By flung
WhiningDog.NET
August 20th, 2002

1. Introduction

This past year has certainly brought upon a change in the Do It Yourself (DIY) computing landscape. We've seen the growth of a whole new category for the PC market - the small form factor (SFF) market pioneered by the likes of Shuttle and others. My first SFF system was a system from American Media Systems known as the gBox. This system was based on the Shuttle FV24 motherboard. Using this same motherboard, Shuttle had also introduced the SV24 barebones system which became very popular among the computing enthusiasts. However there were a number of complaints with this model. It only supported the Pentium III, had only one PCI slot, had a fairly weak integrated video sub system, and was fairly loud.

Then Shuttle came out with the SS50 which used the Pentium 4 processor but there was still no AGP slot. The SS40G XPC was then introduced to support the AMD Athlon processor. Unfortunately it too did not have an AGP slot though it did introduce one very innovative concept - the Heatpipe Thermal system. In the meantime, Chyang Fun introduced the CF-S868 mini-barebones system which supported the Intel Pentium 4 processor as well as an AGP slot. This system is sold under a number of names such as the AMS gBOX Pentium 4 PC and has been a hit with some end users who wanted an AGP slot in a small form factor PC. Shuttle has now responded with the SS51G XPC Barebones System that not only supports the Intel Pentium 4 Processor, but offers an AGP slot, a PCI slot, and the Heatpipe Technology introduced in the SS40G system. The SS51G is the result of all the work that Shuttle has done to address end users complaints and concerns. How does it do and how does it compare to the gBOX Pentium 4? Come on in!

1.1 Packaging

The SS51G XPC arrived in the mail in a very nice box that uttered class. Clearly Shuttle spent a good deal of effort in putting together a very nice presentation for the Shuttle SS51G XPC. The case was enclosed between two Styrofoam endings and all the extra cables, parts, and manuals were placed in a small box. The power cord was nicely wrapped along the outside of one of the Styrofoam ends. There are two manuals packaged with this case. One manual is an installation guide to the XPC while the other manual is an overview of the FS51 motherboard used within the case. In general, I was very impressed with how Shuttle packaged their system and the presentation of their materials.

Front of the box	Left Side
Back	Right Side

Box opened	System packaged	Power Cord packaging

1.2 Manuals

I don't normally talk about manuals when it comes to putting together systems mostly because I've had so much experience in building PCs that I tend to overlook the manual. However, I know that there are a lot of people out there who would be interested in the SS51G but would be hesitant in building it only because they may not have the experience in putting together a computer. The included manuals will put that fear to rest. The Installation Guide is great! It's not large in size but does a very good job in describing each step in putting together the system. The pictures are in color too! The other manual is useful for those who want to know more information about the on board motherboard as well as how to tweak various BIOS settings. Very nice Shuttle! So - if you are new to all of this, fear not. If you've got questions, I think there are plenty of people out there who have purchased this system that can help you out.

Accessories box with manuals