Close Encounters of the Small Kind
by Jarred Walton on December 8, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Time Changes Everything
Things have slowed down now in terms of computer progress - at least from my perspective. It's also good to see that many of the truly bad examples of computer hardware have begun to fade away. Gone are the days (mostly) of spending hours trying to get a resource conflict resolved; or to get two machines to talk to each other over the network; or tweaking and hacking your config.sys and autoexec.bat files in the hope of optimizing memory usage so that some new program would run properly. Computers have now matured to the point where any person with a moderate level of computer knowledge and a willingness to learn would have little difficulty building a computer.The requirements for most computer applications are also slowing down. There used to be a good reason to upgrade your computer from a 286 to a 386, and then from a 386 to 486 to Pentium, Pentium to Pentium II, etc. While it was released at a time when the 486 occupied the sockets of the majority of systems, Windows 95 really needed a Pentium or faster to run well. Windows 98 pushed the requirement up to a Pentium II, and Windows XP pushed it to the Pentium III/Athlon. Today, however, there are few applications that really need a lot of processing power; anything over 1 GHz is sufficient for surfing the Internet, writing email, working in Office applications, etc. To a lesser extent, even the high-end requirements are starting to slow down. A state-of-the-art PC is not absolutely required for the latest games; even a 2 GHz machine can handle Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Far Cry. True, it's not the best experience out there, but for many people, "good enough" is all they need.
So what does this all have to do with Small Form Factor computers? This is up for debate, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot on the horizon that will really outdate a modern system - short of a few high-end applications and games - and the amount of integration has made large cases unnecessary for all but the most die hard enthusiasts. Few people will actually fill an 80 GB hard drive, let alone a 160 GB drive, and if 1 GHz is all that's really needed for typical computing, a 3 GHz machine could easily last for many years. Other areas have "maxed out" as well: DVD-ROMs all top out at 16X, and with DVD+RW drives now supporting 16X burn speeds, we aren't likely to go beyond that for a while; only the introduction of a new optical media format is likely to cause any difficulties. Even the floppy is finally disappearing, thanks to the abundance of Flash memory devices. In short, this is a great time to buy a system and keep it until it physically breaks down, and a SFF fits in very well with that plan of action.
A growing concern for a lot of people is the noise output of their computer(s) - "I want my computer to be quiet, not rattle the windows!" A home-grown system will often have several fans to keep it cool, and the noise levels can be very annoying to say the least. More than a few people have ended up with Dell systems simply because they are engineered to reduce the noise output - performance be damned! SFF cases offer the benefits of OEM systems - systems where the designers know the exact constraints of the system and can better plan the placement of components - to the DIY community. It's not all that unusual to see a motherboard with fan speed adjustment settings in the BIOS, but you don't always know that everything will work properly if you use them. Since a SFF includes the case, CPU heatsink and fan - which can also act as the case fan - power supply, and motherboard, they have a great idea of what will actually be used in the system. Depending on the model, you might have one or two optical drives, a hard drive, the CPU and graphics card, and that's it. As computer noise has become a pet peeve of mine - odd, given that I work in a data center as a side job - taking a look at the SFF market seems like a good idea.
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henan - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
I liked your article, even if it is something I would not buy unless I had lots of money to spare and wanted an extra toy. I like having the possibilities and as many of us I often install or just play around with a device, wich would not be as easy with an SFF.About that LPT port, as some suggest shuttle offers the addons. Another option would simply be to use a USB to LPT converter. About 20 dollars here in sweden. Why not a printserver? Many do have a home network setup. Of course you could spend that on a new printer, but why not use a printer that works? The converter will make it last until it finally brakes down (the enviroment issue...). Call me old fashioned, but I still use one!
/Henrik of Stockholm
willndowed - Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - link
I've got a shuttle SN45G system w/ a Athlon2800+, 1G of Ram... it was one with the 8X AGP port and I've got a 128M ATI 9600 video card in it.It's getting a little on the aged side, about a year old or so, but I've had nothing but good luck with it. It's been a great little machine. It's pretty good on overclocking, it' lets me OC the CPU to 3200+. It's got the ICE heat pipes that does a pretty darned good job of keep it cool.
