Intro

Compact, high-performance PCs are on the rise. There is no doubt that a niche market exists for these systems as there are numerous reasons to want to purchase one. Are you someone that frequents lan parties and don't want to lug around a tower? Do you have limited desk space? Do you want a high performance HTPC/Server for the living room? These are just a few scenarios where these small form factor PCs would be an ideal choice. Common SFF (Small Form Factor) sizes are the Mini-ATX and microATX format. The product we are looking at today, the Shuttle XPC Zen (ST62K), is a barebones system based around a Shuttle Form Factor motherboard powered by the ATI 9100 IGP (ATI RS300) chipset. The ATI 9100 IGP chipset is ATI's answer to Nvidia's nForce chipset to those who are unfamiliar with it.

Shuttle is well known for their high performance SFF barebones systems which pack the power of a full tower into a PC the size of a large shoe box. I had previously never had the opportunity to examine one of their products in person so this was a welcome opportunity. Any PC or hardware enthusiast can tell you the value of up close personal inspection vs the word of others, even when those opinion from others are from well respected people. I reserve my final judgment on any product until I can see it and use it myself.

Having refreshed your memory on who Shuttle is and what they do I must now point out a difference in this system up for review today vs the systems that Shuttle normally sells. The majority of their systems have AGP slots open so that you can supply your own high-end video card to keep up with the changing times and endless GPUs. This system, however, is aimed more at the HTPC market. It is meant to be even smaller and quieter than previous XPC systems which makes it ideal for use in a living room alongside your other home entertainment components.

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Specs

Here are the specs of the the Shuttle XPC Zen which are (as usual) shamelessly pilfered from the manufacturers website.

ATI RADEON 9100IGP Chipset
ATI introduces the world's fastest integrated graphics processor in RADEON 9100 IGP, enabling new standards in platform performance and graphics realism with full support for programmable pixel shaders. With 800MHz FSB with Hyper Threading support, RADEON 9100 IGP is complementary to the latest CPUs. Dual channel DDR memory and a 400MHz AGP 8x pipeline deliver increased overall system performance. With advanced video features, an integrated LAN-ready Ethernet controller and six USB 2.0 ports, this power performer enables productive and cost-effective platform designs for competitive markets.

Stunning Graphics
With Microsoft DirectX 8.1 support, ATI's RADEON 9100 IGP has been engineered to provide new levels of visual splendor. Intense gameplay, business presentations and compelling multimedia reach cinematic levels of quality on an integrated platform, enabled by revolutionary support for pixel shading technology. Superior system performance is powered by award-winning RADEON 2D/3D graphics technology, without the slowed, choppy response times of traditional integrated 3D solutions.

Unparalleled Value
Explore RADEON 9100 IGP and discover the platform value of supercharged graphics right on the motherboard. RADEON 9100 IGP is 3 times faster than value discrete add-in graphics card.

ODMs and system integrators will realize a significant cost savings using RADEON 9100 IGP and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. In addition, RADEON 9100 IGP is the fundamental platform for low cost MCE PC which adds a new entertainment dimension to the computing environment. Triple display support is also made possible in a mainstream PC by merely adding an ATI AGP graphics card. Overall, RADEON 9100 IGP is offering a lot more performance and feature for less cost.

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180W SilentX External PSU
The Zen (ST62K) XPC ships with an external 180W power brick. Removing discreet power functions from the inside of the case ? obviating a cooling fan and removing a heat source? makes the Zen XPC is super quiet, super cool.

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Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE)
The Zen (ST62K) XPC makes use of Shuttle's industry-benchmark Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE). For the Zen XPC, ICE has been improved with a new 80mm fan, making its operation quieter than ever. The Integrated Cooling Engine uses convection cooling to transfer heat away from the processor and other critical system components. Copper tubing, coated in nickel and filled with distilled water provide the conduit through which heat passes to a radiator. A quiet, speed controlled 80mm ducted fan covers the radiator, providing both processor cooling and case exhaust. By combining processor and exhaust fan into one, the ICE eliminates a major source of fan noise in a SFF PC.

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Introducing New Mini K Chassis
The Zen (ST62K) XPC uses the new K chassis, a member of Shuttle's fourth generation XPC chassis. The K makes a number of improvements over the earlier G and G2 series chassis, including:

Improved Cooling
The K chassis features slotted vents around on the underside EDGES of the chassis that greatly improve airflow, allowing cooler air to reach hard disks and other critical components. Also, less turbulence reduces the noise from intake air.

