Reset Button

Pressing the reset button is the last resort for dealing with a non-responsive computer. The reset button sends a reset signal to all peripherals. It clears the memory and reboots the PC forcibly. Any work not saved to disk will be lost when the reset button is pressed.

Harddisk LED

This LED blinks during hard drive disk read and write activity.

Power LED

This LED lights when the computer is turned on.

Power Button (On/Off)

Press the power button to turn on the computer. To avoid losing data, turn off your computer by performing a soft shutdown by the operating system rather than by pressing the power button. If the computer stops responding, press and hold the power button until the computer turns off completely which may take several seconds. You can also use the power button to enter or resume from standby/suspend mode.

3.5" drive bay

The 3.5" drive bay can be used for a multi-format card reader or floppy disk drive (FDD).

Optical drive bay

This 5.25" bay is normally used for a DVD writer.

Microphone Port

This 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) female connector in pink color can be used to attach a microphone. There are two audio ports (microphone and headphone) located on the front panel which can be used for a head-set. To test a microphone you can use the Windows Sound Recorder application.

Head Phone Port

This 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) female stereo connector in lime color can be used to attach a headphone or headset with an impedance of at least 32 ohms. This connector can also be used as a line-out to connect amplified PC speakers.

USB 2.0 Port

This port connect USB devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer or a mass storage device. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a high-speed synchronous serial data interface allowing up to 127 peripherals to be simultaneously connected to a personal computer. USB supports "hot-swap" which is the ability to add or remove a new device without having to reboot the computer and "plug-and-play" operation, in which the host software automatically detects attached peripherals and loads the appropriate driver. USB 2.0 runs at up to 480 Mbit/s and is downward compatible with USB 1.1 which runs up to 12 Mbit/s.

1394 Firewire Port

This is an interface similar to USB, although it’s not as widely used on the PC as it is on Macintosh computers. Its official name is IEEE1394a, but it’s also known as iLink thanks to Sony branding. The speed of 1394a Firewire is 400Mbits/sec (around 50Mbyte/sec). It’s most commonly used with a DV camcorder to transfer digital video to your PC for editing. Other peripherals available with a Firewire interface include external hard drives, external optical drives, scanners and web cameras. The main advantage of Firewire over USB 2.0 is that the bandwidth is not shared between devices. Firewire can also provide more power to an external device than USB. The 6 pin connector differs from the 4 pin (mini) connector by also being able to transfer power to an external device, but it has the same transfer speed and specification as the four wire cable.

Optical S/PDIF Input (optional)

This is a perforation for an optional optical S/PDIF Input (also known as TOSlink or Fiber SPDIF) where you can connect digital audio devices such as CD/DVD players, MiniDisc or digital audio tape (DAT). S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format) is a specifications for carrying digital audio signals in either optical or electrical form - they both give you exactly the same result, only the cable types differ.

Optical S/PDIF Output (optional)

This is a perforation for an optional optical S/PDIF Output (also known as TOSlink or Fiber SPDIF) provided by the adapter PC17. S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format) is a specifications for carrying digital audio signals in either optical or electrical form - they both give you exactly the same result, only the cable types differ. The ordinary, uncompressed signal only carries a stereo signal. You can also pass-through an encoded audio stream from DVD to speakers/receivers which support multi-channel Dolby Digital (AC3) decoding.

Power Connector

To this inlet you can attach the mains cord to the power supply. The other end of the cord has a suitable power plug for the locality in which the appliance is used.

Power Supply

This PC has a stable switched-mode power supply with small dimension and high efficency. Power supplies are the devices that power computers. They convert AC power from electric utilities into DC power used in most electronics.

Heat pipe Cooling System

The Integrated Cooling Engine (I.C.E.) is one of the secrets behind Shuttle’s SFF leadership. It uses heatpipe technology to transfer heat away from the processor and other critical system components. The lower section of the heatpipe modul is a copper plate, which comes into direct contact with the CPU. This is attached with some vacuum-sealed copper pipes which contain very little liquid which is held under low pressure so that the evaporation temperature is just about 30 degrees Celsius. The vaporized fluid creates a pressure gradient which forces the vapor towards the condenser at the other end of the pipes where the working fluid condenses and releases its latent heat to a stack of aluminum fins. The condensed working fluid returns back to the evaporator. In front of the fins is only one large fan to cool both the CPU and system as a whole. The temperature difference between the two ends of the pipe is only a few degrees so it attains a maximum effectiveness of 95%. The heat generated by the CPU is exhausted out of the rear of the chassis without creating additional heat in the rest of the chassis. The cooling fan is temperature-controlled which means that the computer turns on the fan when the computer gets hot. Do not block, push objects into, or allow dust to accumulate in the air vents.

Thumbscrews

This case features toolless entry thanks to the thumbscrews, making it that much easier to get inside without using a screwdriver. Just unscrew the thumbscrews on the back of the chassis cover and slide the cover backwards and upwards. Note: For safety reasons, please ensure that the power cord is disconnected before opening the case.

Thumbscrews

This case features toolless entry thanks to the thumbscrews, making it that much easier to get inside without using a screwdriver. Just unscrew the thumbscrews on the back of the chassis cover and slide the cover backwards and upwards. Note: For safety reasons, please ensure that the power cord is disconnected before opening the case.

Thumbscrews

This case features toolless entry thanks to the thumbscrews, making it that much easier to get inside without using a screwdriver. Just unscrew the thumbscrews on the back of the chassis cover and slide the cover backwards and upwards. Note: For safety reasons, please ensure that the power cord is disconnected before opening the case.

