Customer Reviews

Shuttle KPC K45 Barebone (Intel 945GC Chipset, 2 x 240 pin DDR2 DIMM Slots, 4 x USB, 100 Watt Psu, FSB 1333)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best way to start your basic computer project.
Add a Celeron Dual Core CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 500GB drive you have a pretty decent Internet/Email/NAS/Media Server. The build is so quick you will be up and running before you can figure out what KPC means. Adding a 92mm fan will help keep temperatures under control if you have it running in a room with warm/hot ambient temperatures. Add an external USB Slim DVD-RW drive and a Flash card reader and you have an affordable plus very portable multimedia PC. NOTE: Look for the Shuttle K48 case if you would rather install an internal DVD-RW drive. But be aware that the K48 does not have a PCI expansion slot like this K45.

Picked up one of these from my local Fry's for $90 recently. Picked up a kaze 40x40x20 (mm) fan to replace the one in the power supply. Read about the replacement on newegg and it worked great. This made the power supply silent to me. Did require some minor soldering though.

Put in a 92mm Antec 3 speed case fan on lowest setting. Used the heatsink/fan from an old core 2 duo (4 wire). I mention 4 wire as I initially used the heatsink/fan that came with the Celeron 420 I put in this box and it only had 3 wires. It ran at full speed making it very loud. With a 4 pin fan, you can control the speed through the bios.

The box is cool to the touch and very quiet with these changes. I use it for my firewall/router box running pfsense. I have a 4 port NIC in the PCI slot and all is running great. I can easily upgrade the CPU to a core 2 duo if I have the need.

I would have given it 5 stars if they would have included the faceplate that has the slim cdrom cutout. The case already has the mounting for it, but the faceplate included covers it.

I've owned a K45 since August 2008 and use it in a lightning detection system [...] and weather station logging system . The PCI card slot holds the lightning detection receiver, and I run Windows XP PRO SP3. The K45 runs 24/7 and I have had zero problems with the hardware. The Windows applications software for the weather station (Davis Instruments WeatherLink) is not as reliable, but the K45 itself is trouble-free. When I first received the K45, I was surprised how easily and quickly I was able to install the CPU, RAM, hard drive and operating system. It came up immediately with no problems.

The Shuttle KPC runs quietly and has everything you need for a WHS. My only negative is that the CPU Fan couldn't sit properly. Whether it was the cooler itself or the board, I'll never know. The one slot for a PCI card lets you turn it into a PVR which is great. I'd definitely buy this again to build a server or media center. Just have your USB CD/DVD drive ready.

This barebones kit is a superb small form-factor pc for doing very lightweight tasks. Setting it up was extremely easy. There is room for one PCI card, an additional rear case fan, and two hard drives (two sata mobo connections, but for power you will require a 4-pin molex to sata converter). There is also an ide connection if you choose to go that route.

I currently have the machine running Arch Linux as a file server and haven't run into any problems so far (it's been on 24/7 for just over a month).

For this price I plan on buying another one shortly for my parents as a file server for their computers and wireless cameras.

Both units I have purchased have died just out of warranty. The capacitors on the motherboard failed on both, they swelled up and then fried. Can't find replacement mobos, so I'm SOL- dead computer, wasted Windows licenses.