Internal Design Innovation
The K offers two 3.5-inch drive bays, one of which is removable and mounts perpendicularly to the chassis (left). The removable 3.5-inch drive bay slots securely into the K chassis insuring convenience and enhanced functionality.

Integrated Cable Management
Starting with the SN85G4 (production version), all new XPC's will ship with integrated cable management to ease installation. IDE cables will be pre-installed, and power leads will be wrapped and clipped to the chassis. Sample and production Zen XPC's ship with integrated cable management as a standard feature.

Here are some technical specs on the system.

CHASSIS	Dimension : (W)190*(H)170*(L)280, 2.1Kg(N.W.),5.2Kg (G.W.) Front Panel : USB * 2, MIC * 1, Line in * 1, Line out * 1 Back Panel : SPDIF In/Out * 1, Serial Port * 1, LAN Port * 1, VGA Port * 1, USB * 2, 1394 * 1, TV-out Port * 1 Extension Bay : 5.25" * 1, 3.5" * 2
MAINBOARD	Form Factor : Shuttle Form Factor CPU Socket : Intel Socket 478, support 400/533/800MHz FSB CPU Chipsets : North bridge:ATI Radeon 9100 IGP, South bridge:ATI IXP150 Memory : Support Dual Channel DDR 200/266/333/400 SDRAM, DIMM Socket * 2 On Board VGA : Integrate high performance ATI Radeon 9100 Shared Graphics Frame Buffer size: ~ 128MB On Board Audio : Realtek 650F 6 channel audio Expansion Slot : PCI * 1 IDE interface : ATA-100
POWER	180W External Power Supply
ACCESSORY INCLUDED	I.C.E Technology CPU heat-pipe, FDD Cable * 1, HDD Cable * 1, Screws, Twin Adhesive
ADDITIONAL FEATURES	1. External PSU (0 db passive cooling)

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Finally, here are some specs on the ATI 9100 IGP chipset from the ATI website:

CPU Interface

• Up to 800 MHz CPU FSB for Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor
• Supports Intel® Hyper-Threading? processors
• In-Order Queue (IOQ) depth of 12
• Supports Dynamic Bus Inversion (DBI)
• Supports system bus interrupt delivery

System Logic Features

• Integrated master clock generator with spread spectrum support
• AGP 3.0 compliant AGP 8X interface with Fast Write support
• 266MB/second point-to-point interface to ATI IXP in A-Link mode
• Unified Memory Architecture (UMA)
• Dual channel 128-bit DDR SDRAM memory interface
• DDR400 SDRAM support provides up to 6.4 GB/second bandwidth
• Up to 4 GB DRAM support with two unbuffered DIMMs
• 16 MB to 128 MB of main memory configurable as display memory
• Up to 6 USB2.0 ports
• Two independent IDE channels with support of mode 0 to 4, and ATA 100
• Supports LPC based Super I/O
• Integrated 3-COM? Ethernet controller

3D Graphics Features

• HyperZ? memory optimization technology
• Hardware with Pixel Shader 1.4 support
• Supports up to 2048x1536 @ 32bpp.
• Supports 3D textures and Microsoft® DirectX® texture compression
• Anisotropic texture filtering and Full Screen Anti-Aliasing (FSAA)

Video Features

• Video scaling and filtering with advanced 4-tap horizontal and vertical filter
• Integrated hardware motion compensation and iDCT
• Enhanced MPEG-2 hardware decode
• Hardware DVD sub-picture decode

2D Graphics Features

• Highly optimized 128-bit 2D Engine
• Hardware cursor up to 64x64x32 BPP
• Supports a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 32bpp.
• Support for Microsoft® Windows® XP alpha cursor

Display Controller

• Dual CRT controllers provide independent dual display support
• Display rotation support
• Comprehensive DDC and hot plugging support
• Integrated high precision 300MHz triple 10-bit DAC supports resolutions up to 2048 x 1536

Flat Panel Monitor Support

• 12-bit digital output to support DVI, DFP and VESA P&D via external TMDS
• Supports up to 1600x1200 screen resolution for LCD panels
• Support for VESA defined reduced blanking modes

TV-Out Support

• Integrated TV encoder with composite, S-Video, and RGB interfaces
• Supports PAL/NTSC TV formats
• 10-bit DAC with 8-tap filter and ATI-exclusive enhancements
• Macrovision 7.02 copy protection standard
• Supports up to 1024x768 32bpp mode

Optimized Software Support

• Microsoft DirectX 8.1 and OpenGL® drivers
• Unified driver support for all RADEON discrete and integrated graphics products
• Support for Microsoft Windows® XP, Windows® 2000, and Windows® Me

WHEW! You got all that? Let's take a closer look at the package.