Close Encounters of the Small Kind
by Jarred Walton on December 8, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Living with a Small Form Factor
Once everything is assembled, the internal differences between computer systems tend to disappear. This is not intended as a formal review of either of these systems, so we'll dispense with the benchmarks. For typical use, any modern system is going to be plenty fast. Only stressful applications like games, video editing, or 3D rendering/modeling will really benefit from a change in components. On a regular basis, I use everything from a 1.13 GHz P3 up through an Athlon XP 2500+, Pentium 4 2.8C to 3.4E, and Athlon 64 3000+ to 3800+. Benchmarks will usually tell a story of one being faster than another in a variety of tests, but other than the old P3 system, all of them feel pretty much the same in day-to-day use. (Even the P3 is sufficient for surfing the web and office work, of course, provided that you have a little patience.)So what do I notice now that I've changed from a decent quality ATX case to a SFF case? For one, the SFF units are both quieter than my ATX case - not by a large margin, particularly when I use my fanbus to turn the RPMs down, but enough that you will notice the lack of noise. My old system actually had a Western Digital WD800JB drive in it, and I had never thought much about the noise that it was making. Moving it to the Shuttle eliminated a lot of the fan noise, and suddenly, the high-pitched whine of the hard drive could be heard clearly in my living room. It was annoying enough that I ended up ghosting the drive over to a Seagate model to eliminate the noise. How I managed to cope with the noise level of my old setup amazes me.
We have several recordings for those who want to compare the noise levels. These recordings were done with a Creative MuVo NX, so they don't have amazing fidelity, but they should give you a decent idea of the noise levels of various setups. First, we have the Antec 3700-BQE with all the fans at minimum RPM, and then, here they are at maximum RPM. I use the maximum RPM setting when overclocking the CPU and graphics card while running 3D games; at stock clock speeds, it is definitely not required. Also worth mentioning is that the CPU has the Zalman CNPS7000A cooler on it, which is regarded as one of the quietest CPU coolers. In contrast, we have the Shuttle and ASUS SFF units, measured at the same distance of 12 inches from the case. Both recordings are of the units powering on, and the process is the same on each. First, the fan spins up to full speed right after booting, and then it slows down to a more typical speed. During all of our testing, the fan RPMs noise never seemed to rise above the default level, so the initial two seconds is the only time that we really hear the fans. For those who are interested, here is the recording of the Shuttle case with my "loud" Western Digital drive - the difference is not as noticeable in the recordings as in person due to the low quality microphone, unfortunately.
Click to enlarge.
Beyond the noise factor, about the only thing noticeable is that my large case is no longer sitting on top of my desk. Instead, there is a smaller, sleeker-looking case sitting in its place. My cases, incidentally, are all sitting on top of desks. Anyone who has experienced the joys of a toddler can guess why - no sooner did my daughter start crawling and walking when the power buttons on my computers started calling her name. Many of you probably don't have that concern, but if you have to put a case up on top of a desk for whatever reason, SFFs are very nice to have. It has been a while since I lived in a cramped college dorm room, but if memory serves me correctly, that would also be an ideal situation to have a smaller case - especially when paired with a 17" LCD.
One last problem that I encountered after a few days bears mention. I needed to use my printer, and I hadn't bothered reconnecting it after the box swap for whatever reason. I have an older Laser printer that still works fine, but while it can use a USB connection, it has some problems. The printer is one of the first models to support a USB connection; if it isn't powered on when the system is booted, Windows won't see the USB device and you have to unplug the USB cable, power on the printer, and then plug it into a different USB port. It also tends to "disappear" and require the same steps to be repeated once every couple of days if I leave my computer running. However, the printer also supports an LPT connection that eliminates these problems, making that the preferred connection. I discovered to my dismay that the Shuttle box lacks an LPT port - it just hadn't occurred to me to look for one. After I configured these two units, I was very glad that the ASUS box included an LPT port. If you still use an older printer, you should probably pay attention to that detail; about half of the SFF units that I've seen opt not to include a parallel port.
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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.