Shuttle SFF Build in the future

BopNiblets

Hey guys, I'm thinking about building a SFF system in the not too distant future, once Vista with DirectX 10 (and thus, DirectX 10 graphics cards) are out, if that's even worth waiting for!
I was looking for some input, specifically from anyone who's ever built an SFF system!

Shuttle has a new Core 2 case out, The SD37P2 (Review here)

The thing is, I want this to be decently powerful (for games mostly) and decently quiet so it can be used as a HTPC (the two competing factors in all teh systems! I know!), so I was thinking of a passively cooled card, such as the MSI 7900GT.
MSI page here. (they have GTX cards out soon too, no pics on the website yet though)

So, specs will be along the lines of
-SD37P2 case, mobo and PSU included
-Core 2 Duo E6600
-Some Corsair RAM, 1 or 2GB
-A passively cooled PCI Express card, I know it might get way too hot in the enclosed space, but it's worth a shot...
-A slot DVD Burner if possible (if one exists, something like this old Pioneer 106S)
-I have hard drives, an MX5000 keyboard/mouse set and everything else

Note, the modding comes in where I may strip out the included case fans for more silent ones, depending on how noisy they are.

I'm NOT going to overclock or watercool, too lazy to learn.
So, any SFF builders in the house?

BopNiblets

I'm surprised nobody has tried to build a SFF system, only big honkin' rigs in here!

Meh.

awhir

gline and a few have 1 i tink ??

youcancallmeal

Yea been thinking about buliding a sff pc myself for awhile now aswell. Probably would be building for use as a htpc though and not for gaming. That msi gfx card looks quite handy too.

RuggieBear

i have a shuttle system.

Nice looking a machine but you pay a price for shuttle branding. If i was to create a "performance" machine i'd look at a small case that can take either a mini motherboard board or a full mother board

DemonOfTheFall

Why not an Aspire Q-Pack case where you can use a proper sized power supply and proper sized components ?

Sure it's bigger than the shuttle but you gain a lot in Power, Cooling and MoBo choice

BopNiblets

Thanks I'll have a look at it.

I also saw a good review of the Antecs attempt, in addition to silencing stuff (which Antec do well, I have their P150 quiet ATX case), it looks freaking nice too!

Although it looks a bit cramped for space with the cables.

The nice thing about the Shuttles is the cables are pretty much organised for you, and no mobo installation.

gline

i built a shuttle before and i have one at the moment. Biggest problem is graphics card cooling, i have an x800 VIVO in it at the moment and on stock cooler it idles at 60degrees. Also if you build one from scratch make sure you route the cables to allow maximum airflow.... even if 1 cable is blocking some airflow u may notice a fair bit of difference. I wouldnt recommend a passive cooled gfx for a shuttle system, im sure it will get roasting hot. also dont go for a raptor drive as it will heat up too much. and use good thermal paste.. ie artic silver and the likes. watch out for pci slot clearence etc.. if you put a pci card in (ie soundcard)
it can block the fan on the chipset.. well at least on the nforce3 one i have.

one thing i will say is that they are really silent... and they arent too bad with preformance with the right parts in them

el Bastardo

Yeah, I built one a few years back - a SB61GR. It's long since been upgraded with quiet fans, passive coolers and newer drives, graphics, dual TV card. How hot/noisy it gets obviously depends on what you put into it but I've no problems with noise or excess heat - the fans only kick in when needed so it's great for HTPC. The newer models are supposed to be a lot quieter - if this is true, then you'll be fine.

Performance is a bit below par compared to a full rig. IMO, Shuttle do the best but there are plenty of alternatives from other, mostly Taiwanese, companies.

Plextor do a fancy full-sized slot burner, which ain't cheap.

You'd want to check that the passive graphics fit (they look a bit wide with the sinks front/back)

Anti

Abit have just released a kick ass sff case/mobo combo. Im to lazy to find the link, but if you google it im sure it will be found

youcancallmeal

anti wrote:

Abit have just released a kick ass sff case/mobo combo. Im to lazy to find the link, but if you google it im sure it will be found

Ah go on find the link, I'm just as lazy as you

conzy

Dont get a passive card, they are designed for big cases would good airflow...

Just buy a aftermarket cooler like an Accelero X1 or X2....

ongarite

I built a Shuttle SFF a few months ago, had a good experience with it.
I built a Shuttle SN25P with X2 3800+, 2GB Corsair Ram, nVidia 7900GT, Plextor DVD-RW and 2 300GB Maxtor hard-drives.
It works really nicely and overclocks great too. I've the 3800 running at 2.5GHz at stock voltage and ram at 250MHz also, rock solid.
In regards to graphics card cooling, the Shuttle SFFs are generally well designed. The SN37P2 will take a dual-slot ATI X1900XT with no space, heat issues.
I have a Zalman VF-900Cu cooler on my 7900GT and it works well.

ongarite

The fans in the Shuttle SFF are usually top-notch. They are all PWM fans so automatically adjust for temperatures. The ICE fan setup in the SN25P, SN37P2 is excellent, a 80mm intake fan, large heatsink and 92mm exhaust fan.
I would highly recommend using Speedfan, gives you control over the rear fans as they can be noisy if they spin up.
I would recommend Seagate or Samsung hard-drives are they are quiet and cool.

BopNiblets

Thanks for the replies guys, have to get back in the know of the current hardware, I've only built one PC and I gave up following what was what once I had that built!

Anyone else interested in passively cooled cards, XFX relased a sweet Geforce 7950 GT one, in stock and overclocked versions:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/09/14/xfx_geforce_7950_gt_570m/2.html


I love the idea of having as few fans as possible in a system, but a man can dream, so for a guy who won't risk modding a third party fan onto a card, what are the quietest graphics cards out there these days?
In the Geforce 7900 GT range (and ATI equivalent, the X1900? I'm a little behind on all the cards)

anti: If you mean the Abit Digidice, that was released 3 years ago it seems! That's all google gives me anyway..

el Bastardo: I saw the Plextor slot loading DVD drive, but they are a bitch to find in stock anywhere!
http://www.plextor-europe.com/products/px-716AL.asp?choice=PX-716AL

My current system is:
AMD 64 3800+ (Akasa AK862 cooler), 1GB Corsair, HiS X800PRO, 74gig Raptor, 250gig Seagate and 500gig WD (got it cheap ) Antec P150 case.
The noisiest things in my case now are the MSI Neo2 chipset fan and the dusty heatsink X800 fan, which has a dual slot cooler that blocks the chipset fan!