compatibility issues than two comparable cards in SLI or Crossfire.

I have a few pics up but they're mostly from my modding adventures. You can check that out here: http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/forums/viewthread/100870/ (also note I had an 8800GT in there when these were taken)

If you are really interested in Shuttles I would bookmark that forum: http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/forums/viewforum/4/

Lots of good info there.

 

[hyt3k9]

I don't think Crossfire in the SX38 is that big of an attraction -- the slots are close together so obviously if you do get two cards they must both be single slot. The only ATI cards that fit the bill are the 3850 and a few custom branded 3870's with single slot heatsinks. So it's doable but the selection is quite narrow, and the heat dissipation versus airflow would not be pretty IMHO.

Also keep in mind that there are dual PCB, dual slot cards such as the ATI 3870X2 (out now) and NVIDIA 9800GX2 (coming soon). I know the 3870X2 fits and the 9800GX2 will probably fit. They are each about the same size as an 8800GTX, which fits with a little bit of coaxing. The nice thing about dual PCB cards is they usually scale better in games and have less compatibility issues than two comparable cards in SLI or Crossfire.

I have a few pics up but they're mostly from my modding adventures. You can check that out here: http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/forums/viewthread/100870/ (also note I had an 8800GT in there when these were taken)

If you are really interested in Shuttles I would bookmark that forum: http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/forums/viewforum/4/

Lots of good info there.

Once again, thanks a million. Good information, you have helped a ton. /Thread