What not to do with a Shuttle SZ77R5

RangerXML

RangerXML

Supreme [H]ardness
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I put to gather a nice Shuttle for a friend, minus the video card, which hadn't arrived yet. What I didn't know at the time was that my friend had ordered a card that was much larger then the standard GTX680, the eVGA GTX680 Classified. Here follows a picture account, what not to do. Good news is, I stopped from doing damage to the card and his case. Bad news he lost a bill, but instead of taking the restock and RMA fee from the Egg, he sold it to a friend.

A normal GTX680:
IMG_0147_zpse2e37cc4.jpg


A eVGA GTX680 Classified:
14-130-801-28_zps7bb70699.jpg


The problem:
IMG_0146_zps0c73bbe2.jpg

IMG_0151_zps20217b75.jpg

IMG_0149_zps337ccfb4.jpg


The solution:
IMG_0150_zps9f938fdc.jpg

IMG_0153_zpsf37187dd.jpg

IMG_0152_zpsb0905abd.jpg


Some other pictures for reference:
IMG_0144_zpsd7d61e74.jpg

IMG_0148_zps1edf5781.jpg


I told him the moment I saw the 2 8-pin PCIe power connectors there would be a problem and he should just return the card. He convinced me to at least let him try a power on test, which didn't work. Lesson learned, an expensive one, but an important one. Now he plans on getting a GTX Titan, same card I'm planing on getting when I get the Shuttle SZ77R5.
 
RangerXML said:
Now he plans on getting a GTX Titan, same card I'm planing on getting when I get the Shuttle SZ77R5.
Click to expand...

At least you know the Titan should fit, since it's a 10.5" card just like that 680 Classified is. Tell you friend thanks for the expensive test fit. :)
 
Nice! Does he/you have a Kill-a-watt or similar to measure power draw from the wall? I'd be curious to see how much overhead there is with the PSU, though I'd imagine it will be fine.

That picture shows what annoys me the most about my SZ77R5, the fact that Shuttle didn't leave quite enough room to plug in the PCIe power cables. Sure, they fit, but it forces the card to sit at an odd angle.

I've thought about getting a couple right angle PCIe power cables, like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Pin-to-6-...t-angle-Extension-3-MADE-IN-USA-/130750508977
 
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JBark said:
Yeah, I noticed the same thing when I was looking. The closest I found was a 6 to 8 pin right angle:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Convert-6Pin-8Pin-PCI-E-lift-angl-power-cable-5-MADE-USA-/130768865829

You'd think these types of cables would be easier to find with the increasing popularity of SFF cases and tight fits, but not much luck finding any.
Click to expand...

There's nothing special about that cable. It's just formed (bend wires to side) and ziptied to an angle. You can do that with a normal connector.
 
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Well, good news, bad news kind of day. I got my Shuttle, all installed and its freaken awesome. That would be the good news, bad news is I'm still 2 weeks away from my Titan so I'm using my Turbo Engine of a GTX480 :(

i7-3770k
16GB DDR3-1600
4TB HDD
Windows 8 Pro
GTX480

Now the card isn't setting at an angle. I worked the cables a bit and the fit just fit just fine with the drive bay. Noise is another thing. Mine came with a newer gen of the cooler then my friends which didn't have spacers and made a rattling sound with the vibration of the case. That means crap though cause my box does sound like a turbo engine when the GTX480 is under full load. I should of stuck my friends GTX560ti in here, but oh well. I'll stick it under my desk until i get my Titan.

EDIT: I guess that still goes along with the theme of the thread though, don't stick a super noisy card in a case meant to run nice and quiet :D
 
Hey Ranger,

I've just ordered my SZ77R5 on Amazon. Along with a Samsung 840 120GB SSD, for now. Will be ordering the i5-3570K and Corsair 8GB 1600MHz Dominator Platinum this week, too. And currently looking at the GTX 660 and the Asetek 545LC 92mm Cooler, to buy in a couple of months time.

Just a few questions though. Will the latest BIOS be installed? I've heard of people having to update it through, what sounds like, long processes. But I hope that's just the case for earlier releases?

Also anything else I'll have to bear in mind when building this? If you don't mind, would you kindly post a picture of the LED's on the case, while turned on? I've also read of them being very dim, not that it'd be a massive problem, but there doesn't seem to be any pictures of it!
 
I'm at work right now, so I can't get you any pictures of it turned on, but they are pretty dim and it runs pretty quiet. The system/CPU cooling fan does sound weird if you listen for it, not too uncommon, do a quick google search and you'll find articles about the noise (I went ahead and ordered a replacement fan), but as I mentioned before, if you're not listening for it its shockingly quiet at idle. The GTX660, from what I've read is a very quiet card, no idea about the Asetek cooler.

On the BIOS, my friends and mine shipped with one BIOS version below the most current, but both detected our Ivy Bridge processors (he ordered from the Egg, I ordered from Amazon). Both BIOS updates were a breeze, but a not of caution, the BIOS update just reboots your PC without asking (big SURPRISE!). His looked internally like an older version, had no patting around CPU cooler so it made a rattling sound until I adjusted it, mine had patting and thus no issues.
 
Thanks for the reply man, appreciated.

One other thing, the 660 I'm planning on getting is the PNY version. Purely because the price is attractive and its performance is good enough for what I'll be using it for. It's a rather large card though; said to require up to 10 inches of space. Would there be enough room in the SZ77?
 
I looked at some PNY GTX660 and I would say its going to fit. I'm not to worried about length, but more height and location of power connector. Height looks fine, from the pictures above I posted about the two versions of the 680. The power connecter is going to be interesting, you might need to feed it under the drive bay, where I fed mine through the front.
 
