Mini-PC Success?

casper-

There was yet another article on Tom's hardware recently on mini-pc cases, with AOpen and Shuttle leading the way. I was just wondering if anyone had tried building one of these, and what degree of success they've had with them since (i.e heat problems, noise, etc.)? Also, does anyone know offhand if these cases themselves are relatively easy to come by in Ireland, or shipped from nearby?

The main reason I'm curious is that my laptop is slowly dying, and instead of buying another one, it seems i'd be able to build a mini-pc with a decent graphics card and still retain some of the portability.

[original article]

quarryman

well this this is mine and i love it. It packs anything a midi tower can produce.
my setup:

• P4 2.8GHzc 800
• 2*256MB 3200
• Radeon 9600 Pro
• Intel 865 mobo
• Seagate 'cuda 60GB 7200
• wireless lan

It matches a midi tower system at half the size.

Re: heat and noise. These are related. At stock speeds (hardware and fans) the setup is quiet. If you plan on overclocking you'll probably have to up the fan speeds etc. However using speedfan its possible to minimise this. The loudest fan is probably the psu which can be modded.
Get a silent case fan and the system is very quiet.

availabilty is good on the shuttles. Overclockers.co.uk have a good selection. komplett's is crap, and they're crap at the moment anyway. Elara have some I think. I got mine here. Watch them though, non existent customer service.

My advice: do it. Replace that laptop now. The reflexion even comes with a carry case to throw on your shoulder and i think there's a backpack that can be bought from the Shuttle website.

get the credit card out :ninja:

rymus

I was going to buy one from here recently to use as a file & print server. Still haven't gotten round to it though...

koneko

I have a Shuttle SB51G and haven't had a single problem with heat, and it's crammed full of stuff (moreso than usual Shuttles). They're great little rigs

Gemma.co.uk have good prices/selection on Shuttles, but their site is woeful.

strat

Im on my second shuttle now, got the first one about 10 months -sn41g2 had an xp2100 in it, no heat problems at all, nice n quiet too, psu was a bit loud tho.
Then I upgraded to the sn45g and put an xp2500 in it, I under-volted it to 1.45v and run it cooler, with the fan at 100% it idles at 34C and with the fan at 5% (silent) it idles at 45, playing games, if it goes over 50 the fan kicks in.
I did try that 2500 overclocked to 3200+ speeds and was perfectly stable, although I had to knock to the voltage up to 1.8 and run the fan at 100% the whole time.
Over all im well pleased with them, perfect for lans, no power issues despite the 200watt psu and they look :cool:

casper-

Even though you lose the cool extras, might it be worth it to get the SB75G2 instead of the SB61G2-R to get the newer Intel chipset?

casper-

Originally posted by quarryman


availabilty is good on the shuttles. Overclockers.co.uk have a good selection. komplett's is crap, and they're crap at the moment anyway. Elara have some I think. I got mine here. Watch them though, non existent customer service.

Ebuyer ships to Ireland? When i went to the checkout I got this:

---

Address Details
Please supply your property name or number & postcode below. (Do not include your street name). We will complete your full (UK) address. This must be the same as your credit card billing address
Property Name or Number *
Postcode

---

casper-

Originally posted by quarryman
Elara have some I think. The reflexion even comes with a carry case to throw on your shoulder and i think there's a backpack that can be bought from the Shuttle website.
[/B]

Yes... elara do indeed carry them.

Elara.ie: €390.37 Excl. VAT
Ebuyer.com: €323.63 excl. vat

(overclockers only appear to have the non-reflexion edition version for €288)

what's going on there ...

quarryman

• Ebuyer

These guys are bad and i mean bad on customer service. Just cross your fingers you don't have a problem because it will cost you a lot on phonecalls (they never replied to me once by email). Their prices are very good though (probably because they save money in PR) so its a gamble on what you're getting. The only reason i bought from them was because no one else was selling the Reflexion.

