SN78SH7 shuttle anyone?

_Jimlad_ · 17 Dec 2009 at 18:33

Just ordered one from ocuk, good price and i wanted a cheap quad core system,

how are you finding yours? and anyone know how you bios flash the shuttle site sucks!

philstanbridge · 17 Dec 2009 at 22:38

I've got one. Running an X4 955 at 3.4ghz and a 9800GT 1GB. I think they are very good value for money.

Flashing is fun, best way is a USB boot disk. Boot to dos, and flash the bios to the latest official using AWDFLASH.exe

One thing I would say, running a shuttle is generally a comprimise over the equivalent desktop system. I have to run mine with the lid off due to heat/noise. I tried running L4D2 with the lid on, fan set to ultra-low noise, and within 15 minutes the cpu hit 104 degrees and the game crashed to desktop. The chipset fan is uncomfortably loud too, so I will replace mine with an ultra-low noise job. Having said that, I can run L4D2 and the latest games without any problems with the lid off, cpu fan set to auto. For a £400 system it's pretty hard to beat.

_Jimlad_ · 18 Dec 2009 at 08:05

cheers buddy, always been a shuttle fan boy here, and had to run the one before with the lid off, my current SN68PTG5 has been a solid rock, but i want a quad core system, the i7 one rolls in at £500 and that's before you start with the cpu and memory! - should be here today so will keep you posted... might need some advise too!

thanks for the reply,

tom-17 · 18 Dec 2009 at 11:25

Seems we've got two threads going about the same thing. Be interesting to you read how you get on.

I've ordered a SN78SH7 as well. This will be my first shuttle build. Hopefully be building on Sunday. I'll let you know how I get on

_Jimlad_ · 18 Dec 2009 at 11:40

tom-17 said:
Seems we've got two threads going about the same thing. Be interesting to you read how you get on.

I've ordered a SN78SH7 as well. This will be my first shuttle build. Hopefully be building on Sunday. I'll let you know how I get on

oops did not see your thread mate, i have been a shuttle fan boy for years, looking fwd to this, gonna build mine today if the posty comes.

u need to bios flash straight away if you have a quad core going in

tom-17 · 18 Dec 2009 at 12:01

I've got the dual core 550 going in it. Was assuming that I would still need to update the bios though.

Never done that so that'll be a fun learning experience!

_Jimlad_ · 18 Dec 2009 at 12:21

oh ok, yeah worth doing at the start i guess, shuttles flashes are a pain....

this is there guide though

http://global.shuttle.com/support_faq_detail.jsp?PI=766&PFI=1841

_Jimlad_ · 18 Dec 2009 at 14:24

ok that link above failed bad.... i followed this and im flashing now!

Here is the steps I followed.

The page you cite has all the information you need. Go to http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197.

Download the HP stuff. Run the set up program in the HP stuff. This installs the “HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool”.

Download the Windows 98 System Files from here http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197.

Unzip the windows system files to a directory.

Put your USB thumb drive in the USB port. Run the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool.

Under Device, select your USB thumb drive.

Under File System, select FAT 32.

Click Quick Format.

Click “Create a DOS startup disk. Also select “using DOS system files located at:” Click the “…”, navigate to the directory where you unzipped the windows 98 files and click OK.

Click “Start”. A few seconds later it will be done. You now have a bootable USB drive. Looking at the drive will not show anything. The files msdos.sys, io.sys, and command.com are hidden.
Download the bios you want from the Shuttle website. For me it was SG31S10I.bin. Copy this to the USB drive.

Download the awdflash utility from the Shuttle website. Unzip the file and copy it to the flash drive.

Getting the Shuttle to boot from the USB drive is a little tricky. I tired all the USB drive permutation “First Boot Device”. No luck. Turns out you need to modify the “Hard Disk Boot Priority”. Plug in the USB drive, start the computer, and enter the bios by hitting “Delete”. The Hard Disk Boot Priority should now show your USB drive. Make this the first priority. Hit ESC. Then hit F10 to save and exit.

The machine should not boot to the old dos “C>” prompt. Do “dir”. This should show awdflash.exe and SG31S10I.bin.

Enter the following command: “awdflash SG31S10I.bin /cc/cd/cp/py/E” (without the quotes). The awdflash fires up and asks if you want to save the current bios. Say yes and give it a file name. awdflash with then flash the new bios.

Reboot. Hit “delete” to enter setup. Load Optimized Defaults. You’re good to go.

tom-17 · 18 Dec 2009 at 15:23

thats great, thanks very much for your instructions. I'm sure they'll be really useful.

