Shuttle SN41G2

[Aedan]

I had a Shuttle SN41G2. Experence should have been good, but that's not how things worked out. Machine didn't POST first time out of the box, so it got sent back. Reseller reflashed BIOS, did a quick test and sent it back. Guess what? Machine didn't POST out of the box. Back it goes, and the reseller swaps the box for another SN41G2. This also exhibits the same no POST problem, so gets sent back. They reflash the BIOS and send it back to me. No POST once again.

This time I find Shuttle's steps to recovery document, and sucessfully reflash the BIOS. Machine POSTs for the first time in my presence. Next day I unplug machine and go to work. Come home in the evening and what should happen? Machine fails to POST, as the BIOS seems to have ended up corrupt again. Reflash BIOS, machine POSTs. Try to install Linux on the box, and box locks up at random points. Reset it, and machine fails to POST. Corrupt BIOS once again. Reflash, and machine POSTs. (Getting familiar here?)

Run Memtest86 for the heck of it. Runs fine for over 36 hours.

Will be sending SN41G2 back and requesting a refund shortly.

Anyone recommend a similar size box that might actually work ok? Box needs to support Athlon, and be close to being the same size. (IE, no Asus Pundits)

[Allan]

Hmm, I would like a nice box like that! (One that worked, anyways)

How about the Soltek EQ3701M AMD nForce2?
http://www.amdboard.com/soltek_qbic_eq3701m_pr.html

Or the Monarch Hornet: http://www.techimo.com/articles/i96.html

[Aedan]

The Hornet is huge compared to the SN41G2, taking up nearly 2.5 times as much volume! The Soltek is about 1.5 times the volume of the SN41G2.

That puts the Hornet squarely out of the running, and puts the Soltek at a disadvantage. Yes, I'm looking for small. Expansion capabilities? Well, that's not really significant to be honest, as the machine's gonna act as a front end interface. This means it doesn't need much disk space, doesn't need to be physically large, but does need to have enough power to access databases, decode video and do a few other tasks.