I can honestly say I won't be buying another Shuttle, unless it's being used as a server.
My old Shuttle is sitting under my desk running as a file server right now, with an old Mobile XP2500 under-clocked to 800MHZ, that's the only way it will run quiet enough to have in the same room as me.
When I used to run it as my main machine it never had the shell on, doing so let it build up too much heat and the fan would have to run at full speed.
Shuttle's look great, but due to their design you can't have it sitting on the desk next to you, which sort of defeats the purpose.
Originally Posted by yodasarmpit I can honestly say I won't be buying another Shuttle, unless it's being used as a server.
My old Shuttle is sitting under my desk running as a file server right now, with an old Mobile XP2500 under-clocked to 800MHZ, that's the only way it will run quiet enough to have in the same room as me.
When I used to run it as my main machine it never had the shell on, doing so let it build up too much heat and the fan would have to run at full speed.
Shuttle's look great, but due to their design you can't have it sitting on the desk next to you, which sort of defeats the purpose.
I completely agree. Doing very little it's quiet as a mouse but I just couldn't use one without having headphones on if I was gaming or it was encoding - the small fans are just too noisy. I'm reviewing another one for a HTPC at the mo and again I'm finding the same problem :(
It's usually why people end up going back to ATX, but having said that, Shuttle have put a lot of effort into it.
Originally Posted by yodasarmpit I can honestly say I won't be buying another Shuttle, unless it's being used as a server.
My old Shuttle is sitting under my desk running as a file server right now, with an old Mobile XP2500 under-clocked to 800MHZ, that's the only way it will run quiet enough to have in the same room as me.
When I used to run it as my main machine it never had the shell on, doing so let it build up too much heat and the fan would have to run at full speed.
Shuttle's look great, but due to their design you can't have it sitting on the desk next to you, which sort of defeats the purpose.
I used to have a socket A SN45G. Excellent machine, the noise your talking about is from the single rear sunon 80mm fan which was easy to change. I fitted a noiseblocker 120mm fan on the outside of the case with an adaptor, proberbly cost me £15 with a decent fan but the machine was silent after that. The heatpipe design was quite an innovation back in the day. Nice PSU size now, I had to buy a new one for the upgrade to a 6800gt.
That's the G chassis, and I used to have an SN45 as well. In the P2 there's two 80s, a 92, and two 60s that all constantly whir up and down - you can mod the G's, like you say, but it's not a perfect solution but something that Shuttle should look at imo.
great review. I personally prefer giant cases with plenty of room to fit the few bits of hardware I have wherever I think would be easiest to get at. I would love to build a desk with a glass top with a system all kitted out on display in it, but alas I have no money, dremel, materials or any skill to pull something like that off (unless you count hacksawing the chassis of a case while yelling profanity skill).
Quote:
Crysis at 1280x800 with High-to-Very High in-game settings is surprisingly playable
Quote:
Crysis (1280x1024 0AA 0AF High Detail Average FPS)
I have been tempted to get one of these shuttles a few times, but more likely I would go for a sugo or something like that fmor silverstone. I like the form factor cases, and in some cases (such as the sugo) you can work an entire ATX moard into the microATX case. Cooling can be loud, but with water cooling etc, you can bring that down.
Originally Posted by spazmochad I used to have a socket A SN45G. Excellent machine, the noise your talking about is from the single rear sunon 80mm fan which was easy to change. I fitted a noiseblocker 120mm fan on the outside of the case with an adaptor, proberbly cost me £15 with a decent fan but the machine was silent after that. The heatpipe design was quite an innovation back in the day. Nice PSU size now, I had to buy a new one for the upgrade to a 6800gt.
I was always going to get the 80 - 120mm adapter, but never got round to it.
It wasn't just the 80mm though, the small fan in the PSU and because of space limitations you couldn't fit a graphics card with silent fan, so that made a whiny noise too.
I tried a passive cooled GFX card but with the shell on it got too hot causing crashes or artifacts, so again I had to run the Shuttle shell-less.
In the end it was relegated to become a file server and I reverted back to ATX.
I've got a SN85G4 and I'm 50:50 on whether I get another one again, mainly because of the noise issue. For a bedroom or study, probably not. Probably not for a media centre, either - damn thing's just a bit too noisy (that's with a 120mm fan + adapter btw). BUT I really like the concept and the build quality - there are no other real problems with it for me besides the noise (Actually mine only has 2 rear USB which is annoying but this new version has much improved that).
