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Shuttle SS40G Mini-PC

Posted by michael on from the size-isn't-everything dept.

Thomas writes "Just got an email from a friend telling me Viahardware.com has put up a review of the Shuttle SS40G - the latest barebones system. I read through the review, and it looks like Shuttle has finally made a system that is capable of being totally silent. It has a cool heatpipe and radiator design for cooling the CPU, not to mention that it looks very cool."

18 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Silent computers by iangoldby · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's not quite silent. There are two fans - one (almost silent) for the PSU and a second reasonably quiet one for the CPU radiator, according to the article. It may be quiet but that's not the same thing as silent. Anyway, even without fans you'd still have the noise from the hard disk.

  2. This will revolutionize computing by PhysicsGenius · · Score: 4, Funny
    I, for one, am glad that somebody finally had the cojones to stand up to Corporate America and defiantly make a noise-free computer. Too long we have put up having loud fans forced down our throats and paid the so-called "beep tax". If there is one thing that consumers have been clamoring for, it is quieter hard drives and dammit, somebody is finally giving them what they are willing to pay hundreds of extra dollars for.

    Thank you ShuttlePC, you have made the world a better place.

  3. No Noise?? by TheNecromancer · · Score: 4, Funny

    A totally silent computer?? How in the heck do they expect me to fall asleep without that fan noise??

    --
    Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
  4. Re:stealth advertising? by mccalli · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...do the Shuttle PC's get a lot of free advertising on slashdot. more so than any dell, ibm, etc. equipment. In fact the only other manufacturer that seems to get as much is Apple.

    I imagine it's because they're doing something interesting with the design, a quality they share with Apple.

    With a standard desktop box, you're more interested in the components themselves and Slashdot gives a fair amount of prominence to the likes of Intel, AMD, nVidea etc.

    Cheers,
    Ian

  5. Sounds of silence by jonelf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Capable of being totally silent if you turn off the two fans and only use the computer a minute at a time?

    It looks cool but not being totally silent and not having an AGP-slot are two cons that makes me stay away from it.

    Right now I'm sitting in a room with 4 PCs and one laptop. The humming sound is terribly annoying. Not that I hear the laptop in here but even those have fans today. Buy shares in silent computing!

    I don't recommend you to read any further.
    I remember my Amiga1200 with two internal 2.5" HDs fitted it still didn't overheat and it had no fan, not even the PSU. Come to think of it my C64 never made a sound and booted in 0.2s.

    --
    /J - to know recursion you must first know recursion
  6. Re:Silent computers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can approach silence by using a VIA C3 CPU, which does -not- require a CPU fan.

    The seagate barracuda IV is so quiet as to be essentially noiseless; the background hum of fluorescent lights should be louder than a machine so spec'ed.

  7. Another review from vr-zone by remoford · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/Shuttle/SS40G/
    Hav e fun.

  8. Re:Anyone else got Linux going for real on it yet? by galaga79 · · Score: 3, Informative
    Funnily enough the author of the article is using tiny computer as a Linux box and discusses the results in the conclusion. To sum up the author tried Red Hat 7.1 on it and it seemed to recognise everything except for the onboard video. Below is the full quote to which I am referring.

    As I said earlier, I'm using the SS40G with a Seagate Hard Drive, etc. But what is it being used for? A small Linux box, that's what. Yeah, I know I need to get those drive painted silver. It will happen eventually. No, really I'm serious. Anyway, just a brief discussion of how Linux is working on it. Pretty good. I installed Red Hat 7.1 on it, and it seems to have recognized everything so far (though I'm not sure about sound), except for the onboard video. I need to try Mandrake 8.2 since it's a newer release, and see what happens. There are third party drivers for the SiS740 chipset, but I would much rather have it supported natively by Linux than have to install and configure it all by hand. I can always throw in something like a PCI Matrox G200 and use that for video, but it would be nice to use what is already there since I'm not intending to use it to run games. Perhaps once I have some more time with it using Linux, I will do a brief write-up on how it is working.
    --

    aus.music.scrapbook
  9. hmm by Alcimedes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    actually, seeing this computer, what it has and what it doesn't, really makes me appreciate the cube more.

    when it first came out i wasn't all that impressed. it was cool and all, but so much money.

    however, i think it gave people a taste for quite, small computers. perhaps this is another newton.

    apple enters the market with a great idea, way ahead of everyone else, then charges an arm and a leg and flops. cut back two years later and everyone and their grandma is working to take over that market.

    oh well.

