Shuttle SD11G5

Overclocking

We managed to get the SD11G5 to boot at 145FSB - 2.32GHz - but it failed to load Windows. However, at 142FSB - 2.27GHz - we managed to get it stable enough to boot and run through our torture test flawlessly for hour after hour. A modest overclock of only 142MHz, but considering there is very little to play with it's better than nothing and it proves that the system does actually overclock, despite having a chipset designed for laptops.

Rounding up our findings

Shuttle are Small Form Factor (SFF) specialists and virtually everyone who looks at SFF will consider a Shuttle at some point. We expect nothing less than absolute precision from their equipment and top performance, which is hard going but a pedigree that we've come to expect.

With the SD11G5, they don't fail to deliver; in fact, we feel they've possibly outdone themselves this time. With a few pedantic niggles like finding an aerial for a wireless mini PCI card, the lack of an extra SATA cable, not being able to turn off the full screen Shuttle logo during boot and paint peeling under thumbscrews, it's very hard to find any real faults with this product. These minor irritations are really just that.

The system is exceptionally quiet. Companies will often market silent this and ultra quiet that, but this thing is leaps and bounds ahead of every other powerful system I've ever used. The problem you will encounter with this rig is that it is so quiet, other noise pollution coming from the system (eg video card, hard drive) is easily noticeable.

Overclocking was respectable, despite not setting the world on fire. However, it wasn't bad for a mobile chipset as it does remain fully stable at nearly 10MHz FSB over specification. The limited BIOS options prevent multiplier manipulation, which is disappointing for those looking to increase the front side bus in search of more memory bandwidth for the bandwidth-starved Pentium M platform.

The external PSU is a God-send for the XPC and not only is it powerful enough for a powerful video card, it also keeps the heat out of your case while significantly reducing the noise pollution emitted by the chassis. The case runs flawlessly with a single 92mm fan if you don't install a video card that has an active cooling system.

Whilst the onboard IGP isn't meant to compete with today's latest video cards from ATI and NVIDIA, it is a silent alternative to provide a solid basic video output that costs you nothing extra. The beauty is, if you fancy adding in the latest single-slot video card on the market, you can just pop one into the PCI-Express x16 slot and game away to your hearts content. You also get on board TV-out too, meaning that you can install a cheap Celeron M CPU, a large quiet hard disk and some cheap DDR2 memory. This combination will give you a near perfect, and near silent Home Theatre PC.

The sleek white G5 design will complement many living rooms, while the Small Form Factor footprint saves a maximum amount of space. The only problem is finding a PCI-Express TV Tuner, but you can get USB ones. Our torture testing has proved that the system is so stable, it wont crash just before your pre-programmed recording of 'Lost' starts. Compared to the other Pentium M system we have reviewed, it out performs it in nearly all the tests we've run them through.

Final Thoughts...

In saying all of this, it does have one major downfall: its price. At around £325 it is certainly not cheap for a Shuttle XPC. Couple that with the 2.13GHz Pentium M that we have used here and you're looking at £625 before you've even bought a video card, some memory and some disk drives. Compare that to, say, a SN95G5 (£219) and Athlon 64 4000+ processor (£245). The AMD package weighs in at £464, or £161 less than the Pentium M / SD11G5 bundle.

While I would recommend it to absolutely everyone that could afford it, those people are possibly few and far between. Also, it is worth noting that you could buy an appreciably better performing XPC for less money.

An appreciably-better-performing, noisier, hotter, poorer-looking XPC. In all honesty, there's nothing else quite like it on the market.

It's another one of those opportunity costs of life where you have to decide what your budget is and whether you feel that a Shuttle XPC will accommodate your needs. You could always spend a large sum on this exceptionally gorgeous XPC and find a cheap Celeron M on eBay, then use the machine as an extremely quiet Home Theatre PC.

In all honesty, we will be exceptionally sad to have to return this sample. Rarely have we been more impressed with everything a barebones system has to offer and it sets the bar highly for Shuttle's future XPC products. I'd recommend this system to anyone considering and SFF PC, providing you can get your hands on it and a Pentium M CPU for a reasonable price.

It's so, so close to being the perfect SFF barebones product...