New office machine

Got a shopping cart of parts that you want opinions on? Get advice from members on your planned or existing system (or upgrade).

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
gd59
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:01 pm

New office machine

Post by gd59 » Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:21 pm

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!

cAPSLOCK
Posts: 224
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:06 pm
Location: Switzerland

Post by cAPSLOCK » Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:42 am

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.

gd59
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:01 pm

Post by gd59 » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:39 am

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!

acaurora
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1464
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 2:51 am
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Contact:

Post by acaurora » Tue May 02, 2006 9:20 pm

It's just like all the other G5 cooling systems, with a SINGLE 92mm (i think, if not it's 80mm) fan. Easily replaceable.

Post Reply