Overclocker Cafe - Shuttle XPC SB81P

Shuttle XPC SB81P SFF System

Manufacturer: Shuttle
Supplied by: Shuttle
Estimated Price: TBA

by Brian Tiller (7/11/2004)

Introduction

Small Form Factor PC's have taken the market by storm in the past year. With their small size they are definitely an attractive option for most people who don't have the space needed for a larger case. Even me, who has always maintained that bigger is better, has become a complete convert for these systems. While most of them may not be the overclocking monsters that some people love to play with, there is plenty of horsepower under the hood.

Shuttle has always been on the leading edge of SFF PC's and once again they lead the way with their XPC SB81P. The XPC SB81P is based around two recent releases from Intel, the 915G chipset and the LGA775 CPU. Being the first SFF on the market with these new technologies, Shuttles shows us that they are ready to rumble in the jungle, so let's get cracking and take a look at those specs.

Specifications:

Dimensions: 210mm(H) x 220MM(W) x 325mm(L)
CPU: Intel P4 Socket 775LGA
Chipset: 915G Northbridge
ICH6-R Southbridge
Dual channel DDR 400
Onboard Audio: Realtek 7.1 channel
(4) SATA channels
(1) IDE 100 channel
(1) FDD channel
Onboard VGA: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
(1) PCI expansion slot
(1) PCI Express expansion slot for add-on VGA
Onboard Gigabit LAN
Front access ports: Audio/USB/FireWire
Rear Panel clear CMOS button
350W PSU
(1) IDE cable
(1) FDD cable
(3) SATA cables
Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE) for CPU
(1) 5.25" drive bay
(3) 3.5" drive bay
Integrated 6-in-1 card reader
ICH6-R Southbridge supports RAID

And believe it or not, those are just the high points. After going through everything, I was wondering where Shuttle put the kitchen sink since they seem to have included everything else.

While the new Intel chipsets don't include legacy support for AGP, (which I think is a big mistake on their part), at least the 915 chipset does support DDR instead of DDR2 like it's big brother, the 925X.