BIOS: Technology Means Business

With the XPC SB95PV2, Shuttle has proven that the newest technology such as PCI-Express can be successfully integrated into a Socket 775-based small form-factor (SFF) system. Not only that, the XPC SB95PV2 is the world's first Intel 925XE-based computer to feature a wickedly-fast 1066MHz front-side bus (FSB). The system is an excellent example of what can be crammed into a relatively small computer, but its build quality is disappointing and it's extremely noisy when operating. And with the advent of Apple's diminutive Mac mini, the SFF computer doesn't seem so small anymore. Nevertheless, the XPC SB95PV2 is one of the most powerful and feature-rich SFF PCs currently available.

Pros: Packed with high-end features; 1066MHz FSB
Cons: Noisy; basic build quality; no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth

Shuttle's XPC SB95PV2 is the world's first Intel 925XE-based small form-factor (SFF) computer to feature a wickedly-fast 1066MHz front-side bus (FSB). Designed for Intel's Pentium 4 processors (not supplied), the Intel 925XE chipset-based system is housed in a modern but plastic black-and-silver 'P-Series' chassis (210x320x220, 6kg) and supports 16X PCI Express graphics cards (not supplied) and next generation dual-channel 533MHz DDR2 memory. There's also integrated RAID (0, 1) functionality, in addition to three bays for 3.5in. hard disks and 7.1-audio support. But before you rush in, remember that you'll have to further budget for main components, a keyboard and mouse, and a monitor.

Front-side bus, another name for the system bus, is the part of a computer that connects the CPU to main memory on the motherboard. I/O buses, which connect the CPU with the systems other components, also branch off of the system bus. The FSB can range from speeds of 66MHz up to 1066MHz with the XPC SB95PV2. Current Pentium 4 chip sets use an 800MHz FSB to connect the processor to the memory. This is a vital link, or bottleneck, that plays an important role in determining the overall performance of a system.

An important consideration when looking at purchasing a motherboard or a new computer, a fast FSB can also help to prevent hardware lockups, data corruption or other errors that can arise with older hardware, such as old SCSI cards. The XPC SB95PV2's FSB speed can be set either using the system BIOS or with jumpers located on the computer motherboard. While most motherboards will allow you to set the FSB to any setting, you always need to ensure that the FSB is properly set - unless you plan to overclock the computer.

Whilst the black-and-silver enclosure of the XPC SB95PV2 is eye-catching, on closer inspection the plastic spring-loaded covers and general build quality of the system are disappointing. In particular, the optical drive sites so far behind its cover that it catches the tray lid when opened, and you have to tilt a disc a little to remove it from the tray. In addition, opening the hard disk drive cover reveals a gaping hole where you can view the hard disk. What is neat though, is that the optical drive, floppy drive and front media ports (front-mounted headphone and microphone jacks, as well as two USB 2.0 and a single FireWire port) are all hidden from view when not in use. The XPC SB95PV2 also makes room for a built-in, front-mounted 6-in-1 memory card reader.

The top 5.25in. slot has a silver eject button, placed in the top right corner of the front panel, that doesn't slide out with the tray, so it tells the optical drive to pull the tray back in, as well. The chassis has room for a further two 3.5in. internal hard drives, making SATA RAID (0, 1) possible. Shuttle has designed the P-Series motherboard and chassis around the BTX specification, but has customised it slightly to make things fit. For instance, instead of front-to-back cooling, the XPC SB95PV2 uses a side-to-side cooling arrangement, with fan shrouds keeping the CPU air channel separate from the rest of the box. This deviation from the BTX specification allows better use of space inside the system, according to Shuttle.

The Pièce de Résistance of the P-chassis is its drive mounting brackets found in the accessory kit. New to the XPC, these brackets make installing drives a breeze. Further, installation of a hard disk in the rack requires no brackets whatsoever: just drop the hard disk in the rack and the four-pins in the bottom of the rack and compression clips hold the drive securely in place. The system also includes integrated cable management to help ease with installations. IDE cables are pre-installed, and power leads are wrapped and clipped to the chassis. Shuttle also goes one step further and integrates two serial ATA cables for the top hard disks.

The XPC SB95PV2 is true to its roots in that it includes built-in Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 graphics with DirectX 9-class pixel shaders, so that this mini-barebones box can become a fully functioning computer with only the addition of a CPU, memory, and drives. Based on the Intel 915G and ICH6-R chipset, the XPC SB95PV2 delivers very good performance. Supporting Socket 775 Intel Pentium 4 processors, the system is further equipped with a dual-channel DDR400 memory controller that has room for two RAM modules (supports up to 4GB). Furthermore, an integrated PCI Express X16 interface delivers twice the bandwidth of 8X AGP. The system also provides a single 32-bit/33MHz PCI slot for further expansion.

For those intending to use the system as a multimedia device, Shuttle has made significant improvements over previous integrated audio solutions. The integrated 7.1-channel audio is capable of delivering the support and sound quality for up to 8 channels at 192kHz/32-bit quality (AC'97 specification can only support 6 channels at 48 kHz/20-bit). In addition, Intel's HD Audio is designed to prevent the occasional glitches or pops that other audio solutions can have by providing dedicated system bandwidth for critical audio functions.

The XPC SB95PV2 is very well connected for a small form-factor computer and puts many desktop counterparts to shame. For instance, at the rear of the system are two USB ports and a FireWire port, Gigabit LAN NIC, two PS/2 sockets, analogue VGA-out, digital audio-out (SPDIF), serial port, and a coaxial audio port. As we've already mentioned, the front of the system houses another two USB ports, a FireWire port, as well as headphone and microphone jacks. Also, between the FireWire and VGA ports at the rear of the system is a little recessed button that allows you clear the CMOS without opening the case.

The review model we've reviewed was provided with a 3.2GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 1GB of memory, 200GB (7200rpm) Western Digital hard disk drive, ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition graphics card with 256MB of memory, and a dual-format DVD DL recorder. Remember though, that none of these components are supplied are standard (nor is a monitor, keyboard or mouse), so you'll have to make further budget provisions if you decide to go down the SFF route. When it actually comes to raw performance, the XPC SB95PV2 is impressive, as shown by its SYSmark 2004, PCMark04 Pro and 3DMark05 Pro scores. On the downside, it's very noisy when running, so isn't really suitable for watching DVD-Movies or streaming content into a living room.

About our tests:
BIOS uses Futuremark's SYSmark 2004 benchmarking application to test the overall performance of desktops. SYSmark 2004 contains scientifically designed workloads that represent the range of activities that an office productivity or Internet content creation worker may encounter. PCMark04 Pro is Futuremark's application-based benchmark for measuring component-level performance. It uses portions of real applications instead of including very large applications or using specifically created code. Futuremark's 3DMark05 Pro runs game tests to provide an accurate overview of a system's gaming performance. In all benchmarks, the higher the score, the faster the computer.