Hello,
I just discovered this forum, and hopefully some of you folks will have the patience to answer to yet another new system advice
I work from home, in a small office. My PC cooling system drives me nuts. Plus it is getting old and underpowered, and it is ugly.
So.. I am looking for a good looking SFF, with good bang for the buck, and of course reasonably quiet.
I think I am pretty much set on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+, this seems to be a good compromise. I do quite a lot of intensive processing (big logic compiles, simulations etc) while also writting documents, doing emails etc in parallel. So multi-core seems to be appropriate (under Windows also, my tools are mostly windows centric)? The Core Duo intels look promising, but price is still way up there.
Now... these lovely (relatively) low power AMDs don't seem to interest SFF manufacturers.
After a quick search, it seems that I have the choice between a iDEQ330P and a SN21G5... I have some doubts on these solutions, they don't seem to be the best designs around. Any way to beat this? Also I have a ST62K at home and don't know that I want to buy another Shuttle again (2 trips to RMA already).
So there you go. I don't need amazing graphics (high resolution is nice though), crazy audio. I care more about more USBs, one firewire, and quiet.
Thanks in advance!
New office machine
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
First of all, Welcome to SPCR
Second, in general SFF systems are hard to get silent because of the small volume of air, the small amount of space to put huge fansinks, and the usual position of these machines.
Looking through the SFF Systems Section of SPCR, the first thing that comes up is the 17" iMac... Well why not!!?? It's got a core duo processor, is very silent, and with Boot Camp, you can run all your windows stuff.
Second, in general SFF systems are hard to get silent because of the small volume of air, the small amount of space to put huge fansinks, and the usual position of these machines.
Looking through the SFF Systems Section of SPCR, the first thing that comes up is the 17" iMac... Well why not!!?? It's got a core duo processor, is very silent, and with Boot Camp, you can run all your windows stuff.
Hello,
First thanks a lot for the warm welocome
Thanks also for your suggestion; it is true that this is a compelling configuration. However I already own a monitor, good (silent) HD, external DVD drive... So I find the barebone concept more attractive. Plus I'd like to run a dual monitor setup, as I could use more screen space.
Anyone knows of a page showing the cooling system of a SN21G5? I've read somewhere that it contains quite many fans...
Thanks again!
First thanks a lot for the warm welocome
Thanks also for your suggestion; it is true that this is a compelling configuration. However I already own a monitor, good (silent) HD, external DVD drive... So I find the barebone concept more attractive. Plus I'd like to run a dual monitor setup, as I could use more screen space.
Anyone knows of a page showing the cooling system of a SN21G5? I've read somewhere that it contains quite many fans...
Thanks again!