TR Forums

My current system is:

NF7-S v2
barton @ 200 x 10
2x 512 Corsair PC3200LL
Ati 9700 Pro
1x 74 gig raptor
1x 120gig WD SE on a PATA -> SATA converter
CDRW/DVD combo drive
Antec Sonata

I'm thinking about putting together a SFF system though.

SN95G5
skt 939 A64 3500+
ATI 9800XT 256mb (already have)
2x 512mb Corsair TwinX PC3200LL (already have)
1x 74 gig raptor (already have)
1x 120gig WD SE on a PATA -> SATA converter (already have)
CDRW/DVD combo drive (already have)
possibly a TV tuner card like the PVR 250

Just the Shuttle and CPU put me up to almost $750. That's quite a bit of money. I'll be selling off parts from my old setup so that will help make up for some of the money, about alittle less than half I reccon. Is this going to be a good performance boost to be worth that price tag? I really like this new shuttle design, and skt 939 is supposedly somewhat future proof (maybe ).

I'm also concerned with wether or not that PSU can handle all of that, any thoughts?

This is going to be my gaming system.

The SN95 should handle all of this hardware without issue. The only concern is the amount of heat the higher end video cards produce and the weak fan Shuttle uses to exhaust the heat from within the case. The first thing most Shuttle folks do is remove the rear fan guard and place a better cooling fan on the outside to do a push/pull configuration.

As far as the bump up in performance, yes, there will be a bit of difference if you are a gamer or graphic artist. The AMD64 is a good processor, and though expensive, should hold you over for a couple of years. At least that's what I hope for my sake as well.


-E

What do you mean by a push/pull combination? The fan on the inside trying to exhaust air and an added fan on the outside trying to intake air at the same time?

I'm all confused, heh.

On another note, graphic editing would be good. I plan to start doing alot more work with my digital camera instead of my trusty 35mm.

It's also my understanding that I don't need registered RAM in this and that my Corair 3200 will work just peachy?

Is there any cheaper skt 939 procs out? The 3500+ seems to be the slowest/cheapest of them all.

Check the other forums for other users impressions on the SN95. Everything I've read says it's a super box. Time to beg the wife, I guess...

Sorry, but the push/pull is with one fan internal and an additional fan on the outside. Just make sure you match the fans (Same CFM ratings). The stock Sunon fan is very noisy so swapping for a pair of Panaflo's which move less CFM seperate but more as a pair helps with exhausting the heat from within the Shuttle. Details about Push/Pull setups can be found over in the SFFTECH forums.

As far as ram goes, you'll be fine with the Corsair memory. Just remember that if you do go with an A64 solution that the memory controller is tied to the processor and not the motherboard. Hence why most AMD64 platforms cannot run with timings at CAS 2 without retarding the Pre-delay or upping the Voltage. Even then thats not a guarantee of stability. I have a pair of the Corsair TwinXPC3200C2Pro (one's with the fancy LED's) that are CAS2-3-3-6 but I have to run 2.5-3-3-7 for stability.

-E