shuttle SK40G and SK41G

[Tommunist]

have a few questions...
1. anyone have experience with either one of these?
2. apart from the agp support, what is the difference between the 2? (the chipsets are diff too but I don't know why one would be better than the other)
3. Can I upgrade the motherboard in this or are the motherboards in these things proprietary?

I wasn't sure where to post this and I wasn't getting anywhere in a more general forum. Thanks.

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[Tommunist]

or even the SS51G (I'm comparing the cost between doing the Pentium vs the AMD version and the Pentium is winning out right now).

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo T,

I do know all the details yet, I will be getting a compact box from Shuttle directly to test(hopefully sometime next week). I believe all the newer models will have a 200 watt PSU & come in one of 7 colors. They are planning to phase out the brushed alluminium with the much nicer custom paint job.

1) Not yet, & I don't know which one yet either....it is most likely the newest red AMD Athlon unit.

2)I did not see the spec's on the SK41G or SK40G. You might want to wait a little longer until the new Shuttle XPC's hit the streets. They will be based on the nForce2 & DDR based P4(I think the Intel 845GE) chipsets.

3)You might be able to upgrade the mobos, but don't plan on it. I don't believe anyone other than Shuttle is making a "Micro Flex" form factor mobo(this is not a Micro-ATX mobo).

This might help out:

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1741&p=1
http://www.spacewalker.com/english/fs50.gif

I like the idea of a small quiet system, but I also like to OC & test the limits of things..........this is not the system for tweakers or gamers..........what the heck, I'm getting it for free!

Peace Out..........tile2

Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Tommunist]

nForce2...mmmmmmm
that would be nice, would give a bit more head room for upgrading the processor. This system is going to be for my gf and she doesn't play games that much but in case she starts I want to get one with AGP support. And she is willing to spend about 1k US $ on the box itself so I can make it pretty solid.

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo T,

The thing right now is, I don't know when everything is going to hit the retailers. The Prices for the barebones systems are going to be right around $300 USD(I have to believe at this point the nForce2 unit will be higher), from there you need Ram(2 slots only), CPU, HDD(only one internal ide HDD), 1 CD-Rom(or DVD) & 1 FDD. With a budget of $1000, this should be no problem.

About a AGP slot..........I know the P4 platform XPC's had them, but I am not sure that the nForce2 mobo has one. I still have not recieved anything yet, so I don't know the full details or layout. I just hope I don't get the Via KM266 chipset Box. Did you go to Anandtech's site that I posted & check out the pics?

Peace Out.................tile2

Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Tommunist]

What do you mean you hope you don't get the Via KM266 chipset box? Did you order one and you aren't sure which chipset it has? The SS40G has a SIS chipset and the SS41G has the Via chipset. If you ordeded the one with the AGP then you ordered the Via one because the SIS chipset one doesn't have AGP. And yea, I did check out that link. Looks like the new ones are well on their way but I couldn't tell from any of the pics if there was an agp slot there. I would like to think that since this thing would be rather hihg-end that it would have an agp slot. Lets hope that they do get the fan off of the northbridge; no need for extra noise. And btw..what is so bad about the Via KM266 chipset? I don't really know much about it as I am fairly new to knowing about these things. I started to actually know a little something about computer hardware about 9 months ago. So anything prior to that I don't know that much about....

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[ad_rach]

i don't know where it was but i read that for the nforce 2 one they were going for the IGP version and dumping the agp slot.that wouldn't be too bad though coz the IGP is based on the GF4 MX440 so it could handle some gaming though it's not really high performance.i'm not 100% sure on this (or even 50%) but it would make sense given the form factor.

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo T,

I am getting this box free, I just have to use it like I would any other computer & tell the guys at Shuttle if I like it or if I don't like it & why. I met a bunch of Shuttle people in Las Vegas for ComDex, where they had their invitation only suite. Over a few days they tried to talk me into using their XPC system. I told them I like Shuttle products(I feel they are the best budget mobos), but I don't plan on using a compact system ever. They like all the OEMs, don't understand Over-Clocking (& why anyone would do it) & High bench-marks & FPS(frames per second). They told me, my Girlfriend & dogs would love the peace & quiet of their XPC. I said, if you send me one, I will use it & if I like it, I will start building more systems with their XPC line. They said don't worry everyone will want one of these small, quiet & cute systems. I said, okay ship it to me & I'll get back to you after a couple of weeks. So you see, I didn't order anything & I will use whatever they send me. They hinted that they nForce2, might not be ready yet, but will be soon. All the internals of the systems at ComDex were working "Prototypes" & not the real retail products.

As for the KM266(& KT266 for that matter), they were the worst performing DDR/Athlon chipsets, plagued by all kinds of hardware conflicts............luckily for Via, their next chipset the KT266A was one of the best.

I hope I get the barebones system on Monday.

Peace Out...................tile2

Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Tommunist]

Ok..now it makes sense. I didn't reread the first post carefully enough after reading the second one. I didn't know they were sending you one to try out. That would be a shame if the nforce2 version didn't have AGP...

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo T,

I got the old SK41G(brushed aluminium finish) with the Via KM266 chipset mobo. It isn't the Ferrari Red nForce2 box that I was dreaming about. It does have a AGP slot & 1 PCI slot. You also can upgrade the mobo with another "Micro Flex" mobo............but I believe that only Shuttle uses this form factor right now. The whole thing is still pretty slick! I have got to get the internal components for this new toy. Maybe after Christmas.

Peace Out................tile2

Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Tommunist]

thats awesome that you can upgrade the mobo at a later date. maybe someday I'll get one of these for myself after building one for my gf. thanks for the info. Let me know how everything goes once you get it loaded up with components.

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo T,

Most likely I won't take the upgrading mobo path with this box. This XPC has a 160 watt PSU. For future mods I will want something with more power. Again if you can wait the new XPC's will come with a 200 watt PSU & better mobo's(not to mention the pretty colors). I am looking to build it right after Christmas..............need my cash for X-mas shopping right now.

Peace Out...................tile

Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Tommunist]

some of the XPCs already have a 200watt psu I think. Do you have any idea when those nforce2 XPCs will be out? They seem to just kind of say soon (b/c at the time of that article that you sent me the link for the nforce2 mobos weren't out yet). But now they are...so should the nforce2 XPCs be coming soon here??? tilepusher or anyone else that knows????

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[Tilepusher2]

Yo T,

I just emailed the Shuttle Prez, I hope he remembers me(there was a lot of drinking & grambling involved during his stay). Hopefully, he will get back to me, & I will get back to you when he does.

Peace Out................tile2

Why do you want to believe me?

 

[Mavicator]

I just built an SB51G with the intel chipset. I mounted 2 WD 40gb 7200rpm hard drives, P4 2.0GHZ 400FSB and 256mb Crucial DDR2100. I'm using the onboard graphics for now to see what it can do, and I must say I'm impressed! Just about every game runs quite well at 1024x768x32. Just installed UT2003 and that seems to be about the limit of displaying a smooth, pretty picture. It's running with all details around medium or slightly lower. With a decent video card I'm sure this thing would rock.

-- Ah sh*t! sys64738 --

 

[Tommunist]

rockin. If I had more free cash I would build one of these for lan action...sounds like they could handle it okay...

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!

 

[Tommunist]

I just noticed that the SB51G only has an 8meg onboard video - what is the deal with that??? thats not very much at all!!!

Those dogs can smell anything. That's why you gotta kick em in the throat!!!