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"Shuttle SN41G2"
SUMMARY: Lots of capability in a small (maybe hot) package.
The good guys at UniQpc were nice enough to send us a Shuttle SN41G2 to test out. This is the nVIDIA nForce2 version of the Small Form Factor PCs that Shuttle is marketing so successfully (Shuttle's specs HERE.) If there's one thing you can say about these mini-PCs, they don't lack for features. The more notable features include:
For a pipsqueak, this guy packs a punch! Dual monitor support, LAN, Firewire, decent audio and a TV-out function - many full size systems have less features than this.
Out of curiosity, I did try the TV-out function; about the best you can say is that if you're stranded, it will do, but barely. However, using it to output a PowerPoint presentation or to record jpgs on a VCR is possible. Also make sure you download the latest VGA drivers as there is a bug in the release version (noted on Shuttle's site).
Let's take a closer look at the PC:
The back panel shows
the various features listed above; note there is NO parallel port - if you need one, it's an option you must purchase. A look inside
shows how closely packed everything is - and this is without the drive cage. Around the socket you see
active cooling for the nForce Crush 18G chipset and passive for the MCP2 Southbridge chipset (it does warm up, but not excessively). Inside the CPU socket is the thermistor (the blue dot in the middle). Cooling is with
the Socket 462 ICE heatpipe - a fairly good unit. I found it very easy to install. The 80mm fan can be set in BIOS to couple CPU temps to fan rpms - I enabled this as the sound reduction is considerable.
There are two accessory slots - one for a PCI card and one for an AGP:
Now here I do have issues. If you look at the AGP slot, you'll see that with a heatsink on the card's GPU, it will be so near the cover as to severely impact GPU cooling. In fact, if you have a fan running, it will be hard pressed to breathe. The PCI slot is a challenge - a large PCI card may not fit, as it runs very close to the drive cage.
I had the same issue with the power supply in the SS50 and cut an opening for airflow - if you plan to use the AGP slot, I think you must consider fashioning a case intake port.
Speaking of power supplies,
the unit shipped with it is rated at 200 watts - sufficient to get the job done. However, it does not appear to be particularly well vented - as we will see.
Finally, the Shuttle SN41G2 ships with about as many parts
as you'll need, including a CPU shim (which I did not use). The cable at the lower left allows you to hook up to an external video unit using an RCA jack - a nice addition. Included are two feet (above the patch cord), the purpose of which I find totally superfluous - but hey, that's me.
Last, if you use the on-board video, note that the video RAM is shared, which means that it reserves a chunk (32MB) of DDR. At a minimum, I think 256 MB of DDR is required (only 2 DIMM slots), so plan accordingly.
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