Shuttle XPC ST61G4

It may be small but it has some quality features hidden inside.

Price: £258.09

Manufacturer: Shuttle

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Verdict

Pros:

Build quality; integrated features.

Cons:
Pricey.

Verdict:
Often imitated, rarely bettered, Shuttle's new SFF barebones system is as good as ever.

Simon Crisp, Personal Computer World 10 Mar 2004

Shuttle, the pioneer of the SFF (Small Form Factor) PC, constantly upgrades its series of small PCs either by adding more features or by using different chipsets to keep one step ahead of the ever growing competition.

Already offering systems for Intel's P4 based on the SIS661FX, Intel 865G/PE and 875P chipsets, its latest offering, the ST61G4, uses ATI's new RS300 chipset.

Housed in the usual aluminium Shuttle case, but with a totally new front bezel, the ST61G4 offers the integrated package you come to expect from the SFF design. The only things not integrated are a parallel port and modem.

The new style of bezel really sets the ST61G4 apart from all the other cube PCs out there; it's dominated by a full-width chrome panel, which makes the whole thing look very stylish.

At the heart of the ST61G4 lies one of Shuttle's own FT61 mini ATX motherboards using ATI's RS300/IXP chipset combination. Any of Intel's Socket 478 CPUs can be used to power the ST61G4 as the board supports 400, 533 and 800MHz front-side bus (FSB) speeds. The processor is cooled by Shuttle's own heatpipe design and, despite an 8cm case fan and a northbridge fan, the ST61G4 is still whisper quiet.

As ATI's chipset supports dual-channel memory there are two Dimm slots which can support up to 2GB of either PC1600, 2100, 2700 or 3200 DDR memory depending on which processor is being used.

To add any drives, the whole drive cage assembly can be removed by just undoing two screws, which also allows unobstructed access to the motherboard. There is a single 5.25in bay and two 3.5in bays, but only one of these can be used, since there's a 6-in-1 card reader resident in one slot.

The motherboard supports Serial ATA (SATA) drives as well as ATA/100 but the ports for these are not under the drive cage where you would expect them to be. Instead they are placed towards the back of the case at the far end of the CPU heatsink. Using a SATA drive would make for a tidier cable run, something which tends to be more important in this size of case than in normal desktops.

The highlight of the chipset is the integrated Radeon 9100 graphics which offer performance approaching what you'd get from a Radeon 9200 graphics card. Unfortunately, unlike the Mobility Radeon chips found in notebooks, the 9100 uses shared system memory. Even so, its performance should be better than either the integrated solutions from Nvidia or Intel. If this isn't adequate there's an AGP 8x slot which accepts full-size cards, as does the single PCI slot.

One thing you won't need the PCI slot for is an Ethernet card. An integrated Broadcom chip provides 10/100 support. There are also four USB2 ports (two in the front panel, two in the rear) and two Firewire slots. The front panel also houses three audio ports which are duplicated in the rear panel. The onboard 5.1 audio function is provided by the ubiquitous Realtek ALC650 chip.

Tucked up on one side of the chassis is one of Shuttle's own 250w power supplies, which uses two tiny fans for cooling - another reason the ST61G4 runs quietly.

The manuals supplied by Shuttle are first rate. The motherboard manual extends to 72 pages, while the installation guide shows what can be done if some thought is given to the subject. Although only 26 pages long, each one uses clear colour photographs and straightforward explanations on how to put your Shuttle case together. Also supplied are all the data cables you need, including SATA, and even a cleaning cloth to wipe smudgy fingerprints off the chrome panel.

Despite its small size, Shuttle's ST61G4 could and should form the basis of a fast PC, which will easily equal most full-size desktops.

Check out the latest Shuttle barebones system - the XPC Zen - in the May issue of Personal Computer World, on sale 18 March.

Contact: Overclockers 0870 443 0880 www.overclockers.co.uk

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