2005-07-01 - c't: "Well built in every respect"

"SFF PCs bring along the special appealing factor for the living room right from the start." PCs can be appealing? Such statements are hardly ever found in the German IT-experts' magazine "c't." But it wouldn't be the "c't," if the editors left it at a single subjective opinion. That's why they took a closer at four Shuttle XPC Barebones simultaneously - out of a total of ten SFF PCs. While Shuttle clearly dominated with quantity, how did it fare on quality? All Shuttle models tested passed with "Good" for build quality. Read the detailed report about how each system performed here.

Beginning with Media Center PCs for the living room, moving on to the home and business segments and up to performance bursting gaming machines with support for dual core processors - Shuttle offers the right SFF PC solution to meet your needs. No wonder that SFF PCs have done so well. "SFF PCs are expected to perform just like their bigger counterparts - just wrapped in a smaller and more stylish design." Basically, the "better configuration" is what matters, giving SFF PCs their big advantage. LAN, sound and graphics can already be found on the mainboard, making them a lot more compact compared to conventional PCs.

"Right after Computex, a shipment of the brand new Shuttle XPC Barebones with i945 chipset and dual core processors arrived at our labs," explain the editors about the Shuttle XPC Barebone SD31P which joined the tested models. Showing the SFF PCs no mercy, the editors made them face the same conditions as conventional desktop PCs.

Shuttle XPC Barebone SB83G5M
The most important criterion to rate a PC for the living room is its noise. Shuttle's first candidate was the XPC Barebone SB83G5M, which achieved a satisfactory 1.2 Sone in idle mode. Designed for use in the Media Center segment, it also passed all tests without overheating. Thanks to Shuttle's patented heat pipe cooling engine the interior temperature remained at "quite a low level." During the round up every participant had to prove itself in an EMV stability test, which the Shuttle XPC Barebone "passed with flying colors." A living room PC needs good sound quality, too, and the editors liked the onboard Realtek ALC658 audio.

Shuttle XPC Barebone SB86i
Shuttle's second model joining the round up came up with very impressive onboard: "After all the SB86i had one of the best onboard sound implementation of the test. The Realtek HDA-Codec ALC880 provides more than 90 dBA signal-to-noise-ratio - even at the front connectors." Furthermore, the Shuttle XPC Barebone SB86i was the only SFF PC in BTX-format among its competitors in the test.

Shuttle XPC Barebone SD31P
With the first SFF PC for Intel's dual core processors, the Shuttle XPC Barebone SD31P strengthens its market leadership in the SFF PC segment. For the onboard sound Shuttle chose a Creative Labs chip, making the P17 onboard sound "still a bit higher than the SB86i's HDA-sound implement." The Shuttle XPC Barebone SD31P is ready to receive and power all the latest components, making excellent cooling a necessity. You don't need to fear heat issues in the "stylish SD31P" thanks to its new cooling concept. Therefore the case features three cooling zones. Behind the front panel, the reliable heatpipe engine takes care of keeping the processor temperature down. Moving to the inner rear side of the case two 60mm and one 80mm fan sit at the back panel leading hot air to the outside. Despite a lot of fans the Shuttle XPC Barebone SD31P isn't loud at all: it manages to operate at a "comfortable low noise level." In conclusion, the Shuttle XPC Barebone SD31P came third out of ten test candidates with 0.9 Sone.

Shuttle XPC Barebone ST20G5
The last Shuttle machine in tested was the "elegant and sleek" Shuttle XPC Barebone ST20G5. The very unique feature of having a digital DVI port and an analog VGA port this SFF PC manages to deal with two monitors, or even a third one when a graphics card is added. The DVI port delivered "image quality was very good," while the "ST20G5 kept the interior temperatures low" and faced no heat issues. Thanks to the power saving Athlon 64 processors it came second among all competitors in terms of power consumption. But there was more the Shuttle XPC Barebone ST20G5 did to convince the editors. The low noise level was positively striking as well. No wonder that this machine for home and business needs finished its noise tests with an impressive 0.9 Sone. The EMV stability tests were no obstacles as well, so that the so-called "burst and surge" tests were concluded "without any problems."

Conclusion:

"The test results made us optimistic: all SFF PCs performed at a generally high to very high level."

Source: c't, Issue 14 2005, Pages 130-139