This system is a different class from the previous SN41 model partly due to the NVIDIA chipset, but also due to the new 250w PSU. The litte box feels very fast under Slackware and it is almost silent in operation.
This should have a "Designed for Linux" badge on the box..
Spec and details....
Mainboard:
Shuttle FN41 v3.1, Shuttle form factor, proprietary design for SN41G2V2
chipset:
NVIDIA nForce2 (Crush 18G)
Award V6.0PG BIOS, 4MBit flash memory
with hardware monitoring and ACPI power management functions
dimensions: 25.4 x 18.5 cm
Power supply unit:
Silent-X 250 Watt mini PSU, supports 115/230V
connectors: 20-pin ATX, 4-pin ATX12V
Processor support:
Socket A supports AMD Athlon XP und Duron processors
at 400, 333, 266 oder 200 FSB, also Sempron support
supports Burn Proof CPU protection for Athlon XP
Processor cooling system:
Shuttle I.C.E. (Integrated Cooling Engine)
advanced Heatpipe technology
smart fan control, 80mm cooling fan
Memory support:
2 x 184 pin slots, supports Dual Channel
supports PC3200/2700/2100/1600 (DDR400/333/266/200) DDR SDRAM memory
up to a total size of 2GB
Caution: DDR400 is only supported in conjunction with an additional (plugged-in) AGP-graphics card
no support of buffered or ECC-modules
Expansion slots:
1 x AGP 8X/4X (1,5V only)
1 x 32 Bit PCI (v2.2)
Integrated graphics controller, Dual VGA
Northbridge with integrated GeForce4 MX graphics processor
up to 128MB Shared Memory (UMA)
Highend-256Bit-2D/3D-accelerator
nView Dual-Display-architecture
integrated 300MHz D/A-converter
max. resolution: 1920x1440
including TV output
LAN controller:
Realtek 8201BL Fast Ethernet network controller
supports 10 / 100 MBit/s opteration
Firewire controller:
IEEE1394 Firewire controller Realtek 8801
with 3 Firewire connectors (1x front and 2x rear)
supports 400Mb/s, 200Mb/s, 100Mb/s data transfer rate
Drive connectors:
2 x IDE ATA 133 drives
1 x floppy disk drive
Can't remember what I paid, it was the cheapest price by far on the net from microdirect.co.uk
I agree with the "Description". It gets 9/10 instead of 10/10 because the on-board graphics don't work if you set the FSB to 200MHz. Before I did that, I could crank it as far as about 183MHz and it was fine. The graphics, though only GeForce 4MX compatible, were the best on-board graphics I had ever experienced. By adding a cheap nvidia card (FX5200), I have been able to crank it up to 200MHz, disguising my Athlon XP2500+ as a 3200+.
The only criticism from a Linux point of view is that the optional internal WLAN is Prism3_USB, which is a pain.
The sound, video, USB1.1, USB2.0, IEEE1394, "just works" with very little tweaking. A friendly distro like Mandrake just detects everything correctly, and in Gentoo it's a straightforward to compile the kernel as it ever gets.
There is another criticism -- Framebuffer mode is difficult and running X causes text screens to crash. Hardly a problem in my book, as pretty boot-up screens, while nice, are not a priority.
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