New SFF for college

[snapa]

Soltek Barbone Mini PC for AMD Processors Model EQ3701M Retail- $240

AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- OEM - $85

LITE-ON XJ-HD166/XJ-HD 165H 16X DVD ROM Drive BLACK- OEM - $34.99

Seagate 80GB 7200rpm EIDE Hard Drive Barracuda V ST380023A - OEM - $80

I'm not going to be gaming...but i can steal my vid card from my system (check sig) that i can't take to college...I'm building this on the DL so i can actually have a comp in college...Is that good bang for the buck? I wanna try to keep everything under $500...I still need ram...any ideas?

[Yahoolian]

This [url=http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=WD+WESTERN+DIGITAL+40GB+7200RPM+EIDE+HARD+DRIVE+8m[/quote]40GB WD HD 7200rpm w/ 8mb cache[/url] - $67 should be large enough, faster and saves a bit of money.

Buffalo 256MB PC2700 $42

Total: $469

[snapa]

Good setup though?

[eckslax]

It should be overkill for what you will be using it for. Overkill is never bad in a computer though and should serve you well if you ever decide to game on it.

[HowardDrake]

Personally I'm partial to Shuttle cubes, and if you're not going to use both 5 1/4 bays I'd go for the SN41G2 for 295 even if it pushes you over to 525 instead of 470. It's also a bit smaller and you get GF4MX instead of GF2 and dual head for programming bliss. Just my thoughts. NF2 vs. NF1 is a good thing I think.

[HowardDrake]

One other thing. Newegg has a DVD/CD-RW combo drive for 55 bucks right now. The RW capability is nice for sneakernet when necessary. Floppies are so obsolete

[snapa]

Personally I'm partial to Shuttle cubes, and if you're not going to use both 5 1/4 bays I'd go for the SN41G2 for 295 even if it pushes you over to 525 instead of 470. It's also a bit smaller and you get GF4MX instead of GF2 and dual head for programming bliss. Just my thoughts. NF2 vs. NF1 is a good thing I think.

Dont they both have GF4mx?

[HowardDrake]

The Soltek cube that you listed initially has a nForce chipset, not nForce2. So you don't get the same onboard graphics capacities. Now I know that it's not an enormous difference but there is some. That combined with the better audio of NF2 and dual-head would sway the decision for me.

EDIT: I looked at Soltek's manufacturer page and it is NF2, same core. My bad But I still like the Shuttles cooling system and dual monitor output

[snapa]

The Soltek cube that you listed initially has a nForce chipset, not nForce2. So you don't get the same onboard graphics capacities. Now I know that it's not an enormous difference but there is some. That combined with the better audio of NF2 and dual-head would sway the decision for me.

EDIT: I looked at Soltek's manufacturer page and it is NF2, same core. My bad But I still like the Shuttles cooling system and dual monitor output

Ok...uhm...i'm pretty sure that the one i listed has dual monitor outputs...but just fan cooling...

[HowardDrake]

You are correct again, sir. This is an off day for me Shuttle still has the heatpipe

[snapa]

You are correct again, sir. This is an off day for me Shuttle still has the heatpipe

LOL...thats ok...we still all love you...

[snapa]

Ok...HD persuaded me on my barebone...i think i'm gonna get a Shuttle SN41G2 now...

[HowardDrake]

I do not think you will regret it. Are you still going with the DVD/CD-RW combo drive? And please give us all a final spec list. BTW if you're looking for lower Shuttle prices, try http://www.excaliberpc.com I've ordered my cubes from there and have never been unhappy with the service

[Ragnar Dan]

The only suggestion I'd make is that the hard disk you're planning on has a 2 MB cache, but plenty of people are happy about having bought one with an 8 MB cache instead.

If you look around, you can find one for a low price. In fact, right now Best Buy is selling a Maxtor 80 GB for $60 after a mail-in rebate. They've only got a 1 year warranty, but you might be able to find a WD drive of similar specs with their preferred 3 year warranty, and anyway the drive you're buying appears to have a 1 year warranty as well. Best Buy is also selling a WD 160 GB HD with the 8 MB cache for $100 after 2 mail-in rebates. Pretty decent deal.

I've been thinking HD prices would continue declining all along like usual, but in the last couple of weeks I've begun to notice prices going the other direction. I'm not sure if that's a trend or an anomoly, but it's bothering me.

[snapa]

The only suggestion I'd make is that the hard disk you're planning on has a 2 MB cache, but plenty of people are happy about having bought one with an 8 MB cache instead.

I'm happy with 2mb cache...its kinda like heated leather seats...if you've never experienced it...you don't know what you're missing...so it doesn't bother me

Are you still going with the DVD/CD-RW combo drive?

Yep! I'm looking at a This

[snapa]

Finally! my computer!!!

Shuttle SN41G2
Athlon 2500+
60 gig HD
CDRW+DVD Combo
256mb Corsair PC3200

[mstrmold]

Hey Snapa,

Yeah, I just bought the same Combo drive for my SN45G. Wow, that sucker is quiet . Just as a side note though I ran into a problem when the drive runs in DMA mode2 (default under WinXP). If I play video (DVD, VCD, etc...) video would get all funky. Going into the device manager and changing to PIO mode fixed the video issue. Since it's on its own channel and set to Master, I don't know what the problem is other than the Nvidia driver/Microsoft driver causing a problem.

Just wanted to FYI for ya

-E

[megbu36]

I'm trying to get an SN45G system with a processor and memory. Anyone know of any good deals out there?

[quote="Yahoolian"]This [url=http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=WD+WESTERN+DIGITAL+40GB+7200RPM+EIDE+HARD+DRIVE+8m[/quote] 40GB WD HD 7200rpm w/ 8mb cache[/url] - $67 should be large enough, faster and saves a bit of money.

[url=http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=Buffalo+Technology+256MB+PC2700+DDR+Memory+Module]Buffalo 256MB PC2700[/url] $42

Total: $469[/quote]