PCI slot

PCI was introduced in 1994 is one of the most widely adopted PC standards for attaching expansion cards to a mainboard. While PCIe x16 has replace the AGP standard, the transition from PCI to PCI-E has been just as friendly as the ISA to PCI conversion so many years ago and PCI is still used today in almost every computing platform.

PCI Express Graphics slot (PEG)

This is a PCI Express Graphics slot (PEG) which is exclusively dedicated for graphics cards with PCI Express x16 (PCIe x16) interface. With 16 serial connections (lanes) it archieves a maximum data transfer rate of up to 4 GB/s in each direction. Its predecessor AGP only supports 2 GB/s and the PCI bus 133 MB/s.

Analog Monitor Port (VGA)

This video output is used to connect a analogue CRTs (cathode-ray tubes) display or a digital display with analogue input to the PC. It uses analogue RGB and synchronisation signals to bring up a picture on the display output. The connector is known as DB15 or 15-pin D-subminiature (D-Sub) where the ‘D’-shaped raised shield gives it it’s name.

1394 Firewire Port

This is an interface similar to USB, although it’s not as widely used on the PC as it is on Macintosh computers. Its official name is IEEE1394a, but it’s also known as iLink thanks to Sony branding. The speed of 1394a Firewire is 400Mbits/sec (around 50Mbyte/sec). It’s most commonly used with a DV camcorder to transfer digital video to your PC for editing. Other peripherals available with a Firewire interface include external hard drives, external optical drives, scanners and web cameras. The main advantage of Firewire over USB 2.0 is that the bandwidth is not shared between devices. Firewire can also provide more power to an external device than USB. The 6 pin connector differs from the 4 pin (mini) connector by also being able to transfer power to an external device, but it has the same transfer speed and specification as the four wire cable.

USB 2.0 Port

This port connect USB devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer or a mass storage device. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a high-speed synchronous serial data interface allowing up to 127 peripherals to be simultaneously connected to a personal computer. USB supports "hot-swap" which is the ability to add or remove a new device without having to reboot the computer and "plug-and-play" operation, in which the host software automatically detects attached peripherals and loads the appropriate driver. USB 2.0 runs at up to 480 Mbit/s and is downward compatible with USB 1.1 which runs up to 12 Mbit/s.

Network Connector (RJ45)

This RJ45 Ethernet port connects the PC directly to a central connecting device, be it hub, switch, or router. Hubs are the least expensive option and simply have multiple RJ45 ports to connect several computers. A switch works similar, but analyzes the data which results in a smoother and more efficient transfer of data. While hubs and switches connect devices to form a Local area network (LAN), routers are used to connect to another network, e.g. the Internet. The two lights next to the connector indicate status and activity for wired network connections. The integrated network controller supports at least Fast Ethernet (10/100 Mbit/s) or even Gigabit Ethernet (GbE, 10/100/1000 Mbit/s).

8 Channel Audio Line Out Ports

Four 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) female stereo jacks to connect analog output devices like amplifiers or amplified speakers with up to 8 audio channels. For a full 7.1 configuration with 7 speakers and 1 subwoofer you need four stereo-mini-to-stereo-RCA cables which are used for (1) front right/left, (2) surround front right/left, (3) sourround back right/left and (4) center/subwoofer.

8 Channel Audio Line Out Ports

Four 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) female stereo jacks to connect analog output devices like amplifiers or amplified speakers with up to 8 audio channels. For a full 7.1 configuration with 7 speakers and 1 subwoofer you need four stereo-mini-to-stereo-RCA cables which are used for (1) front right/left, (2) surround front right/left, (3) sourround back right/left and (4) center/subwoofer.

Audio Line In Port

This 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) female stereo connector in light-blue color can be used as an input to record/digitize analogue audio from external sources such as a CD/tape player, amplifier, television etc.

Parallel Port (optional)

Here is a perforation to install the optional available "Shuttle XPC Accessory PC8" adapter which is specifically designed to attach printers with a 25 pin D-Sub parallel port interface. However, most modern printers are connected through a faster USB connection and often don't even have a parallel port connection.

Wireless LAN (optional)

This is a perforation for the antenna of an optional Wireless LAN module (Shuttle XPC Accessory PN18) which supports up to 54 Mbps transfer rate according to 802.11g standard. The WLAN module is connected to an internal USB port. You can connect to the Internet when in proximity of an access point or you can use the Ad-hoc mode for client to client connections. To ensure WLAN security, it also provides strong WPA encryption and firewall, to protect the data from WLAN. You should not use the weak WEP encryption protocol.

USB 2.0 Port

This port connect USB devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer or a mass storage device. The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a high-speed synchronous serial data interface allowing up to 127 peripherals to be simultaneously connected to a personal computer. USB supports "hot-swap" which is the ability to add or remove a new device without having to reboot the computer and "plug-and-play" operation, in which the host software automatically detects attached peripherals and loads the appropriate driver. USB 2.0 runs at up to 480 Mbit/s and is downward compatible with USB 1.1 which runs up to 12 Mbit/s.

External Serial ATA connector

You can attach an external SATA mass storage device to the External Serial ATA (eSATA) port, if your device has the appropriate cable and connector. Today, external drives are usually connected via USB or Firewire, which provide less effective bandwidth due to the required bridge and protokol overhead. Standardized in mid-2004, eSATA will likely co-exist alongside USB and Firewire.

Clear CMOS Button

The Clear CMOS Button button allows users to reset BIOS information to factory default settings. To perform the Clear CMOS procedure, first power down the PC and remove the power cord. Then press the Clear CMOS Button by inserting a pointed object (e.g. a pen nib) into the clear CMOS hole. Keep it pressed for 5 seconds. Finally reconnect the power cord and turn on the computer.