SHUTTLE SH67H3 PC Barebone System

This looked like the perfect ESXi server for me. Loaded with a power sipping i7-3770S and 32 GB of RAM, it ran well for a while. On a few occasions I came home from work and it was locked up tight. So I exchanged it for a new one and the same thing happened. After I lost the data store on the NAS due to a volume crash, i decided to go RAID 1. ESXi does not support software RAID (the RAID that comes on the motherboard), I decided to try an Adapted 5405 that I had laying around. Well, that had an old BIOS on it that only supported 2TB drives so I attempted to update the BIOS via a BartPE live disk. Almost instant BSOD. Windows 2003 Standart brought me another BSOD. Windows 7 and 8.1, more BSODs. DOS boot CD presented me with a boot loop, Pull the Adaptec card out and no more problems. After many hair pulling hours I installed the Adaptec RAID controller in the oldest computer I had in the house which is a Dell Optiplex. I was finally able to update the BIOS using a USB DOS boot disk. So then I brought the Adapted 5405 back over to the Shuttle and ESXi recognized the 3TB drives I was using. Only then would ESXi (not installed on the RAID volume) boot fully about every third try. Remove the Adaptec RAID controller and it boots fully. I wasted a day troubleshooting this box and am just done with it. I am sure it is fine for your every day consumer browsing the Internet. But for me, it left a very bad taste in my mouth and will think twice about using Shuttle in the future.

I ordered this plus Corsair 8GB, Intel i5 2400, and Asus DVD drive. It all arrived even a bit early (but see below about the memory). It is a beautiful-looking box, and everything works very nicely and it is extremely quiet!I have not had any chance to check performance or the Windows Experience Index, but it FEELS fast. I'm running Ubuntu Linux 12.04.Just a few items that contributed to 4-* rather than 5-*1) The screws that came with it are not the right size to match up with either the DVD or the HDD that I had. It needs a smaller size (which I luckily had)2) The heat sink compound is pretty think and hard to spread evenly. Maybe it all is these days, but that is different from anything I have used earlier. Having only done this a few times it made me a bit nervous that I was getting good thermal contact.3) The documentation consists of only a single sheet of mostly pictures and diagrams. The enclosed CD/DVD had a manual (in different languages) but it was exactly the same sheet, not a more detailed text. Without anything more than pictures it was a bit more nerve-wracking to put the CPU in. In particular, there were three things that the diagram seemed to say I should remove (mylar cover of CPU socket, mylar cover on the ICE thermal connector, and something else on the socket). Unfortunately I could not really tell what was what from the diagram and I could only find 1 thing to remove. It turns out that there was one additional cover but it was in the accesories box and not actually on the socket where it was supposed to be.A couple additional cautions (which don't contribute to lowering the rating, but I wish I had known).1) The HDD space is for a 3.5" drive, not a 2". I was installing a disk from a laptop, and it works but does not physically fit well. I suspect it will not be a good thing to use forever since there is not much thermal contact with the case.2) One of the SATA cables was pre-installed and threaded to the back of the case. That was a bit mysterious until I realized that it actually was in a good position to plug into the DVD drive, and having it threaded through the case keeps it out of the way.3) The Amazon catalog page suggested "other who ordered this also got..." an Asus DVD drive, which seems fine, but also Corsair memory from a Marketplace vendor. I did not notice that it was not fulfilled by Amazon, until after I ordered it the expected delivery time was a week out rather than the normal Prime 2-day. I was pretty annoyed about this! I finally ordered the same memory from Amazon directly; it was not only less expensive but arrived in 2 days. (The marketplace version has not arrived yet and they refused to cancel it!). So use caution! Prime eligible no longer means it will be there in 2 days! (I'll review the actual items and or the vendor separately).September 1, 2012:Another couple of cautions:1) There is a very weird BIOS setting called EuP "Energy using Product" (well duh!). It is apparently a quick way to set up some energy saving functions, and when it is on, Wake On LAN can not be enabled. If disable EuP, you can enable WOL. Would be nice if it were a bit clearer what this particular function is for. The text for it says "Enable EuP function". Thanks.2) This particular CPU (the I5 2400) does not support hyperthreads. This is not Shuttle's fault; I should have checked the Intel web site more carefully. I looked to be sure it supported multiple cores and virtualization accelerations, but did not even notice the hyperthreads. Not a big deal for me, just a surprise.Oct 10, 2012:One thing that I never mentioned, and pretty small: The 'suspend' function works well, but there is no indication from the outside whether the system is off or in suspend. Usually systems flash the power light when it is suspended. I thought there might be a BIOS setting, but I could not find one.

