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Athlon 64 SFF With PCI Express Reviewed
EconolineCrush writes "The Tech Report has an in-depth review of Shuttle's new XPC SN25P. At several times the size of a Mac Mini, the SN25P is an entirely different breed of small form factor system; one that supports one 5.25" drive, three 3.5" drives, PCI Express x16 graphics cards and x1 peripherals, up to 2GB of DDR400 memory, and Socket 939 Athlon 64 processors. The system also bristles with USB, Firewire, and audio ports, including digital S/PDIF inputs and outputs, and even has an integrated memory card reader. Looks like a pretty good balance between footprint, portability, and expansion capacity."
What makes this any different from mini-ATX?
Looks very alike to me
-Glitch "We all know Linux is great...it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." - Linus Torvalds
I may be blind but I couldn't find the dimensions of this bare-bones unit anywhere in TFA. So then I went to www.shuttle.com, and I couldn't find this particular model anywhere. As the article states, it apparently is not for sale yet. Then I started looking at the specs sheets for the P-series models and couldn't find dimensions there either.
It appears to be bigger than a breadbox to me, and with my total inability to find the dimensions (which are likely on the front page of the article) that description will have to do.
Why is the industry going with PCI-X, rather than PCI-Express or PCI-66 which are both speedy AND backwards compatitble?
Looks interesting. Good to see a greater Atholon 64 availability with PCI Express. I wish it had been as easily accessible when I bought my comp.
Why is it always a competition?
If you find something that fits you and you're the only person in the world that likes it who cares if it sells 1,000,000 copies or 1, as long as you get what you like.
BTW, Dell will sell more shitty OptiPlex GX280's than Apple will sell mini's. Does it make them better? Or do the specs make the better? Or is it the price that makes it better? The reality is your opinion is what makes something better. Unfortunately you have yet to learn it is only better to you.
At least the article didn't ask the question: Is this the Mac Mini killer?
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
I have a mac mini, trust me, once you get a PC that has more than just hardware (lack of noise from fans, only bring a cd-ish thick etc) you don't want to back. Hell, I haven't used my linux setup in awhile because I can't stand the fan noise anymore. Ditto with the case size.
I've got a pegasos machine currently for my low end server behind my DSL line. It satisfies some of my requirements (fairly small, low power consumption) and it is fun to play with a different arch. However, it is too slow, too hot, and too loud.
I guess I could replace it with a mac mini and then I'd only have the problem of it being too slow, but I've been thinking of fixing all the problems by replacing it with a 'low end' SFF A64 since they use less power when idle but have the grunt when necessary. However I have been concerned that Shuttle haven't thought about noise ever since I played with a SFF P4 box that sounded like a jet engine.
I felt the same way when I owned an Apple ][+ and there were a lot of fellow geek owners.
//gs and Apple systematically dismantled its Apple II efforts for the Mac. There were still a few diehard Apple II 'ers then.
I felt the same way when I owned an Apple
Now I own a PC and don't feel the same.
Note: excuse my references to the Lanboy. I'm not trying to whore for Antec; it's just that their product is the most readily recognizable example of the design I'm referencing.
During the last two years of college, I got very into the LAN scene. All the guys I worked with were big on LAN gaming, and some people at my apartment complex were into it. Even my girlfriend had her LAN machine (in addition to her art major necessity Mac), which she decorated with Hello Kitty stencils on the requisite LAN computer window and dubbed "Halo Kitty."
We mostly leaned toward aluminum cases for weight benefits coupled with smaller LCDs. Because a fair amount of us were PC repair techs, we'd always have that one slightly older machine that could still easily hang with the games we played. New people would show up, get hooked, and start wanting to build/buy something so that they could participate.
A few people ended up with Shuttles or similar SFF cases. While fairly convenient in size, we consitently saw overheating issues and high noise levels. Shoehorning a good graphics card into these things (since LAN action is obviously a target market) sends heat levels through the roof, and the smaller size means only one fan. The need for a single fan means that fan must turn at very high speeds. This made for some excessive noise levels, especially for people who wanted to use these as their primary computer, and (logically) envisioned setting them atop their desk beside the monitor.
So the question out of all of this is here: are these SFF designs worth it? I love the convenient size of the Mac Mini as much as the next guy, but (in addition to being much smaller than most SFF PCs) they target a totally different market. When I look at these squatty boxes and compare them to an Antec Lanboy or other similar aluminum chassis w/ handles, I start wondering.
Isn't it just smarter to buy a lightweight mini-tower? With space for 3HDDs, isn't that what this thing really is, anyway? A Lanboy comes with a carry strap, weighs less than 20 lbs. loaded with an HDD and optical drive, and avoids the excessive heat and noise levels generated by the SFF design. While a Lanboy might be 2 or 2.5 times taller, it's also skinnier, so we're not talking about a huge gain there. On top of this, I get to choose my own internal components, whereas I was always put off of these because I'd end up having to use a shuttle mainboard.
So SFF buyers, what draws you to these things?
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?desc ription=56-110-030&DEPA=0
Asus Terminator C3 - $115. VIA C3 processor, running at 800MHz. Comes with processor, floppy and CD-ROM. Put in your old PC2100 RAM, a couple SATA hard drives, install your favorite Linux/*BSD distro, and you have a perfect home server. It even has a PCI slot, FireWire, USB2 and TV OUT.
The only comparison made was with the size of the mac mini. You are all reading way too much into this. If I say something is the size of a quarter, does that mean I'm saying it is worth $0.25?