Friday, October 14, 2005
Shuttle's SD11G5 XPC
Posted by Jason Dunn in "HARDWARE" @ 06:00 AM
"Combining Shuttle's exclusive Silent X technology with the energy efficient PentiumŪ M processor, the XPC SD11G5 delivers the versatility and performance of a mainstream desktop within a silent PC solution. Shuttle's patented ICE heat-pipe system, and advanced system management and control software provide superior cooling while helping to reduce excess noise. Even under high load the XPC SD11G5 generates less than 24dB. Amazingly, the XPC SD11G5 manages to achieve its impressive silent PC capabilities without compromising features or performance. Accelerated Intel 3D graphics and video, Sound Blaster Live! 7.1-channel surround sound, and high-speed LAN are all standard features of the basic system. Also, the XPC SD11G5 is fully compatibility with off the shelf PC components including SATA hard disk drives, PCI Express graphics cards, and USB 2.0 peripherals, giving you the freedom to create a fully customized silent PC solution for your home or office."
This is essentially an updated version of the ST62K that I reviewed last year, and it fixes most of the issues I had with that unit - but manages to have an even worse name. ;-) 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! 8O 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.
This has to be pretty close to my dream Shuttle XPC - ultra quiet but still capable of serious gaming and digital media processing. Nicely done Shuttle!
This is essentially an updated version of the ST62K that I reviewed last year, and it fixes most of the issues I had with that unit - but manages to have an even worse name. ;-) 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! 8O 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.
This has to be pretty close to my dream Shuttle XPC - ultra quiet but still capable of serious gaming and digital media processing. Nicely done Shuttle!
