Thoughts on Shuttle XPC SX38P2 Pro?

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Soldato
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Hi all. Seen a good price on this box and I have a Q6600 with DDR2 memory and a couple of old graphics cards lying around to try. I am curious to know if anyone is still using one of these?

If so I would love to know how it is for noise as some of the reviews say that it is noisy under load. If this is just when gaming I can live with it but is it noisy when displaying 1080p video?

Now onto the graphics cards. I have a redundant 4870x2 and a GTX260 lying about in the cupboard. This unit only has a 450w power supply and I am worried neither will be of use in it. I have recently found out that the manufacturer's recommendations on wattage aren't always the b all and end all but could do with some advice.

I love the idea of this box simply because it lets me use some old gear I have lying around and have a new Crucial SSD inbound for this HTPC build.

Primary uses will be for XBMC (mostly 1080p content), Skype, downloading gaming (Eve Online, Dirt 3, Fifa 12 - chillout stuff mostly).

Noise levels are important as this is going to be always on in my bedroom.
 
Just be aware that this has a very non standard Power Supply. the P2 means its not got a standard ATX power connector, but two 8 pin non standard ones. Replacement PSU's are expensive and sometimes hard to find. They are also unreliable and prone to Capasitor leaking in the PSU.

I can't really comment on the noise.
 
Thanks for the feedback. Not sure I want to commit just to be able to use old kit. The devil in me is screaming, "Just buy new toys, you know you want to!" :)
 
If its really cheap and you have all the kit sat there to go in it then it's got to be worth a go... If its not that cheap then I would invest in the SH67H3/H7 now or wait for the SZ68R5 which is very quiet.

I just checked my SX48P2 which is much like the SX38P2 in that its fans are the same and they are much louder than the latest ones. It has a chipset fan and the main case fans are 2x70mm slim ones. The latest machines don't need chipset fans and have a single 92mm fan which can be replaced for a silent one if needed.
 
As this is going to be on all day/night, I think my decision is made. Are they pretty intelligent at scaling back their wattage need when not under load? Never really paid much attention to it on my main pc. If I am going to put a 2600k in, I'd like to know it is going to pull much less power when not running hard. With a 500w psu in the new one I am worried this is going to be a hungry beast for an always on system.
 
I have just made my SH67H3 a NAS / remote desktop box and am delighted with its power useage. Ok this is with an i3 CPU and using the built in graphics on the CPU, but the principle remains.

I have Windows 7 installed and let it sleep after 15 minutes. While asleep it uses 3.5W and it wakes in about 2-5 seconds.

Now my SZ68R5, which is running a 2600K and a 570GTX will drawer about 300W under load, and about 100-120w when idle... Again if I put that to sleep the power is 3.5w same as the NAS.
 
Sounds good to me. What noise levels would you say your SZ outputs with the 2600k and 570GTX in it? Acceptable in a bedroom environment? Is the card quiet when under load for, say, a movie? Not so important when gaming but would like it quiet under movie circumstances.

Edit: The SX case is £150 new by the way on offer.
 
-BA- said:
Sounds good to me. What noise levels would you say your SZ outputs with the 2600k and 570GTX in it? Acceptable in a bedroom environment? Is the card quiet when under load for, say, a movie? Not so important when gaming but would like it quiet under movie circumstances.

Edit: The SX case is £150 new by the way on offer.
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I would not touch the SX myself for the reasons stated before.

The SZ is far from silent, but still quiet. The GPU is not noisy at all unless playing a game. I will try and do some sound tests for my review.
 
just nabbed a SX38P2 pro for £100 for myself was £150 but i already had £50 credit at the place, already had the kit to go in it so i thought i might as well make use of it
 
Steveo would really appreciate some feedback how well you settle down with it. I am very tempted to still go this route as would like to take advantage of its DD Live capabilities too.

@SimonMaltby, is there any way to change out the chipset and other fans in these older models or are they fussy? Still very tempted to try this case.
 