Yoda - apparently Shuttle say that air flow is better with the case on. Certainly from what I found, cooling was no worse with the case on than off.
I'd be tempted by this if all of the fans were a set diameter, like 80mm's or 92mm's and also, Im not really willing to pay £300 for something when I can get a decent case, high end PSU and good Mobo for the same or less, with much more upgrade potential.
Originally Posted by Arkanrais great review. I personally prefer giant cases with plenty of room to fit the few bits of hardware I have wherever I think would be easiest to get at. I would love to build a desk with a glass top with a system all kitted out on display in it, but alas I have no money, dremel, materials or any skill to pull something like that off (unless you count hacksawing the chassis of a case while yelling profanity skill).
force of habit on the 1024?
To differentiate - I *played* the game at 1280x800 but tested at 1280x1024 because I thought it was a more popular resolution. :)
All this talk of how loud it is, is disappointing. I was reading the review thinking it would be perfect for me at the moment. I've got to replace my old P4 and have been pricing up a new Quad core system with a 3850.. it would have saved me some trouble to have a small, well built system that I can drop the components in. But it's got to be quiet... I'll be hooking a HD DVD drive to it.
So how loud is it? If I don't overclock it (much).. what are we talking here if it's a couple of metres away? I'll not do loads of gaming. Is it louder than the xbox 360?
When you load it it's comparable to a 360 - it has many levels of noise so it depends on how hot you run it, if you're running HD out of it the processing will likely make it certainly audible.
Ok. Thanks. It's a thinker then... I'm guessing a passively cooled graphics card wouldn't necessarily quieten it down?? The heat will still be coming out via the CPU fan.. and put the internal temp up.
How is it with dust? I couldn't see any filters in the pictures.
I would suggest avoid a passive card in such a confined space, plus I had an 8800 GT in it and the CPU and 60mm fans were clearly loud.
There's no filters. I've had Shuttles for years get passed down through family (my sister just recently gave up on an original SS50G) and they do get caked in dust but are quite easily cleaned out because its small and light enough to stick on your lap with a vacuum cleaner. It's only the fans and grills that need attention - the motherboard worked quite happily under 1/2" of dust.
I've got one of these shuttles and I just wanted to say that you can fit a 8800GTX in there, I've had mine sitting in there for over two months now and while it was a bit tight to fit in there, its running great. Also about the second power plug on the card, I just used an adapter with the regular 4 pin molex cables.
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi I would suggest avoid a passive card in such a confined space, plus I had an 8800 GT in it and the CPU and 60mm fans were clearly loud.
There's no filters. I've had Shuttles for years get passed down through family (my sister just recently gave up on an original SS50G) and they do get caked in dust but are quite easily cleaned out because its small and light enough to stick on your lap with a vacuum cleaner. It's only the fans and grills that need attention - the motherboard worked quite happily under 1/2" of dust.
Ok, thanks for your help. I've been looking about on scan and they have the Antec Sonata 3 in stock now... I looked at this a few months back and it seems pretty good.
I've not built a computer from scratch before so choosing cases is new. My current system is a Dell (don't laugh.. in my defence it is a 400SC server with an 875p motherboard in it which I got new for £150).
So it's difficult to know what size I want and so on. Have you any experience with the Sonata's?
Originally Posted by StormPwn I've got one of these shuttles and I just wanted to say that you can fit a 8800GTX in there, I've had mine sitting in there for over two months now and while it was a bit tight to fit in there, its running great. Also about the second power plug on the card, I just used an adapter with the regular 4 pin molex cables.
I absolutely could not fit a dual height card in without breaking something - there was literally a few millimetres of cables too much. I could have spent time unsticking things and moving stuff about but I felt, why should I? Surely Shuttle should have set things out accordingly and all the cables are finely routed too.
I would like to see the gap between the ICE unit and the GTX too - how much air does it get and how hot it must get!
Joey: I've had no experience with Sonata's, sorry.
Wait... What do you mean it wont take dual slot graphic cards? Since I got TwinTech GF8800GTS 512MB sitting here on my desk, waiting for SP35P2 that should be deliverd tomorrow. I was toled by many users that it can take dualslot cards with no problems... I really hope it will fit.
Originally Posted by Deeon Wait... What do you mean it wont take dual slot graphic cards? Since I got TwinTech GF8800GTS 512MB sitting here on my desk, waiting for SP35P2 that should be deliverd tomorrow. I was toled by many users that it can take dualslot cards with no problems... I really hope it will fit.
