SFF PC?

[notoriousformula]

which is the Cheap/Best SSF PC available? Abit Digidice/Shuttle XPC/MSI mega PC?

Can the SSF accomodate small dual VGA video cards?

thanks

 

[Heinrich]

It really depends on what you want. I personally settled on the SN45G because you can put a Athlon XP2500 and bump it to 3200 easily. It's about $220 at newegg, free shipping - that's going to be case, power supply & motherboard. It has 1 AGP and 1 PCI slot so you could put two cards in there but I would be careful exactly which ones and do some research first.

The Digidice looks cool but I refuse to give Intel any of my money - they are way too large and way too lazy and take way too much advantage of being a near monopoly. I also think the Biostar 200N looks great as it has SATA that you can RAID but it does not have the UltraNforce 2 chip. The new Shuttle with the external power supply looks like a KILLER HTPC as it is very quiet - but Intel only.

Then again, the Athlon 64 ones look extra hot as they have all the new features, but this will set you back a bit more money. So it depends on what you want. Do you want to play new games? Do you want quietness for home theater? Are you travelling some occasionally and just want something cheaper than a laptop but upgradeable but integrated video would be fine since you don't play many games?

 

[notoriousformula]

i will be travelling with it and i need quietness for home theater.. actually i willbe buying four of these for my workplace.. these will used for client booth/exhibition demos/presentation purpose..can't go for laptops cus we need two LCD display support.. so an ATI 8500 card with dual VGA/dvi in AGP will do the job..

thanks.

 

[loup garou]

The biostar Ideq's are some of the cheapest SFF barebones available. I have a 200V and it's great. Replaced my shuttle sn45g2 that died.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=0&submit=Go&description=ideq

 

[DrAtomic]

Both the Shuttle SN41G2 and Biostar IDEQ 200N have onboard dual VGA out. I have one of each and they are both great machines; stable and very fast. The Biostar is a little better in design, fit and finish, plus it has SATA. The Shuttle has S-video out, but is about $40 more. I see Biostar also has a $40 rebate right now, so for $80 difference I'd go with the IDEQ 200N.

 

[notoriousformula]

Originally posted by: DrAtomic
Both the Shuttle SN41G2 and Biostar IDEQ 200N have onboard dual VGA out. I have one of each and they are both great machines; stable and very fast. The Biostar is a little better in design, fit and finish, plus it has SATA. The Shuttle has S-video out, but is about $40 more. I see Biostar also has a $40 rebate right now, so for $80 difference I'd go with the IDEQ 200N.

Thanks man, i just need the dual VGA..don't care about SATA/IDE..

 

[fragstar]

The best machine for road shows and demonstrations i have found is the SN41G2. Never had a problem with it. It beats the Biostar for silence hands down. I have heard nothing but loud whines from every Biostar that I have seen.

You can't go wrong with a Shuttle.

 

[DrAtomic]

Originally posted by: fragstar
The best machine for road shows and demonstrations i have found is the SN41G2. Never had a problem with it. It beats the Biostar for silence hands down. I have heard nothing but loud whines from every Biostar that I have seen.

You can't go wrong with a Shuttle.

Interesting observation, as I've had the exact opposite experience. The SN41G2 I have is obnoxiously loud whereas the Biostar is quiet as a mouse. The Smartfan utility is especially good for quieting down the Biostar, too. Don?t get me wrong, I still like my Shuttle a lot and my kid loves playing games on it, but IMHO Biostar is the better SFF of the two and is the one he doesn?t get to play with.
You can?t go wrong with either one, though.
______________
IDEQ 200N
AMD 2800+
Twin Geil 512mb (1GB total) DDR3200 (2,3,3,6)
Maxtor 120GB SATA HD
Lite-on CDR/W/DVD

Shuttle SN41G2
AMD 2500+
Geil 512 DDR3200
WD 80GB HD

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: fragstar
The best machine for road shows and demonstrations i have found is the SN41G2. Never had a problem with it. It beats the Biostar for silence hands down. I have heard nothing but loud whines from every Biostar that I have seen.

You can't go wrong with a Shuttle.

No way. I've owned both an SN41G2 (which had tons of problems and finally gave up the ghost several months ago) and a 200V and the Biostar is much, much quieter than the Shuttle.