Power-Packed PCs Do Come In Small Sizes

Whoever said small PCs couldn’t deliver performance? That might have been arguable in the old days, but given our current computer technology, size is no indication of computing power. On the consumer front, Shuttle’s Small Form Factor (SFF) XPC systems (and other vendor’s SFF systems) have more than proven their might in performance, but maintaining a small build which is unobtrusive and fun to work with. Since these SFF systems can in fact replace a full-fledged tower system for those who don’t require expansion or take up other roles solely relegated to computing power, Shuttle has designed a new SFF system designed around the Intel 875P (Canterwood) Northbridge and the Intel ICH5R Southbridge. This system, by virtue of the chipset specification, will contain no integrated graphics subsystem. Instead, it will deliver extra performance thanks to the i875P’s built-in Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT) that capitalizes on better memory access patterns and will depend on add-in AGP graphics cards for powering the graphics subsystem.


This new Shuttle XPC SB75G2 is being marketed as a powerhouse for performance enthusiasts who need an SFF solution. We even foresee such systems could be an appropriate option for LAN gaming centers or at least the up-market types that charge more for their services and can afford to maintain a life-style theme. Linking up a couple of XPC systems for a server solution sounds good too and such setups have even been accomplished, but those would probably be better off with integrated graphics because a mandatory AGP graphics card solution such as required on the XPC SB75G2 offers very little tangible gain. However, it would still serve as an excellent small all-round workstation for multimedia and content creation purposes.

While in the past we mentioned the lack of a software bundle on the Shuttle XPC systems, the XPC SB75G2 is shipped with MandrakeSoft’s Linux 9.1 operating system. Although not quite our ideal, we bet some of the enthusiast users wouldn’t mind tinkering with Linux or even perhaps even setup a dual-boot partition for work and games using Linux and Windows XP operating systems respectively. We leave the potential uses of the Linux OS to the adopters of the Shuttle XPC SB75G2. For now, here are the complete package details for the XPC SB75G2 SFF:-

Shuttle XPC SB75G2 barebones system

Custom length floppy, CD-ROM, HDD-IDE and SATA cables

2 x Front fancy chassis feet

Power cord

Shuttle G2 installation guide

Motherboard manual

SATA RAID Software User Manual

Drivers CD

MandrakeSoft Linux 9.1 OS (2 discs)

Installation kit (contains needed screws, adhesives and wire-ties)

Sachet of thermal compound for CPU installation

Before we take an in-depth look at what this SFF had to offer, we detail its main specifications below:-

Shuttle XPC SB75G2 Technical Specifications

Case Parameters	Shuttle custom form factor ATX specification Slots for 2 expansion cards (1x AGP 8x/4x, 1x  PCI) 1 x 5.25-inch drive bays (external) 1 x 3.5-inch drive bays (external) 1 x 3.5-inch drive bays (internal) Power and reset switches Blue LED for power and Orange LED for HDD indication
Expansion Ports	Front Panel  2 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x Firewire port 1x Line-out / Headphone 1x Mic-in 1x  Line-in Back Panel  2x Serial Port 4 x USB 2.0 ports 1x RJ45 10/100/1000Mbps LAN port 1x Center/Bass speaker output 1x Front Left / Right speaker output 1x Rear Left / Right speaker output 1x SPDIF Optical output 1x SPDIF Optical input
Motherboard Type and CPU Support	Shuttle FB75 Shuttle Form Factor ATX Based on Intel 875P chipset Supports Socket-478 CPU (400/533/800 FSB) Willamette not supported Supports dual-channel DDR266 / DDR333 / DDR400 memory
Storage Subsystem	Intel ICH5-R Southbridge 2x IDE ATA-100 connectors 2x SATA ports (supports RAID 0) 1x Floppy conenctor
Graphics Subsystem	No Integrated Graphics - uses AGP graphics card
Sound Subsystem	Realtek ALC650 6-Channel sound codec with SPDIF input/output
Case Cooling	Shuttle I.C.E. heat-pipe technology Autoguardian
Power Supply	Achme 220W (with Active PFC)
Dimensions & Weight	Width: 200mm Height: 185mm Depth: 300mm Material : Aluminum Color: Brushed Black Weight : 2.85kg