• Elara

Elara are usually more expensive but the option to collect the products (therefore no delivery charges) is great. Also its guaranteed that any problems will be solved better than anywhere in the U.K. They've got a good forum here on boards that Jeanie moderates regularly.

• Overclockers

These guys have a great selection but be aware of the GB£25 delivery charge and if there are any problems with the Shuttle you have to pay to return it. This will be €40 registered post. However you will be able to get these guys on the phone.

Also this is your indispensible list of suppliers. Note: not all of these supply shuttles.

Ebuyer ships to Ireland? When i went to the checkout I got this:

Do a quick boards search on this. I think I had to use REP 123 as the postcode. Can't believe they haven't fixed this.

Pick out your choice of which Shuttles you're interested in and your budget and I'll see if i can give any advice.....

casper-

Originally posted by quarryman

• Elara

Elara are usually more expensive but the option to collect the products (therefore no delivery charges) is great. Also its guaranteed that any problems will be solved better than anywhere in the U.K. They've got a good forum here on boards that Jeanie moderates regularly.

I'd really rather go with someone local, but offhand I'd say it's going to cost me €300-400 more for the system I'm looking at (if I can even get the correct parts). I think the extras (wireless lan, case, card reader) for the SB61G2-R are cheap enough that I'm going to go with the SB75G2 just to get the newer chipset.

Here's what I'm looking at:

Shuttle SB75G2
Pentium 4 2.8 800 Mhz FSB (HyperThreaded)
Corsair 1 GB DDR TWINX 3200LLPT
Sapphire Radeon 9600 XT 256 MB
Western Digital 120 GB Serial ATA 7200 RPM

Quick Pricing (including VAT and shipping)

---

Ebuyer.com - 1212.51
Overclockers - 1193.43

I would have liked to have a budget of between 1100-1300, but I don't think I'll be able to get those pieces for that price with an Irish company.

zAbbo

Just built a
Shuttel sn45g,
512 DDR,
80gb Samsung,
17" Flatscreen
Modem,
Radeon 7000
Logiecth KB
Creative Mouse
Song DVD Burner
Athlon 2500+(barton)

for 1183 off overclockers

quarryman

Here's what I'm looking at:

Shuttle SB75G2
Pentium 4 2.8 800 Mhz FSB (HyperThreaded)
Corsair 1 GB DDR TWINX 3200LLPT
Sapphire Radeon 9600 XT 256 MB
Western Digital 120 GB Serial ATA 7200 RPM

Quick Pricing (including VAT and shipping)

---

Ebuyer.com - 1212.51
Overclockers - 1193.43

I would have liked to have a budget of between 1100-1300, but I don't think I'll be able to get those pieces for that price with an Irish company.

that's a very good setup. one word of warning on the SB75g2 is a little louder than some of the other models. see here also the 875 chipset isn't a massive increase in performance. however its probably the best performer for that money.

also the new silenX PSU is on the way for the shuttles. might wanna keep an eye out for that if you find your new system is a little too lond (though its not really bad at all, just preference).

enjoy!

Lump

Originally posted by quarryman

• Ebuyer

These guys are bad and i mean bad on customer service. Just cross your fingers you don't have a problem because it will cost you a lot on phonecalls (they never replied to me once by email). Their prices are very good though (probably because they save money in PR) so its a gamble on what you're getting. The only reason i bought from them was because no one else was selling the Reflexion.

Yes you are indeed talking ****. I never have a problem with e-buyer, I buy lots of stuff from them on a weekly basis. I have had to return stuff and it always goes ahead without any problem. I can't fault ebuyer and they are certainally better than any irish company.

Also they don't reply to e-mails, you're supposed to use the E-notes on the site.

John

po0k

I want to get a nanoITX board, PCMCIA card for booting the OS (*n*x variant) and a laptop drive for storage, all packaged in a 5.25" bay in my main rig and use it as a webserver/testbed system, or even as a low-power alternative to the main box.

po0k

Originally posted by Lump
Yes you are indeed talking ****. I never have a problem with e-buyer, I buy lots of stuff from them on a weekly basis. I have had to return stuff and it always goes ahead without any problem. I can't fault ebuyer and they are certainally better than any irish company.

