Introduction

If you paid close attention to Small Form Factor (SFF) PC specifications, you would have realized that most of them have been designed around a motherboard utilizing an older chipset model. Take for example the Intel Pentium 4 platform, you would most often notice SFF PCs based on the SiS 651, Intel 845G / GV chipset variants and these are not as updated as the chipsets used on most retail motherboards. Plus, chipsets with integrated graphics cores are not usually updated as often as those without it.

With the recent launch of the Intel Springdale chipsets that are now classified as the 865 series, Intel has a new mainstream chipset with integrated graphics – the 865G. So what’s new with the 865G chipset in comparison to its predecessor, the 845GE? 800MHz PSB (processor side bus) support, dual channel DDR400 memory support and a revised graphics core engine named the Intel Extreme Graphics 2. We haven’t much detail on the improvements Intel has made to the graphics core, but we will let the results speak for itself in the test section. With the new Springdale chipsets, they have also been paired with a beefed up I/O Controller Hub, ICH5, which now supports eight USB 2.0 ports and natively supports serial ATA with two SATA-150 ports.


Shuttle who has always been on the ball for new XPC variants, was armed and poised with their latest XPC system built around a new Shuttle Form Factor 865G motherboard even before the official launch. This is the Shuttle XPC SB61G2 system, which we will be reviewing today. Before we move further, you may want to get acquainted with the basic system specifications: