2005-02-09 - Ars Technica: SN95G5 - The Leading edge of a surge
 Ars Technica tested the Shuttle XPC Barebone SN95G5 and was surprised by the usablility of this mini. In comprehension to
full-blown PCs, "we have a contender that can rival many larger workstations without compromising on performance or ability."...
Ars Technica tested the Shuttle XPC Barebone SN95G5 and was surprised by the usablility of this mini. In comprehension to full-blown PCs, "we have a contender that can rival many larger workstations without compromising on performance or ability."
At first they had a closer look on the inside of the Shuttle XPC Barebone SN95G5: "You may actually be quite surprised as to how much is crammed into such a small space. In the space of less than 1 cubic foot are all the parts needed for a full-blown workstation." Another surprise came along as they wanted to expose "the innards of that beast." There we're no problem in expanding the barebone: "Working with the SN95G5 was very easy in this regard."
At the factor of noise, which always was a category where Shuttles pointed, Ars Technica only mentioned two points:
- "Did we mention it's quiet? Oh yeah, you can barely hear this thing running."
- "The fan only ever hit full-throttle when the system initiates its Power-On Self test, […] and the heatpipe/fan
combo managed to radiate the heat from the CPU well."
Ars Technicas conclusions or who is this SFF PC ideal for:
"It is really a kick-ass workstation and […] a good option for the gamers on the go (think: LAN parties) It is small,
lightweight, and can feature the power of a full-blown system."
So all things considered the staff was sure: "This PC fits the bill for pretty much any role you throw at it."
Pros:
- Small and quiet
- AMD Socket 939 supports Athlon64 and FX CPUs
- Nvidia nForce 3 Ultra chipset
- SATA support and RAID 0 and 1
- Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, FireWire 400, SPDIF in/out
Link: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/shuttle-sn95g5.ars |