Shuttle SN26P with SLI

7800 love

Shuttle have specced this system out with two GeForce 6800 GT video cards - that they output less heat than two 6800 Ultra cards should be obvious to everyone. However, in the time this Shuttle has been in development, NVIDIA have come out with the new GeForce 7800 range, the 7800 GT, which are even more powerful whilst actually running cooler that their GeForce 6 series counterparts. The question is obvious: do they fit, and do they work? (that's two questions. -Ed)


Here is your answer; a picture speaking a thousand words. There are two variables to consider: the length of the card, and the width of the cooling solution. All GeForce 7 series cards we have seen sport single-slot cooling solutions, so that bodes well so far.


The length of the PCB is clearly the deciding factor. As you will have seen on Page 1 the CPU cooler draws cold air in through a vent in the right side of the case, through the duct shown above and out the left side of the case, passing through the CPU heatsink. Because of this duct, you can only (just) fit a pair of 7800 GT cards into the case - the reference GeForce 7800 GTX PCB is a full 12mm longer and doesn't fit.

However, all is not lost. The sample we have is not 100% final mass production, and the rumour from Shuttle is that they are already aware of this issue, and will hopefully resolve it by the time the SN26P hits store shelves in Q4. So hopefully, by the time you guys go to buy one, it should support 7800 GTX boards.

Focussing on the 7800 GT cards that do fit, and boy is that snug! As you can see from the photo (above, right) there is very little room for the outside card to breathe. This is, of course, the reason why Shuttle opted for their heatpipe solution.

Whilst you might get away with it, we suspect you'll see some instability when using stock 7800 GT cards in the long term. In theory, you should be able to mount the heatpipe coolers onto your 7800 GT cards, but considering you would have to eBay the 6800 GT cards that came bundled, we can't see anyone trying this. The more likely scenario is that Shuttle will offer a GeForce 7-based bundle when the system is launched later this year.

How is the performance? Well, funny you should ask...