Ok, Here We Go!

[Jason Dunn]

I've finished backing up my data, and am about to transplant everything into the new Shuttle ST62K (http://us.shuttle.com/specs2.asp?pro_id=436). Wish me luck! :D

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Good luck! (^^)b

[Suhit Gupta]

Good luck :)

Suhit

[Jason Dunn]

So, lesson number one: always be sure to check and see if the "new" hardware is compatible with your "newer" hardware. I never thought to check this, because the ST62K is *newer* than the Shuttle I'm using now, but there's no way for me to connect my Serial ATA hard drives to the new Shuttle - it only has ATA100 connections. :evil: It amazes me that a brand new Shuttle could lack the newer HD connection ports...now I'm calling a local computer place to see if they have an adaptor that will allow me to connect a serial ATA hard drive to an ATA100 port. And I've been on hold for 20 minutes. #&@*&(#(@

I'm having a sinking feeling here - I've been searching Google and while I can find Serial ATA kits that will plug into an ATA100 HD and make it compatible with a Serial ATA port, I haven't found the opposite adaptor. :(

[Jason Dunn]

As I feared, what I want doesn't exist - the closest I can come is a PCI card that will add two Serial ATA ports to the Shuttle. Guess what? Because this Shuttle is smaller, it has only one AGP slot, no PCI slots.

The only ATA drive I have is a 5400 RPM 30 GB Maxtor drive, but it will have to do for now. :?

[Jonathon Watkins]

:evil: That stinks!

IDE Interface: ATA-100

Bad Shuttle! No dinner for you! :bad-words:

[Jason Dunn]

I really didn't want to use that measly 30 GB drive, so I tried opening up my Western Digital 120 GB Firewire external drive. I got the casing open, but when it came time to get the drive out, things got a little complicated - the drive was secured in no less than six places, and I couldn't seem to find a way to get the drive out. Drat. Time to give up and re-seal the unit...

So, for now, I'll forge ahead with the 30 GB drive and see how it goes. :-)

[Jason Dunn]

Hmm - so it turns out that the lack of Serial ATA is due to the ATI R300 chipset

Heading out to the store now to pick up a white/beiege CD-R/DVD combo drive and a new ATA hard drive - this 30 GB just isn't cutting it. The good news is that the Shuttle is incredibly quiet, so I'm willing to go the extra mile to get things set up the right way.

[Suhit Gupta]

Hmm - so it turns out that the lack of Serial ATA is due to the ATI R300 chipset

Heading out to the store now to pick up a white/beiege CD-R/DVD combo drive and a new ATA hard drive - this 30 GB just isn't cutting it. The good news is that the Shuttle is incredibly quiet, so I'm willing to go the extra mile to get things set up the right way.
So are you doing the 300? And I don't know whether this is going to be your primary machine, but why not a CDRW/DVDRW combo?

Suhit

[Jason Dunn]

So are you doing the 300? And I don't know whether this is going to be your primary machine, but why not a CDRW/DVDRW combo?

I don't understand the first part of your question...are you asking why I went with the R300? Well, it's the unit that Shuttle sent me to review, but i obviously didn't look at the specs in enough detail, so that's my fault. ;-)

I tend to burn DVDs from multiple devices, so I want to keep my DVD burner in a Firewire enclosure like it is now.

I ended up picking up a 200 GB 7200 RPM 8MB cache Western Digital hard drive and a 52x CD-R/16x DVD-ROM LG drive.

[Jason Dunn]

Wow - this gets better and better. I didn't realize this until I was checking over the specs, and the one slot this Shuttle has is a PCI slot, not an AGP slot as I assumed. This now means that I can't use my Radeon 9600 card... :evil:

This is the absolutely the most ill-planned computing venture I've ever undertaken - it's quite pathetic actually how many things have gone wrong so far. :lol:

[Jonathon Watkins]

But the end results should be worth it Jason! Hang in there! :Fade-color

The WD is a very nice drive indeed. Did you get the HD and DVD from Memory Express?

[Suhit Gupta]

So are you doing the 300? And I don't know whether this is going to be your primary machine, but why not a CDRW/DVDRW combo?

I don't understand the first part of your question...are you asking why I went with the R300? Well, it's the unit that Shuttle sent me to review, but i obviously didn't look at the specs in enough detail, so that's my fault. ;-)
I meant the 300GB drive :).

I tend to burn DVDs from multiple devices, so I want to keep my DVD burner in a Firewire enclosure like it is now.

I ended up picking up a 200 GB 7200 RPM 8MB cache Western Digital hard drive and a 52x CD-R/16x DVD-ROM LG drive.
Good choices.

Suhit

[Suhit Gupta]

This is the absolutely the most ill-planned computing venture I've ever undertaken - it's quite pathetic actually how many things have gone wrong so far. :lol:
Wow, looks like things are really not working out. Why don't you just get an nForce3 motherboard? What mobo came with the Shuttle? If you get an nForce3 then that should fix your video problems and get the mobo that has SATA, i.e. if the drive you bought earlier supports SATA. If not, I recommend returning the one you just bought and buying one that does. The nForce3 comes with a solid sound card too so you won't even need to use the extra slot.

Suhit

[Jonathon Watkins]

Well, it's the unit that Shuttle sent me to review....

Taking it back to the store is not an option Suhit. :wink:

[Suhit Gupta]

Well, it's the unit that Shuttle sent me to review....

Taking it back to the store is not an option Suhit. :wink:
Ahh, sorry, missed that :). But in my comment I was referring to taking the HDD back.

Suhit

[Janak Parekh]

Wow, looks like things are really not working out. Why don't you just get an nForce3 motherboard?
If I remember correctly, Jason prefers Intel-based setups. ;) But yeah, if I had to get a Shuttle I'd seriously consider the nForce3-based one: excellent video, audio, and SATA.

--janak

[David Prahl]

Nice (future) rig, Jason! I have a friend who built a Shuttle a few months ago, and the only problem he's had is a lack of power. 180W doesn't provide enough power for his GPU and CPU.

I'm expecting lots of pictures! :wink:

[Gary Sheynkman]

So JD, what is the update??

[Jason Dunn]

So to answer some of the many questions here...

1) No, I don't have a preference on Intel vs. AMD. I actually prefer AMD in some ways, perhaps because I like rooting for the underdog. ;-) This was just a matter of using what I had, which is a relatively new 2.8 Ghz HT processor.

2) Lots of pictures? Yes, there are quite a few.

3) Regarding not having enough power, my current SB65G2 has a 250W power supply, and that's enough for the above-mentioned CPU and an ATI Radeon 9600 video card, two 160 GB hard drives, and a LG 52x CD-R.