I've read elsewhere that they do fit and I assumed it would - but ours didn't I tried and pressed, but I couldnt take a picture because I dont have three hands to press the card in and shoot :P
Howcome it's "not done" to use only one fan for more than one purpose?
On the rear of the P chassis you have two 60's (for the harddisk) and the one from the power supply. why not just use one big 120? (same for both side fans...2x 120, makes a total of 3x 120 and the thing should finally be silent.)
The Shuttles are designed so well, but noise was and still is a problem.
About dust: as it usually sits on your desk and not on the floor, dust shouldn't be an issue. Mine's been running for over a year and there's no dust to speak off.
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??? Missing an "8Gb" there, don't you?
My old Shuttle is sitting under my desk running as a file server right now, with an old Mobile XP2500 under-clocked to 800MHZ, that's the only way it will run quiet enough to have in the same room as me.
When I used to run it as my main machine it never had the shell on, doing so let it build up too much heat and the fan would have to run at full speed.
Shuttle's look great, but due to their design you can't have it sitting on the desk next to you, which sort of defeats the purpose.
I completely agree. Doing very little it's quiet as a mouse but I just couldn't use one without having headphones on if I was gaming or it was encoding - the small fans are just too noisy. I'm reviewing another one for a HTPC at the mo and again I'm finding the same problem :(
It's usually why people end up going back to ATX, but having said that, Shuttle have put a lot of effort into it.
I used to have a socket A SN45G. Excellent machine, the noise your talking about is from the single rear sunon 80mm fan which was easy to change. I fitted a noiseblocker 120mm fan on the outside of the case with an adaptor, proberbly cost me £15 with a decent fan but the machine was silent after that. The heatpipe design was quite an innovation back in the day. Nice PSU size now, I had to buy a new one for the upgrade to a 6800gt.
It wasn't just the 80mm though, the small fan in the PSU and because of space limitations you couldn't fit a graphics card with silent fan, so that made a whiny noise too.
I tried a passive cooled GFX card but with the shell on it got too hot causing crashes or artifacts, so again I had to run the Shuttle shell-less.
In the end it was relegated to become a file server and I reverted back to ATX.
Yoda - apparently Shuttle say that air flow is better with the case on. Certainly from what I found, cooling was no worse with the case on than off.
To differentiate - I *played* the game at 1280x800 but tested at 1280x1024 because I thought it was a more popular resolution. :)
So how loud is it? If I don't overclock it (much).. what are we talking here if it's a couple of metres away? I'll not do loads of gaming. Is it louder than the xbox 360?
How is it with dust? I couldn't see any filters in the pictures.
There's no filters. I've had Shuttles for years get passed down through family (my sister just recently gave up on an original SS50G) and they do get caked in dust but are quite easily cleaned out because its small and light enough to stick on your lap with a vacuum cleaner. It's only the fans and grills that need attention - the motherboard worked quite happily under 1/2" of dust.
Ok, thanks for your help. I've been looking about on scan and they have the Antec Sonata 3 in stock now... I looked at this a few months back and it seems pretty good.
I've not built a computer from scratch before so choosing cases is new. My current system is a Dell (don't laugh.. in my defence it is a 400SC server with an 875p motherboard in it which I got new for £150).
So it's difficult to know what size I want and so on. Have you any experience with the Sonata's?
I absolutely could not fit a dual height card in without breaking something - there was literally a few millimetres of cables too much. I could have spent time unsticking things and moving stuff about but I felt, why should I? Surely Shuttle should have set things out accordingly and all the cables are finely routed too.
I would like to see the gap between the ICE unit and the GTX too - how much air does it get and how hot it must get!
Joey: I've had no experience with Sonata's, sorry.
I've read elsewhere that they do fit and I assumed it would - but ours didn't I tried and pressed, but I couldnt take a picture because I dont have three hands to press the card in and shoot :P
Yes, yes I am.
On the rear of the P chassis you have two 60's (for the harddisk) and the one from the power supply. why not just use one big 120? (same for both side fans...2x 120, makes a total of 3x 120 and the thing should finally be silent.)
The Shuttles are designed so well, but noise was and still is a problem.
About dust: as it usually sits on your desk and not on the floor, dust shouldn't be an issue. Mine's been running for over a year and there's no dust to speak off.
Best regards,
Xir