Digital Home Thoughts: Powerful, Small, Stealthy: Shuttle's SD11G5 XPC

Starting at the Beginning
I've been a fan of Shuttle XPC computers since buying my first, back in 2001, if memory serves (when you buy/build computers frequently, you tend to lose track). So, of all the products I've reviewed, I may have the most amount of "reviewer's tilt" towards the Shuttle – I really like their stuff. That said, I think you'll find this review to be fair and critical in the right places.

If you're not familiar with Shuttle's XPC units, the concept is simple: they provide the case, motherboard, and power supply, already pre-assembled. I love building new PCs, but I dislike mounting the motherboard, so this is one reason why I really enjoy what Shuttle offers. The end user rounds out the PC by adding whatever CPU, RAM, hard drive, video card (optional in some cases), and optical drive they want. The Shuttle motherboards often come with onboard video, and all recent models include USB, Firewire, and onboard audio. Plug in a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and you've got yourself a new PC. What's particularly compelling about Shuttle XPCs is that they combine the slick design and tight hardware integration of a big-box vendor with the customization of a local white-box vendor. With my XPCs, I get a machine that looks better than any Dell box, with exactly the components that I want.


Figure 1: The Shuttle SD11G5 in angled profile (protective plastic still on).

Like every other Shuttle XPC, the unit I'm reviewing bears an unfortunate and difficult to remember moniker: the SD11G5. SD11 is the model, and the G5 indicates the chassis type. The G5 chassis has "stealth doors" that cover the front of the optical drive, giving it clean lines. It's definitely the only way to go – who wants to see the ugly front of a BenQ DVD burner? The G5 chassis is shorter than the "P" chassis, which means is lacks the integrated memory card reader. It's not a show stopper, but I'd like to see Shuttle figure out a way of putting CompactFlash and Secure Digital memory card slots (at minimum) on there somehow. I've seen photos of the SD11G5 with a memory card reader, so there is an accessory, but I'd like to see it come standard.

What's in the Box
Opening up the box on the SD11G5 reveals the usual: the SD11G5 unit itself, and a box containing the accessories. One thing that makes the SD11G5 different from most computers, and in fact most Shuttle XPCs, is that it has an external 250 watt power supply. This is a dramatic shift from the way most PCs work, which I'll delve more into below. The out of box experience isn't particularly impressive, which is somewhat surprising given Shuttle's efforts into making their XPCs feel luxurious. They should take some lessons from Apple in this department.


Figure 2: The accessories box.


Figure 3: Everything you need to build the XPC. A software and drivers CD, manual, parallel ATA cable, screws, S-Video output cable, thermal paste, and a few odds and ends.


Figure 4: The external power supply is big. Really big. We're talking bigger than the Xbox 360 power supply!

Using the Pentium M CPU changes all the rules for power when it comes to designing a desktop system. Here's what I wrote about this when Shuttle first announced the system:

"The real killer part of this unit is the support for the Pentium M processor. This means serious performance at low power consumption and almost no noise. What surprises me though is that when I saw that the power supply was 220 watts, I immediately thought "Ok, no high-powered graphics card, perhaps an NVIDIA 6600 at the most". But on the features page they say it's been tested with an NVIDIA 7800GTX. Wow! I couldn't figure this out until I realized that because the Pentium M processor sips a mere 27 watts of power, it leaves much more headroom for the graphics card. On my current Shuttle (an SB95P2) the 3.4 Ghz P4 CPU guzzles close to 100 watts of power, which is why I need the 350 watt power supply to drive my 6800GT video card. Having a CPU that only needs 27 watts really changes the rules of system design."

I was too conservative in my estimates on how much power my 3.4 Ghz Pentium 4 CPU needed - it uses around 100 watts of power at idle, and nearly 150 watts under full load. The Pentium M changes everything, but even with the wattage to power a hefty video card (it's certified for use with an NVIDIA 7800GTX), I ended up deciding not to use one - more on why below.