Also they don't reply to e-mails, you're supposed to use the E-notes on the site.

John

Would the fact that you live in the UK affect that?
Maybe their international/EU services are less than perfect?
I imagine it would certainly have an effect on returns and reimbursement etc.

quarryman

Yes you are indeed talking ****. I never have a problem with e-buyer, I buy lots of stuff from them on a weekly basis. I have had to return stuff and it always goes ahead without any problem. I can't fault ebuyer and they are certainally better than any irish company.

Also they don't reply to e-mails, you're supposed to use the E-notes on the site.

John

Hi John,

First of this is your opinion. I've had problems with ebuyer and so have many others.

Try

here

here
here

and

here

I'm glad you feel you can order stuff from them weekly. I'm just not willing to cough up €36 for delivery when I can pick it up at elara for nothing.

Have you ever tried to call them? If you have waited less than 40 minutes, congratulations.

I'm also aware of e-note system. It is their form of email. Same thing. Either way my reply regarding ROI delivery wasn't answered, nor were others.

On my first purchase with ebuyer my shuttle was "lost" by the warehouse. Intercity claimed it never received it, ebuyer claimed they had.......

Either way i have found them bad. Saying they are better than any Irish company is wrong. Price maybe, delivery no, customer service no.

quarryman

Would the fact that you live in the UK affect that?

if that's true Lump then I don't think you can comment......

Col_Loki

Just to add a strange one into the mix..... what about the Creative SLIX ?? I know it only supports 533mhz FSB Chips but still......

Free delivery €259 , and that includes main board, PSU, Case AND an Audigy 2 sound card.......

I think thats a rather good deal TBH and the Audigy 2 is absolutly amazing, would make for a cheap mini system with fantastic sound and pretty good performance??

[edit] PS have heard bad things about Ebuyer aswell, seems like they dont give a damm about the irish business........ am still not sure if they sorted out the whole thing about not being able to select "ireland" (ie you could only pick UK and you had to enter Eire as a postcode) ......

casper-

Btw, I called ELara, as I really would rather go with someone local. Turns out they're just doing an order of Shuttle today, but they can't get either the SB75G2 _or_ the SB61G2-R. Sigh.

I'm awaiting a list of what is available, will probably have to go for the SB65G2. Hopefully there's nothing wrong with that one I wish there were places you could just walk into and pick up equipment when you needed it; it turns out for work I'm going to need a PC by tomorrow, basically ... sounds like I might have to wait a whole week to get it

daveyjoe

I built my shuttle sff last summer, I don't use it for games, + it's very quiet (important!).

Shuttle SK41g - from OCUK
Amd Athlon xp 2500+ - from OCUK
80gb maxtor 7200rpm - from Komplett
512mb Corsair pc2700 - from OCUK
Geforce 4mx w/ 64mb ram - from Komplett
MSI TV@anywhere (Tv Card) - from Komplett
17" Samsung LCD monitor - from Komplett
Wireless Keyboard and mouse - from OCUK
Sony DVD-RW drive - from Komplett

I also have midi ports and guitar input for music editing.
It acts as a bluetooth & wireless (802.11b) network for my house and there are a lot peripherals hanging off it, but so far everything has been running perfectly although I can't get the tv tuner card to work properly.

I can't remember the price of everything, but it was quite reasonable, and everyone goes wow when they see it in the living room.

I'm very happy with Overclockers and komplett, generally overclockers have better prices, but the the one week offers from komplett are unbeatable.

koneko

Originally posted by COL_LOKI
Just to add a strange one into the mix..... what about the Creative SLIX ?? I know it only supports 533mhz FSB Chips but still......

It's the same as the Shuttle SB51G (so good!).