What are you putting in your shuttle out of interest?

_Jimlad_ · 18 Dec 2009 at 15:36

i have a intel SSD, 4gig of ram from ocuk and a 9600GT

philstanbridge · 18 Dec 2009 at 17:59

Keep this thread updated chaps, I'm running my first AMD for years and I'm not to hot on the overclocking. For some reason the windows experience only rates the cpu as 3.6, whereas the other components are 5.6-6.9. It's a capable little system although the VGA causes it to overheat somewhat as you'd expect really. I don't mind running with the lid off.

_Jimlad_ · 18 Dec 2009 at 18:06

philstanbridge said:
Keep this thread updated chaps, I'm running my first AMD for years and I'm not to hot on the overclocking. For some reason the windows experience only rates the cpu as 3.6, whereas the other components are 5.6-6.9. It's a capable little system although the VGA causes it to overheat somewhat as you'd expect really. I don't mind running with the lid off.

ok well something is not correct there, my cpu is 7.5 and is one up from you! - i presume you have flashed the bios? if not that is the reason, when you shuttle boots does it say unknown cpu? again bios flash needed if so.

_Jimlad_ · 18 Dec 2009 at 18:55

sweet!

tom-17 · 18 Dec 2009 at 19:16

Glad to see your build went well.

Hope my one on Sunday goes as well as that. I'll let you know how i get on

philstanbridge · 19 Dec 2009 at 15:36

_Jimlad_ said:
ok well something is not correct there, my cpu is 7.5 and is one up from you! - i presume you have flashed the bios? if not that is the reason, when you shuttle boots does it say unknown cpu? again bios flash needed if so.

Flashed the bios to latest official. Recognizes it as a quad core, CPU-Z identifies it and the computer properties identifies it correctly. Re-run the experience and I only get 3.6 - go figure. Not sure it really makes any difference. Things are still running fine.

_Jimlad_ · 19 Dec 2009 at 17:23

tom-17 said:
Glad to see your build went well.

Hope my one on Sunday goes as well as that. I'll let you know how i get on

yeah went very smooth, however i did install twice, as missed a bios setting and had it on ide mode, changed back and got the blue screen of death, did not have internet access at the time to apply the fix so reinstalled... that would be my top tip!! lol

(school boy error on my part)

i used the MS usb tool and installed win7 from a usb drive straight onto my SSD, it took about 8 minutes from start to desktop

philstanbridge said:
Flashed the bios to latest official. Recognizes it as a quad core, CPU-Z identifies it and the computer properties identifies it correctly. Re-run the experience and I only get 3.6 - go figure. Not sure it really makes any difference. Things are still running fine.

hmmm strange... well on my first install i had the bios settings wrong on ide mode, i ran the test and had 5.9 on memory, i knew this was incorrect but nothing i could do would change it, reinstalled with the bios configed correctly and all was well, not saying you should reinstall, but something is not right there ... weird

have you tried loaded bios optimized defaults?

philstanbridge · 19 Dec 2009 at 21:07

_Jimlad_ said:
hmmm strange... well on my first install i had the bios settings wrong on ide mode, i ran the test and had 5.9 on memory, i knew this was incorrect but nothing i could do would change it, reinstalled with the bios configed correctly and all was well, not saying you should reinstall, but something is not right there ... weird

have you tried loaded bios optimized defaults?

It is a bit strange - I've got 5.9 on my memory settings - what are you saying the bios should be? I don't follow? I haven't tried optimized defaults no. I first booted, made some basic changes and installed Win 7. My cpu is obviously being identified correctly but the Windows Experience value is totally wrong for some reason. I can't face another reinstall! Considering it probably doesn't make a jot of difference.

tom-17 · 20 Dec 2009 at 00:15

Finished my install,

All went really smoothly, was very impressed with how small the thing is one i first got it out the box.

Thanks for your BIOS instructions those were a lifesaver. Looks like my cpus been identified properly and im getting 6.5 on the processor score.

Just reading above, Im getting a memory index of 5.9 as well slightly surprised since my old RAM was clocked at 6.9 and that was 800Mhz dd2. This is brand new 1066mhz which is approved by shuttle.

Onboard graphics dont seem too bad either although not really tested them at all yet.

Overall pretty happy

_Jimlad_ · 20 Dec 2009 at 08:41

my memory was 5.9 when using the on-board graphics

tom-17 · 20 Dec 2009 at 11:52

ah ok so the onboard graphics is bottlenecking the system then?