Doing more reading about the noise and it really is worrying me. Also there seems to be some indication of what size graphics card will fit. My intention was to use a GTX260 that I have lying around and it seems that might not fit. Hmmm...
 
-BA- said:
Steveo would really appreciate some feedback how well you settle down with it. I am very tempted to still go this route as would like to take advantage of its DD Live capabilities too.
Click to expand...

ok i can give a small sample of what i have found out so far about the shuttle,

1. Noise while subjective is not a problem for me on the machine as i have been using it with headphones as my speakers are hooked up to my macs, while i can hear the fans there not a problem for me

2. the size of the graphics cards are a worry in the machine even though shuttle claim that it can take 2 cards it would be a struggle, i managed to fit a gainward 4870 golden sample in there with the air turning blue and my nerves at a stretch, the placement of the psu in the machine means the cables are pressed against the side of the gpu close to the fans (can provide pics of what i mean if you want)

3. heat is an issue with most small pcs with a lot of hardware in them, in mine i have a bluray drive 2 hard drives a dual slot gpu 8gb ram and a q6600 which its self is a heater. the shuttle copes with all this really well watching blurays and gaming for a few hours

any pics just ask as its no worries, overall am happy with it before the shuttle i had it all in a antec fusion case and while cooler was a pain in the **** to carry and move
 
It looks like it is really coming down to the sound for me. As long as it goes quieter when it isn't doing too much like downloading (which I might have it doing overnight) or when watching a movie. I can live with it being noisy during gaming as you tend to get immersed in the game more and noise isn't so much an issue. How noisy is it during 1080p playback?

Re. the graphics card, I don't know how well a 4870 measures up against a GTX260 size wise. I do have a 4870x2 but I think that would just generate too much heat. It is possible I might need to invest in a new card for it that is better suited. What about ram; will it take either 6400 or 8500? I have both, although only 4 of each.

Thanks for the feedback incidentally.
 
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You can change any or all of the fans without an issue.

The graphics card layout is not brilliant. As already stated the PSU cables can get very close to the fan. I have run a 260 in there... I think I had to remove the CPU plasic funnel thing and as my 260 was a dual fan card, I had to put some metal / plastic over 1/3 of one fan to stop the PSU wires fouling the fan.

In the more modern Shuttle cases the PCI-e slots are more normal on the other side, this works much better.
 
Thanks for that. Had a read of your review on the new case too and am dead keen but I see it can get quite noisy too from those graphs. My current pc is really noisy and I would love to work out how noisy one of these shuttles is against it as a comparison. I couldn't have it on at night as the two banks of 4 80mm fans are just way too loud.
 
Damn the price on this has dropped again (I am sure because they are trying to shift outdated stock) to £130. Oh what a to do!
 
Just wondering if you could give me some advice please Simon as I don't want to damage this Shuttle. My 260 is too large and is just not going to fit. The only other card I have is a 4870x2 which bizarrely does fit but has a 6+8 connector instead of a 6+6. Now I do have a 2Molex to 1 8pin convertor so I could use the 6 pin from the PSU and 2 molex into the convertor for the 8 pin but I am wondering if this is trying to pull too much out of the PSU?

I am concerned about the noise from the fans having just turned it on and had a listen without any gear in it but I wanted to get into the bios to see if I could turn down the fans.

Don't want to buy a new card to try out what might be a failed project...
 
Hi -BA- I warned you about the noise on these. Its mainly those fans above the power supply, I have used the combination you describe on your machine before. With regards GPU... there is no issue using a molex to VGA adapter, the Shuttle PSU's don't have many rails so it does not really matter where you take the power from.
What is it about the 260 that does not fit? I'm sure I got a reference 260 to fit, but had to remove the black plastic CPU fan funnel first... no wait, did I have to cut a little of the 260 cover to go round the CPU power plug?
 
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