XPC SS51G

We have looked at two of the most advanced small form factor systems currently available and we have one winner and that is the Shuttle SS51G. Aside from being technically more advanced, the Shuttle system offers the advantage of being substantially more quiet than the Thunderbolt, even though the latter still beats most desktop systems less than 2 years old. Using the integrated graphics, there is no doubt which system offers the better performance, both in terms of raw frame rates and with respect to visual quality of the 2D display. (...) So it comes down to the question of features and both systems have a lot to offer. For the video editor, there is no question, Firewire is Firewire and that one is not present on the Thunderbolt. (...)

Translation from the conclusion: The appearance of this new type of PC brought to the data-processing market a second breath. The amateurs of LAN Party saw in that an obvious emergency exit (To carry a PC of ten Kgs on several stages explains this passion…), the users of office automations saw an obvious saving in space there, the heads of family thought personal waiter, proxy, DivX Box… In short, a new race of PC had been born! Shuttle arrives here with a true bomb at the possibilities immense. Its design and its connector industry are irreproachable, its layout of the mother chart is nearly perfect, the facility of assembly indecent, good possibilities of overclocking, noise nearly non existing and great performances to go.. In short, this product is for me the product of this summer and is well deserved for a award.

Pros: Connectors, AGP port, Design, Bundle, Low Temperatur/Noise, Overclocking, Functionality, Use potential

The Obligatory LAN Box - Throw in a GeForce4 Ti / Radeon 9000-series card, along with a Creative Audigy card, and you've got a great little machine which should game at top levels and is easy to carry from one location to another. The system has a few rubber-bumpers inside which should keep the components safe from damage when getting bumped around going from place to place.

Network Server - Add in a secondary NIC to the PCI slot, along with a little hard drive, and you can make a super-small, yet durable network server. Use the drive as a web server or network storage, and use the dual Ethernet ports for a home routing system, or even a Firewall.

Home Theatre PC - Use a PCI TV-Tuner in the PCI slot, maybe an ATI Radeon All-In-Wonder for the AGP, and you can assemble an all-in-one TV / DVD watching and editing system. You could even toss in a DVD-RW drive and make your own DVD's from the SS51G!

Stylish Workstation - Team up this small form factor case with a nice silver LCD monitor and a wireless keyboard and mouse setup, and you've got yourself a clean and attractive looking work setup. Throw in a Matrox Parhelia or G550 card and power a few large-screen CRT or LCD monitors off this little PC and impress your friends.

PC for Mom and Dad - Let's face it, this is an attractive looking tower. You could let the folks use all the onboard peripherals, throw in a small hard drive and a decent speed CD burner, and you've got a great little fully functional PC without all the hassles of setting up a big tower case for them.
Honestly, the possibilities are endless.

One thing that's for sure is that after using the SS51G, standard desktop cases don't seem nearly as attractive. We find the small-form factor PC very attractive, as it finally is bringing something new to the PC chassis table; which besides the advent of aluminum cases, hasn't seen any major changes in quite a long time. Hopefully the success of the SS51G will spawn more case makers to think small and tune some of their products toward this growing market. Congrats to Shuttle for pulling off the unthinkable.

In 20 Jahren hatte sich das PC-Design nicht weiterentwickelt, aber seit kurzem beginnen die neuesten Modelle damit, sich in den Wohnbereich zu integrieren und nehmen ein Aussehen an, ohne Abstriche bei der Performance zu machen. Die Zukunft bringt uns schöne Überraschungen...

Pluspunkte:
+ leicht
+ viele Anschlussmöglichkeiten
+ 5.1 Sound-Funktion mit optischen Anschlüssen
+ gute Erweiterbarkeit dank AGP-Slot
+ Laufwerkskäfig für CDROM- u. Festplatten-Laufwerke
+ Heatpipe, die bei 2,54GHz eine Kühlung auf 62°C ermöglicht.

Translation: Over 20 years the PC-design didn´t develop, but not long ago the latest models start to integrate into the living area and to change the look, without makes worse the performance. The near future has good-looking surprises.... 

Francais:

En 20 ans le design des PC n'avait pas évolué mais depuis peu ces derniers commencent à s'intégrer dans le salon de monsieur tout le monde et adopte un look qui s'intègre parfaitement dans cet ensemble sans pour autant nuire aux performances. L'avenir nous réserve de belles surprises...

Les plus :
Peu encombrant 
Beaucoup de connectique disponible La carte son en 5.1 avec des sorties optiques disponibles 
Les possibilités d'évolution grâce au port AGP 
Le rack pour mettre le disque dur et le lecteur de CD-ROM Le système de refroidissement de type heat-pipe qui nous a permis d'atteidre 2,54 GHz à 62° C.

Pros: Excellent 3D performance, AGP slot!!!, one PCI slot, stylish looking case, very small, easy to install/build, comes with all necessary cables and screws, onboard graphics and audio, USB Firewire and SPDIF, front and rear ports, supports all current P4 processors, DDR333 support

The performance of this integrated box is excellent especially in the graphics performance as recorded in the benchmarking against other boards. The SS51G that incorporates an AGP slots makes it a good upgrade solution for those who wish to use this box in gaming centres. (...) In our tests, we maintain a low temperature of 46 Degrees throughout our tests. This is really good considering that there is no fan blowing at it directly. (...) I have installed an ASUS DVD-ROM on it and it sit right next to my TV where I will hook up the speakers and S-VHS output for watching DVDs. For that, you got my Editor's Choice!

+ USB 2.0
+ 1394
+ LAN on board
+ 6 channel audio
+ AGP Slot
+ HeatSink Pipe low noise design

• Small, elegant design
• Chock-full of features
• Extremely light
• A multitude of uses
• Excellent performance with a dedicated VGA card
• Can be a direct desktop replacement
• Excellent overall package

Shuttle has come a long way with their XPC line of barebones systems; from making neat niche systems to finally producing something that can replace just about anyone's desktop computer, but the real question is "Is it worth it?"

The size of the SS51 chassis is attractive not to mention the appearance that is not only elegant but something that can look good on your desk. The PC is virtually silent, even with a 2.53GHz Pentium 4 and a GeForce4 Ti 4600 running beneath the hood. Every single feature you could possibly want (sans wireless and Gigabit Ethernet) is provided onboard and assuming you want more, there's always an available PCI slot for expansion. Drive bays are limited but with 120GB IDE drives already available and 200GB drives on the way, many users are only running with a single hard drive and a CD/DVD/R/RW drive. The performance of the platform is just about on par with an 845G setup with DDR333 SDRAM, which doesn't leave much to complain about.

The solution is more than feasible for even the most scrutinizing user, although you do sacrifice an viable upgrade path by going with the SS51. Upgrading CPUs and video cards shouldn't be a problem but when it comes to motherboards, you're pretty much stuck with what you've got. Shuttle has talked about plans to make more motherboards to fit in the SS51 chassis but as power and cooling requirements change with future processors and chipsets, a guaranteed upgrade path is almost impossible to ensure. (...)

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