Jason Dunn
07-05-2006, 05:00 PM
Shuttle has unveiled a whole series of XPC units, and they're all drool-worthy. Here's a brief rundown of what's coming from Shuttle.
http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/SS31T-55_view_R_1.jpg
First up we have the XPC SS31T (http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SS31T.asp), a "large" Shuttle that uses the nanoBTX standard. The main features are the enhanced expandability: it boasts one PCI Express lot, one PCI slot (two would have been nicer), two 3.5" expansion bays, and two 5.25" bays. This is the first Shuttle that can have two optical drives and two hard drives, making it a great self-contained disc duplicating machine. It has a mere 250 watt power supply though, which will limit the type of video card that can be used if the system is paired with a power-hungry Intel processor (no support for Core Duo processors here.
http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/shuttle-p2-2700.jpg
Next we have the XPC SN27P2 (http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SN27P2.asp), and this is probably the most powerful XPC I've seen to date (and perhaps the best looking).<!> It has four slots for RAM, maxing out at 8 GB of DDR2 RAM. It uses the NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP chipset, which has support for some very cool RAID options. One PCI Express and one regular PCI slot are available, and the 400 watt power supply will allow you to run pretty much any video card out there alongside the AMD Socket AM2 CPU. There's space for one optical drive, one memory card reader, and two hard drives. NVIDIA Native Gigabit Ethernet, NVIDIA FirstPacket technology, NVIDIA MediaShield Storage round out the offering. If the power supply and system fans on the SN27P2 are quieter than they were on my SB95P2, this system will be killer.
http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/shuttle_x100.jpg
The most innovative Shuttle is the X100. Unlike the previous units, this isn't a barebones model, it's only being sold as a pre-configured unit directly from Shuttle. I had some hands-on time with an X100 in January of this year at CES, and I was extremely impressed. The X100 is the computer the Mac Mini wishes it could be. ;-) It uses a full-size 3.5" hard drive, meaning you can get serious speed and capacity out of it. It uses a dual-core Intel CPU, and while obviously not meant for hard-core gaming, it uses an ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 making it decent enough for games. About the only thing lacking on the X100 is a dual-DVI solution. I'm a big proponent of multi-monitor workstations, so it's a bit frustrating to see a computer as superb as the X100 not have two DVI ports, but I understand that compromises have to be made in order to achieve the small form factor.
All in all, these look like some great releases by Shuttle!
http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/SS31T-55_view_R_1.jpg
First up we have the XPC SS31T (http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SS31T.asp), a "large" Shuttle that uses the nanoBTX standard. The main features are the enhanced expandability: it boasts one PCI Express lot, one PCI slot (two would have been nicer), two 3.5" expansion bays, and two 5.25" bays. This is the first Shuttle that can have two optical drives and two hard drives, making it a great self-contained disc duplicating machine. It has a mere 250 watt power supply though, which will limit the type of video card that can be used if the system is paired with a power-hungry Intel processor (no support for Core Duo processors here.
http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/shuttle-p2-2700.jpg
Next we have the XPC SN27P2 (http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SN27P2.asp), and this is probably the most powerful XPC I've seen to date (and perhaps the best looking).<!> It has four slots for RAM, maxing out at 8 GB of DDR2 RAM. It uses the NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP chipset, which has support for some very cool RAID options. One PCI Express and one regular PCI slot are available, and the 400 watt power supply will allow you to run pretty much any video card out there alongside the AMD Socket AM2 CPU. There's space for one optical drive, one memory card reader, and two hard drives. NVIDIA Native Gigabit Ethernet, NVIDIA FirstPacket technology, NVIDIA MediaShield Storage round out the offering. If the power supply and system fans on the SN27P2 are quieter than they were on my SB95P2, this system will be killer.
http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/shuttle_x100.jpg
The most innovative Shuttle is the X100. Unlike the previous units, this isn't a barebones model, it's only being sold as a pre-configured unit directly from Shuttle. I had some hands-on time with an X100 in January of this year at CES, and I was extremely impressed. The X100 is the computer the Mac Mini wishes it could be. ;-) It uses a full-size 3.5" hard drive, meaning you can get serious speed and capacity out of it. It uses a dual-core Intel CPU, and while obviously not meant for hard-core gaming, it uses an ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 making it decent enough for games. About the only thing lacking on the X100 is a dual-DVI solution. I'm a big proponent of multi-monitor workstations, so it's a bit frustrating to see a computer as superb as the X100 not have two DVI ports, but I understand that compromises have to be made in order to achieve the small form factor.
All in all, these look like some great releases by Shuttle!