After falling in love with this form factor and function, 11 days in the integrated NIC died. I as so "happy" this happened within Amazon's replacement window. I'm trying unit #2 in hopes for a better experience.After 2 days of trying to understand the perceived defect, I've come to discover that the condition was caused by a ZyXEL powerline module to which this unit connects, certainly no fault of Shuttle. Had I not have come from an engineering background I never would have properly identified the culprit.Once I removed the ZyXEL from the environment and repowered, things were back to an expected state.I love this little thing... The only loss of a star is from the fan. I've recently ordered a replacement with lower db ratings and hopefully I'll be satisfied.---UPDATE #2---For those of you considering this case, I thought a bit of additional information may prove useful. For me this is a dedicated HTPC workhorse. Not only does it control all media in my home, but it has the significant task of currently converting my collection from various file formats to MP4. The collection has grown over the years and as will happen I've been negligent in organization and cleaning of the library. My 2008yr HTPC was a larger unit that was prebuilt, and although I had little issues with it, it was struggling with the ability to convert files...so I took the plunge and bought the shuttle to house my new system.I opted for an Intel i7 3770. If you are heading down the road to HTPC, it is worth researching the different variants of the i7 3770. For my purposes, including head and power this was the best choice...and I was frankly quite concerned about heat and the Shuttle's ability to handle it (which is the cause for this 2nd update). Color me impressed. Idle temp's (idle ... I laugh at idle...this unit has been working nonstop for days with just brief pauses) are in the 30's to 40's...full load (which is what the unit has been running at virtually nonstop) temps are at or about 70C. The Tj Max for the i7 3770 is 105C. What is also interesting about the i7 3770 is its internal ability to throttle back to control temp itself (reference: researching variants). To aid a little in the airflow I do have the unit positioned in such a way where cables in the rear, the wall, etc. are less of an obstruction which does cause me to hear a bit more of the mechanicals than I like, but it isn't so terrible as to be unacceptable. The i7 3770 has Intel Turbo Boost technology. When the processor detects headroom in both power and heat it will increase the clock speed. I didn't think there would be much of this in this specific Shuttle enclosure. Much to my delight the 3.4Ghz processor happily chugs along at a 3.7Ghz. Not quite the max Turbo of 3.9Ghz, but considering I expected no available headroom once more I am impressed.I may opt for trying an aftermarket silent fan if the spirit hits me, but for now I can't tout this particular Shuttle enough. For those interested the components I selected: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter,2.4GHz 450Mbps/5Ghz 450Mbps, IEEE 802.1a/b/g/n,WEP, WPA/WPA2  <-- tried to go the PowerLine route and was a nightmare, thanks ZyXEL for the education SHUTTLE SH67H3 PC Barebone System Silverstone Tek 3.5-inch to 2 x 2.5-Inch Bay Converter (SDP08B) WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA III, 32 MB Cache - WD10EALX  a little regret here, that I didn't go for a drive that is a bit more quiet, mea culpa Intel Core i7-3770 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770 Corsair XMS3 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1333 MHz (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory (CMX32GX3M4A1600C11) Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT256M4SSD2 Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Paste 3.5g Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe - 4-channel Internal Cable TV Tuner Card for CableCARD  you should research this item as Ceton has recently changed their interest in network tuning and do not support it on Win 8

I needed a silent case with space for at least 2 hard drives. This case fits my needs very well.I use it with an Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Processor, and 2 Corsair 8GB RAM modules. The assembly was relatively simple and I had a couple of scary seconds when I switched on the PC the first time: the cooling fan went on and then switched off immediately. I thought I'd fried the processor, but the PC continued booting up: the passive cooling system really works well and the fan comes up only when needed.

I recently purchased my 2nd SH67H3 and fitted it with the following:Intel I5 processor,16 Gb 1333 Hz Kingston ram,1 - 1 Tb 3.5 inch WD HDD,1 Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blue ray DVD Drive,1 TP-Link TL-WN781ND Wi-Fi Card,Windows 7 Pro 32 bit OS,Kaspersky Internet security.As an old man with shaky hands, I managed to assemble it fairly easily having had some experienceassembling the previous one. I disabled my router until I had Kaspersky updated and activated.I also took the precaution of turning off windows updates completely to ensure it would not destroy mygadgets which I wouldn't be without under any circumstances, I now have a really excellent and wellengineered machine that runs extremely quietly and does everything I tell it to, I hate machines tellingme what to do, and if they do, I threaten them with the wheelie bin.Ben.

It took me a while to decide the barebone to buy. I choose that one, I love it, the problem was that the bios is set up till 2nd generation of i5, so if you want to use a 3rd generation you need to upgrade the bios, easy procedure but you need another cpu to upgrade it. the rest of the product is amaizing, you can choose the fan speed, so if it's to noisy for you just set it down till 100o rpm.

usual Shuttle perfection, almost silent with i7 and 2 SSDs, temp in 50s, plenty of USB3 ports, boss (wife) very happy

Returned first shuttle because fan would stop start and not boot up the computer. I was sent a replacement . This starts but get no beeps nor any output using hdmi ordvi.Have reseated memory, cables etc. will see if i have to return this too!!