[Solved] Advice on Shuttle SX58H7 Build

Hi,

I'm looking for advice from anyone who has previously built a system around the Shuttle SX58H7 barebones kit (the core i7 based solution).

Essentially I want a small, self-contained system that I will primarily use for working on DSLR images (think Lightroom and Photoshop on large RAW images with multiple layers), plus other media-related duties (DVD-ripping etc) and some light gaming (TF2 and that kind of thing).

I'm drawn to the Shuttle solution despite the cost overheads, but I have a few questions:

1. Can the proprietary cooling solution handle a moderate overclock on a core i7 920, say to 3GHz or a little higher? Tom's review seems to indicate this wouldn't be a problem.
2. What's the best match in terms of RAM assuming I go for a triple DDR3 kit to provide 6GB total? I've been looking at the following kit on ebuyer, but should I be thinking about 1600MHz kits?:
Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory CL9(9-9-9-24)
3. Although I'll be using my ATI3870 from my current build in the new system to begin with, I'm thinking of moving to a Radeon 5850 eventually - does this present any problems with the small case / lack of cooling?
4. Does the Shuttle chassis require a half-height optical drive? Looking at the pictures it seems as though it could accommodate a full size drive, and after reading the manual for the barebones kit it doesn't state half-height only, but a couple of reviews online seem to imply that this would be required.

I'll probably stick a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB drive in the build as well. I have a few SATA drives (2x250GB, 1x500GB) in my current AMD Skt939 system but I'm thinking of turning that into a Linux/Windows Home Server machine for backup and media storage so will probably leave those drives in place.

Any advice on this kind of build would be gratefully appreciated.

Chris

Thanks for the reply.

1) I probably wouldn't overclock the machine right away - as you say it's not really required for production work and stability is a higher priority. It would be useful to know there is a bit of headroom there if needed though.

2) I have a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium x64 that I got using a pre-order discount that I'm planning on using for this machine (using RC on my current machine at the moment and that doesn't expire until March), so 6GB won't be a problem.

3) Cooling is a concern - I'd need to make sure the cooler vented most heat out the back I think. It looks as though there are some vents in the side of the case though.

4) I can't even find the review in question myself now, all the specs seem to suggest fulll height is fine but as you say it might be worth going with half-height for airflow reasons.