I've done a few things to it, put a couple small 12v headlight tinting lights into it for case l ights and put a clear acrylic case on it. I've also put Battlefield on the front behind the acrylic front which gives it a little of a 3d look to it.
The real plus to this system is LAN parties. It's got a bag that fits it, so instead of making 3 or 4 trips hauling a 20 pound case huge monitor and a ton of other stuff... I load it into a bag, strap the keyboard and mouse to it, grab my monitor and go.
For the last year it's been a great machine...
... though I am going to build me a huge monster, this little system I'm going to keep it around.
RedWolf - Tuesday, December 14, 2004 - link
Nice article, Jarred. I completely understand about the little ones and the need to put the pc on the desk. I acquired an Antec Aria a month ago (traded a lanboy/mobo on the forums for it) and have been trying to make it better for high-end gaming.After lots of modding I got a BFG 6800 OC. Well, the 6800 was pretty loud, even at 50% speed. I bought an Artic Cooling VGA Silencer and it doesn't quite fit.
So, I gave up on the Aria as a high-end gaming case and will be moving my wifes component's into it.
I am looking into smaller atx cases now that have 120mm fans AND have a locking door on the front. That should keep little fingers away from the reset and power buttons. I guess I should have just taken my Lanboy and put it on my desk.
Anyway, I look forward to the SFF roundup you guys are doing. Don't forget to include the Aria and maybe even the Hornet.
flachschippe - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
Talking about trends going to and fro:The Apple II of about 1978 *had* expansion slots. There was an enormous number of different cards available. It was said that the IBM PC's design
copied this aspect. Surprisingly, the first Apple Macintosh, of about 1984, was not user-upgradeable at all.
Phantronius - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
As nice as SFF are, they simply just won't work for me. As frequently as I upgrade my equipment, my overhead costs and assache to upgrade using SFF would be a nightmare.I use Shuttle as workstations at work and build them for clients but for my gaming stations, I'll stick with ATX for a good long time.
flachschippe - Monday, December 13, 2004 - link
Talking about trends going to and fro:The Apple II of about 1978 *had* expansion slots. There was an enormous number of different cards available. It was said that the IBM PC's design
copied this aspect. Surprisingly, the first Apple Macintosh, of about 1984, was not user-upgradeable at all.
JarredWalton - Sunday, December 12, 2004 - link
Gioron - I just didn't want to be too hard on Shuttle when I haven't tried all of the other cases. The ASUS didn't give me any trouble, but maybe that was just luck, as I was using a different drive in that unit. I figure that many of the models with the drive covers are going to have some issues, and while Lian Li may have gotten it right, I haven't ever used one of their cases so I can't speak from personal experience.Anyway, it was about 10 minutes of work to get the drive positioned where it needed to be, so while annoying at the time it isn't a problem after assembly. Frequent upgraders would really have issues with most of the SFFs I've tried.
Gioron - Sunday, December 12, 2004 - link
err, correction: "adjusting the screws with the case open _and the computer turned on_"Gioron - Sunday, December 12, 2004 - link
Since I have an sn95g5 the one thing I was looking for (and found) in your article was mention of that dang CD drive button. I had the same problems getting the drive properly aligned, and personally feel that the tolerance is actually much less than 1/16" (though that might vary with the model of drive that you're installing). I eventually resorted to adjusting the screws with the case open, which is not exactly a good thing.In regards to your "there is no perfect solution" line about this, go find a lian-li case and one of its universal drive covers. The button is _under_ the drive plate, giving direct pressure to the CD's button and a much longer travel length and tolerance for misajustment. I see no reason (well, aside from possible patents or something) that Shuttle couldn't have coppied the same basic layout and put the drive button below and eliminated the funky lever system thats eating up most of the button travel distance and making the drive placement so difficult.
Of course, aside from that one minor pet peeve I'm happy with my SFF case, and feel the advantages are more than worth the limitations.
IceWindius - Saturday, December 11, 2004 - link
#35You gain some, and you loose some. Either use the onboard sound or stick with ATX.