Shuttle Zen (ST62K) XPC - P4

Conclusion

Innovation comes from thinking slow and smart.  Shuttle doesn't seem to want to miss a trick with it comes to design.  Their ICE cooling system really impressed me.  The case vents on the floor of the Zen XPC and its general ventilation tie right in to the single fan concept.  This and the heatpipe design shows good systemic thinking over at the Shuttle R&D office.  Shuttle has produced a high quality item and their attention to detail shows.  A perfect example of this is the grommets we found between the 80mm fan shroud and its mounting point.  As much effort to minimize noise seems to have gone into the Zen XPC as went into its clean lines and good looks. 

Our concerns were few but noteworthy.  The biggest, being the lack of an AGP slot.  The Zen XPC can function as an outstanding and easily portable machine for productivity while doubling as a media center.  This should scream LAN box to you but in this case it only says it in a normal tone.  Most any of today's games will play very well on the Zen XPC but how about some of the newer and more complex titles due out in six months?  An AGP slot would easily compensate for this.  Our two other concerns may or may not rank in your book but they do need to be pointed out.  The absence of Serial ATA ports limits the choices of hard drives to the older ATA-100 models.  This I see as a bitter pill Shuttle is taking with their use of the ATi chipset.  The ATi chipset has not had time to mature as Intel and NVidia have.  Our last beef was the absence of a FDD connector.  Not really a big deal but not exactly a surprise the end user should be thrilled with if they need a floppy.

Overall, we found the Zen XPC unit a solid little machine that I'm sure will prove itself as a compact replacement for a desktop or make an fantastic media center.  It was a little skimpy on features but nothing that is really all that problematic to its operation with the exception of gaming or a LAN box.  If you want playable frame rates you will need to stick to existing titles.  Graphics intensive games coming out over the next few months are likely to choke the Zen.  The Zen XPC however, will put a smile on your face at the end of the day for its innovation and utility.  Where it shines most, is in the productivity and media world that the bulk of computer users fall into. 

Pros:

• Extremely quiet operation.

• Very small and compact case.

• Design is smart and well thought out.

• Good performance.

• I/O ports on front and rear of unit both hot simultaneously.

• ICE Cooler Technology is FANTASTIC.

• External CMOS button.

• Prescott ready.

• External PSU.

Cons:

• No AGP slot for add in card.

• No SATA.

• No Floppy Drive connector on mainboard.

BACK                    HOME

Pg 1 - Introduction
Pg 2 - What you get
Pg 3 - The unit
Pg 4 - The ICE Cooling System
Pg 5 - Layout
Pg 6 - BIOS / Overclocking
Pg 7 - Productivity and Gaming Benches
Pg 8 - Gaming Benches continued
Pg 9 - Conclusion