Hardware Shuttle SN68PTG5 XPC

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/01/03/shuttle_sn68ptg5/1

Possibly the perfect Home Theatre PC barebones - the SN68PTG5 looks fantastic, has integrated graphics with HDMI out and is attractively priced. Has Shuttle made something we all want under our TVs?

 

For a HTPC-Test im missing some info:

How's the picture quality, the TV-out, and the loads (and noise) at DVD and HD playback? (Best in your preferred setup...BE processor and IGP)
Is there a TV-in? How about fitting a TV-capture card, DVB-S or DVB-T card? How are the loads when Timeshifting or playback while recording?

Are there any new Shuttles with an external (fanless) powersource? (Like the old SD11G5)

For the non AMD'ers...would the SG33G5 be the Intel based equivalent to this one?

Cheers,

Xir

 

There's no TV in - but it's upgradable via the PCI, PCI-Express or USB. Loads are dependent on what TV card, software you use and what you record. Loads with HD and DVD playback can be seen here: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/08/08/biostar_tf7050-m2/15 - noise is entirely dependent on load, heat output and optical drive used (mostly the latter).

Picture quality - I haven't got round to testing this yet, but it does support Nvidia PureVideo and it has HDMI digital interface so it should be pretty good.

The SG33G5 is the Intel alternative, yes. There's nothing like the (fantastic but super niche and expensive) SD11G5 planned that I know of, unfortunately.

 

Yeah I'd be interested to know how it performs both in 1080 and 720 HD playback. I think that should be part of the bench suite, at least for computers that can be potentially used as HTPCs.

 

It looks like a fairly decent rig but I really don't like the look of that HDMI->DVI adapter. Wouldn't one with a short chunk of cable in between be less prone to breaking? (I'd happily give up the gold plating for that.) Also it would make more sense to me if they replaced the VGA port with a DVI-I port and included a DVI->VGA adapter.

 

Finally a positive review of something with amd in the content Nice price too

waits for the c2d pwnzrrr brigade to come along

 

Would it be possible for this to work as a blu-ray player with the addition of an appropriate drive? If this is possible then i think i might have found my ideal htpc (so called as my fiancee has already said "ooo purdy" to the looks of it)

 

Thanks for your quick response.

I somehow miss the days when signal quality was part of the standart testsuite for GPU's ;-)

this one uses the NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV IGP and nForce 630a chipset.
from your test before http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2007/08/08/biostar_tf7050-m2/15 I read:
Nvidia doesn’t state that the chipset is capable of full 1080p HD DVD or Blu-ray playback.

But you did get it to run...somhow right?

Mind you, not that I'm planning on Full-HD until my old TV breaks (and Bluray/HD-DVD player prices go down), but it'll be coming sooner or later.

 

The IGP doesn't, but if you run it with CPU decoding it does.

 

Quick question:

I'm quite interested in using this case as my main PC as I love the look and feel of SFFs.

You said you dropped a BE-2350 in there with the onboard Graphics and the power comsumption was next to nothing, then the next is the 6000+ with no dedicated GPU and a 6000+ with a HD3850 uses way more because the 6000+ guzzles up too much Watts.

What I'm interested is this: how would it fare with a BE-2350 or BE-2400 (maybe OC to what you had it) and add either a 256Mb 3850 or 256Mb 8800GT?

Do you think it would hang or run, even at full load?

Cheers if you could answer this.

 

Hi everyone, I bought this system after reading this review but I just cant get a decent picture from it. I using;

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core processor 5000+
and a Samsung 2032mw monitor

I've tried using a HDMI cable but the picture is too intense and blurry giving serious eye strain. While using the D-sub (VGA) port and cable the picture is just seriously poor quality, any ideas?

 

Is it upscaling the picture? Have you got the drivers installed correctly? Any interference?

HDMI should not be blurry - it's digital.

Is your monitor working properly?

 

Yes my monitor is working fine its a brand new "Samsung SyncMaster 2032mw" i've tried using every different setting it offers. I have reinstalled the drivers many times, however how would you know if they were not installed correctly?
Im going to buy a DVI-VGA cable and try using the HDMI adapter but if that doesnt work i dont know what else to try really, any ideas?