  10. Re:Two Things Every Review Should Have... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    NewEgg.com has em (or will get em on 6/3/02) for $350.
    I bought my SS50 from them about a month and a half ago....wish I woulda waited....*sigh*

  11. Re:Multimedia Case? by Levine · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yep. This one fits your specs exactly, although it takes some weird new Mini-ITX motherboard that VIA's developing. They make a P3 version, though. Cheers, levine

  12. concerns by Permission+Denied · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Two concerns:
    1. The PSU outputs 200W - is this sufficient for the newer Athlons?
    2. It comes with onboard video, but I would rather buy my own video card. Does it come with an AGP slot? AGP 1x, 2x? After looking at the pictures of the back of the case, I don't see where an AGP card would have video port - there are two obvious PCI slots on the back, but I don't see room for an AGP slot. Very few people still make high-performance PCI video cards

  13. Other smallish boxes / boards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    EZ-Go:

    http://www.directron.com/ezgo.html

    Soldam cube:

    http://www.slippersandpipe.co.uk/article.php?a=sol dam_cubes

    Other form factors:

    http://www.directron.com/slim.html
    http://nedcomp.bit-net.com/mini1.html

    VIA Mini-ITX motherboard (find a case for it somewhere...):

    http://www.via.com.tw/en/VInternet/mini_itx.jsp

    Advantech Single Boards Computers, e.g.:

    http://www.advantech.com.tw/products/PCM-9572F.a sp

    OQO Crusoe-powered handheld:

    http://www.oqo.com

    tiqit handheld:

    http://www.tiqit.com

    Older review of Shuttle SV24:

    http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/02q1/020111/ind ex.html

  14. Re:stealth advertising? by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 3, Interesting


    is it me, or do the Shuttle PC's get a lot of free advertising on slashdot. more so than any dell, ibm, etc. equipment.

    I must of missed Dell's press release for a barebones, stylish, and quiet compact system suitable for such geeky projects as a mobile LAN party box or multimedia / PVR system. Care to post a link?
  15. ss50, a powerfull fragging-machine? by Sarin · · Score: 5, Funny

    It seems that the ss40 & ss50 have a more powerfull little brother: anyone remember the Soviet ss20 nuclear missile?
    I bet that's a hell of a lot better fragging machine, it doesn't have USB though, but I guess it has a setting called USA.

  16. Own several of shuttle's boxes, very nice by Sean+Clifford · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I bought about ten of the SV24 and SV25 boxes for the office and I love 'em. In fact, I just ordered 3 more yesterday. I'm just waiting for the SS40 to come out with an AGP slot then it's on like Donkey Kong for a new LAN party box.

    These boxes are perfect for office PCs. They're tiny, packed full of features (gotta love the firewire), are quiet - and they're pretty. Only had one problem with a single box - a bad power supply that shuttle promptly replaced.

    Out of the can, RedHat 7.2 (haven't 'upgraded' to 7.3 yet) installed though you have to configure the video and some other goodies manually. Once you're up and running it's solid. I'm considering clustering a few of these, though I'm more tempted by Transmeta's rack o' blades.

    I have to say that Shuttle has hit the nail on the head with this series. I can't wait for the AMD 1AGP/1PCI version! If you have a grand or so laying around, snap one of these puppies up. :)

  17. You're not gonna get a silent Athlon system.. by -tji · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't know what the submitter considers "silent", but the article lists the noise levels between 44 and 55dB. That wouldn't even rate a quiet on my scale.

    Quiet would be a device like the Seagate Barracuda IV hard drives, which are around 30dB.

    The main problem with the SS40 is using the Athlon CPU's. These things just run HOT, and are going to require some significant cooling.

    To get a truly quiet system, you should start with a cooler CPU, like one of the 0.13u Celeron or PIII's. Or, take a P4 and underclock it to run cooler. To make it really cool, start with a low power / low heat CPU, like the VIA C3 - which doesn't even require a CPU fan.

    1. Re:You're not gonna get a silent Athlon system.. by hopews · · Score: 3, Informative

      A VIA C3 can't be compared to Athlons. I own a VIA C3 933 (its in a Shuttle SV24, the first of Shuttle's mini cube computers) and I recently did a LAME encoding test on the VIA C3 933 (on the fv24), a Celeron 300A@450 (on an Abit BH6) and a P3 1Ghz (on a Tyan Trinity 400). Encoding speeds were 1.1x, 1.9x, and 4.0x respectively. If the C3 is that much slower than a 4 year old Celeron, can not compare it to a 1800 Athlon XP.

      Using a heat pipe and a slow rpm 80mm fan this new board can keep the 1800 Athlon XP cool, and still keep noise low. The Seagate Barracuda IV drives have been measured at 41.3db (Idle Noise at Storage Review), and they are silent. I have 4 of them, I know.