SFF Roundup, Part I: Socket 478 and 754 Systems

Shuttle XPC SB61G2 V3.0

Overview

We wrap up this roundup with the granddaddy of SFF designers, the Shuttle XPC. Shuttle created the SFF market back in 2001, and it helped to establish the Shuttle brand throughout the world. While Shuttle has been around for over two decades, they were previously regarded as one of the lesser OEM-style manufacturers. Their products weren't necessarily bad, but they weren't anything special either. Today, Shuttle continues to manufacture motherboards, but they are extremely focused on the SFF market and continue to drive innovation in the segment.

We'll be looking at other Shuttle XPC units in the upcoming roundups - we have no less than eight Shuttle SFFs in our labs right now! - but for this roundup, the only qualifying unit is the somewhat older SB61G2. Shuttle also has similar designs for socket 754 and even socket A, but we don't have those units. If you like the comments on this particular SFF, though, be sure to check out Shuttle's other offerings. The SB61G2 was one of the earlier designs from Shuttle, and this particular model is version 3.0. The G2 design is a very popular case, if you couldn't tell. As the saying goes, if it's not broken, don't fix it.

Aesthetics

Click on images to enlarge.

Many of the cases are available in different color schemes, but for this roundup, the Shuttle is the only silver case with a metal shell. The shell has a brushed aluminum finish that looks very nice, similar to what you find on many high-end ATX cases. Shuttle has chosen not to include drive doors on their G2 models, and unfortunately, this makes it somewhat difficult to match the silver color of the rest of the case. Be prepared to spend a few extra dollars and some time in order to get a matching optical drive and/or floppy. Shuttle offers such accessories - along with many others - at their eBay store as well as through several other resellers, if you want to save yourself some time.

The appearance from the front is very subdued and conservative, which many people will like. The chrome bolts that are present aren't strictly necessary, but that's about the only semi-complaint that we have with the appearance. The buttons on the front are all surrounded by a blue glow, and it looks nice, but some might feel they're a bit too bright. Overall, though, the case is very attractive and would fit in well in an office environment. Various alternative face plates and shells are available from Shuttle, so you can also go for something different like a red or blue case if that's your style. Those cost extra, however, and we tend to prefer a standard silver or black shell.

Features

Shuttle XPC SB61G2 V3.0
Dimension	(w)200 mm x (h)185 mm x (d)300 mm
CPU Support	Intel Socket 478 Northwood/Prescott up to P4 3.4GHz
Memory Support	PC1600/PC2100/PC2700/PC3200 up to 2GB; 2 DIMM slots
Motherboard	FB61 (proprietary) Intel 865G/ICH5 Chipsets FSB 800/533/400MHz
Graphics	Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2 16MB shared memory architecture
Expansion Slots	1 x PCI; 1 x AGP 8x
Power Supply	250W Silent X Power Supply 3 x 4-pin Molex; 1 x 4-pin FDD 4-pin ATX 12V; 20-pin ATX
Internal Connections	2 x SATA; 2 x IDE; 1 x FDD; 2 x USB2.0 5-pin; 1 x LPT
Audio	Realtek ALC650 AC97 SW audio, 6 channel codec
LAN	1 x 10/100 Mbps
Drive Bay	1 x 3.5 External 1 x 3.5 Internal (HDD) 1 x 5.25 External (CD/DVD)
Front I/O	2 x USB 2.0 1 x IEEE1394 (4pin) Line-in, MIC, Head-phone Power & Reset buttons Power on & HDD LED indicators
Rear I/O	4 x USB 2.0 1 x IEEE1394 (6pin) PS/2 KB, PS/2 Mouse VGA port (D-SUB) Serial port RJ-45 LAN Port (10/100Mbps) Micropone, Line-in, Speaker out
Overclocking	CPU 100-355; AGP/PCI 66/73/80 Vcc 0.825-1.5875V; DDR 2.60-2.75V; AGP 1.5-1.65V
Extras	ICE cooling
Full Image Set	Shuttle SB61G2V3 Pictures (1.7MB)
Manufacturer Link	Shuttle XPC SB61G2 V3

Due to the age of the design, several features have fallen behind the times. Most new SFFs include gigabit Ethernet, but this particular model is only 10/100 Mbit. If you don't have a home network, that really won't matter, and even if you do have a home network, a lot of people continue to use 100 Mbit routers/hubs/switches. The remaining features are in line with the other offerings: USB2.0, firewire, integrated audio and graphics, and S/PDIF optical input and output connections. Some of the other Shuttle XPCs include flash card readers pre-installed, but the SB61G2 does not. If you use such a feature regularly, that might factor into your purchasing decision, but most people can do without them. Worth mentioning is that the font port headphone connector was static-free once the AUX port was muted.

Internally, the Shuttle unit supports either IDE or SATA hard drives and comes with the IDE cable for the optical drive pre-installed. One external serial port is present, and there is also a punch-out for a parallel port should you have a need for that feature. Unfortunately, the parallel cable is not included and must be purchased separately (for about $10 shipped). A floppy connector is also present if you want to use that, and two USB headers are available if you wish to attach a flash card reader. One small issue that we had with the BIOS is that it was the only unit to improperly identify our RAM as 2.5-2-2-5 instead of 2-2-2-5. We could manually set it to the appropriate timings, but when selecting SPD, CAS latency was set to 2.5.

Unlike many of the other systems, there really aren't any extras added to the Shuttle system. The only noteworthy feature that is not standard with other SFFs is the inclusion of a 250W power supply, but even that is becoming relatively common with the newer models. The SB61G2 is a true barebones PC and you have to add your own components. If you want TV/FM tuner support, you can add that, or you can add wireless networking or whatever other features you might like. Naturally, you're a bit more limited in what you can add compared to a desktop system, but that goes for all SFFs. What Shuttle does offer, however, is a well designed system that is easy to work with, and you can also find complete XPC systems for sale at many retail outlets. The lack of extras does help bring the price down a bit, but if you were to try and match the features of, for example, the Aopen you would end up paying quite a bit more for the Shuttle unit.