Ah right. Should be with me tomorrow, can't wait!

A few things that annoyed me with the system was the location of the USB/LED etc connectors on the m/b. Looks like you have to have the wire running right across it, and the wire itself looks quite stiff, too.

In such a small case a modular psu would have been perfect, but I guess that's asking for too much, heh.
 
Thanks. It came today.

How did you go about screwing in the SSD? The screw hole is slightly higher than my drive, any way about this?
 
I didn't install an SSD, I'm using a 4TB HDD. The shuttle does not have a 2.5" bay, so you would need a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter.
 
messyuk said:
Thanks. It came today.

How did you go about screwing in the SSD? The screw hole is slightly higher than my drive, any way about this?
Click to expand...

How is the BIOS on it? Did it come with an updated one where you don't have to flash it for Ivy Bridge?
 
Pro Tip: an SSD doesn't need to be installed with 4 screws because they are very light, don't have moving parts and most don't get warm enough to be a problem even without airflow. I recommend, if you really can't find a place to screw it into place, to just use decent duct tape or some 3M VHB tape (love that tape). I think a good location would be just on top of your current hard disk or on top of your CPU cooling shroud.

But not using the cheapest way of gaining performance in an expensive computer like that is just a waste.
 
Skott said:
How is the BIOS on it? Did it come with an updated one where you don't have to flash it for Ivy Bridge?
Click to expand...

I've not yet got my processor (i5-3570K) and RAM yet, so I've yet to turn it on. But I'll let you know when I finally do! :)
 
Thanks for the tip Phuncz, getting a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter seems like such a hassle for such a small problem, so I'll consider it. There are 4 massive holes at the bottom of the bay, so I'm going to attempt some 'tactical screwing' to see if that can keep it in place.
 
Got my GTX 480 back from RMA, should be buying the Titan come tomorrow (hopefully). I decided to install the new system fan, but I didn't get around to putting the GTX480 in yet (after work). Currently I'm running a GTX560ti. I had to remove the WiFi antenna I put in to change the system fan so I decided to take some picture for people. This one is my shuttle, where as the prior pictures were my friends.





















 
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How come you decided to install a new system fan? Stock one too loud or something?
 
The stock fan is quiet, but it makes a particular sound, youtube it. I was surprised at the results. I went with the replacement fan everyone suggested (the 4-pin one, earlier ones suggested the 3 pin one without the sensor). I just plugged in my old system, since it currently has SLI cards to try out Nvidia Surround and I miss my quiet running Cube! I'm holding off on the Titan for 4 more weeks and buying the monitors instead, but after having used SLI for a day instead of setting and trouble shooting it for someone else I can't wait to be rid of it.

Old system, is the second in sig.
 
Ah right, can't notice the particular sound from the videos, but I'll probably find out when I run it for myself. Have you got a link for the replacement fan by any chance?
 
Thanks for the link man.

My processor will be coming tomorrow morning, so will finally get to run this thing! Although, will be next month that I get my graphics card (GTX 660) and liquid cooler.

One thing, you mentioned that your BIOS was one below the current version, but booted fine with the Ivy Bridge processor. Is it worth updating if mine is loaded with that version? Any benefits?
 
I had no issues with mine, but my friend had unusual long boot times with a GPT partition on a 4TB HDD that was fixed by a bios update. Specwise ours are exactly the same (except the 32GB and 16GB RAM), but I think mine was maybe one generation newer since it had a slightly modified CPU cooler. I would maybe upgrade your BIOS if you have no issues after you installed all the Windows updates so the OS isn't doing anything (as mention, the BIOS flash just reboots your PC with no warning).
 
Got everything up and running. Works like a charm, boot time at the moment is about 6-8 seconds on an SSD.

BIOS was indeed one version down, but upgrade was a breeze.

The sound the case fan make is pretty irritating, so I went ahead and ordered the Gelid 92mm silent fan.

One small problem I have is, that my 1600MHz RAM is only running at 1333MHz at the moment. How would do I change that? (Noob question, I know :()
 
Depends, does your RAM support XMP Profiles? Simply set the profile in the bios. If not you'll need to set the timing manually, which isn't that hard either.
 
Gelid case fan arrived, but didn't notice much of a difference in sound levels, although that annoying sound had disappeared from the stock fan. Realised I still had an OCZ fan from my old PC and that works a charm; ultra quiet on lowest speed setting. Current graphics card (9600GT (shit, I know)) making most of the noise at the moment.
 
lol, Gelid is quiet enough and the main point was to get rid of that sound. I know what you mean though, my GTX480 is like a turbo engine inside this nice and quiet case.
 
Small update, I had a power supply go belly up on me and my friends SZ77R5 also doesn't sound very good under stress. Shuttle replaced my PSU no problems with an advanced replacement, I just have to send mine broken one to them within 14 days. Also now have a Titan on the way, ordered it Thursday night from Amazon, eVGA GTX Titan Superclocked Signature (came in stock right as funds cleared, yay). I already have a high flow bracket and a backplate that I ordered last month and a DL to DVI for Surround. One smexy little beast.

If the PSU doesn't hold out again, I already have a case in the closet, I'll just grab a Z77 mobo and a Corsair PSU and be done with it.
 
The shuttle PSU will handle the titan. I am running one with an overclocked i5 and the asetek water cooler.
 
Ya, its working well. I was playing STO with the framerate unlocked (averaged between 300-400+ FPS during action) and my Titan clock went through the roof (over 1000mhz) and my PSU fan went nuts. I limited the FPS to 120 and now all is well. I'm using EVGA Precision X to keep an eye on temps and cloak, never breaks 79c while gaming. I've also got 3 monitors on here, 3x 1080p @120hz, but mostly game on just 1.
 
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