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Page 1 of 1 pages for this article Shuttle ST61G4 XPC Review – Powered by ATI! by Article Admin
Published: 11/29/2003
Once again Shuttle has established themselves as the SFF leader, introducing their lateest XPC model, the ST61G4, based on the brand new ATI RS300 chipset. Hats off to Shuttle for releasing a small form factor system based on this new chipset, at the same time as other manufacturers are just releasing full-sized motherboard implementations.
The ST61G4 sports ATI?s latest claim to fame, the RS300 + IXP150 chipset with the Radeon 9100 IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor). The system comes loaded with features, all packed into Shuttle?s new G4 series XPC case design. Complete with Serial-ATA RAID, dual channel DDR400, integrated fast Ethernet, 6 channel audio, and of course, the on-board Radeon 9100IGP, the ST61G4 stacks up well against comparable Intel chipset based systems. But that?s not all that Shuttle is hiding within the confines of the ST61G4. They?ve also launched their brand new SilentX 250 watt power supply unit with this XPC, which as you?ll see in our benchmarks, made a rather impressive and surprising difference in noise measurements, despite its extra wattage. With four Shuttle XPC?s based on the Intel i865/i875 chipsets, as well as the ST61 based on ATI?s RS300, not to mention a host of other SFF?s on the market, how do you know if the ST61G4 is the right system for you? Is it time to upgrade from that older XPC or big ugly beige box? That all depends on what you?ll be using your system for. Hopefully our benchmarks will help lead you in the right direction? But before we go into the details, let?s begin with the ST61G4?s overall system specifications:
Shuttle has included the standard line up of XPC accessories, including a handy cleaning pad for the ST61G4?s mirrored faceplate. Nice touch.
We?ll start from the outside and work our way in… Let?s begin with case externals? External DesignExternal Design
The Shuttle ST61G4 features the new "G4" series case design, first introduced earlier this year with the launch of the SN85G4. The ST61 however is the first XPC to feature the G4 case in a silver finish. Like its predecessors, the system has a completely aluminum chassis, in this case finished entirely in brushed silver aluminum. It?s a solid, well-built, 3rd generation XPC case with excellent thermal conductivity due to its nearly all aluminum design. The only plastic you?ll find on this system is on the front faceplate. Primarily a mirrored surface, the faceplate also includes a surround fabricated from matte silver plastic. The mirrored section of the faceplate is made of 1/8" thick plastic and feels more like a real mirror to the touch rather than pure plastic. It includes a "holographic" Shuttle XPC logo in the lower right corner.
Externally speaking, you?ll find the ST61G4 provides similar IO ports to most other modern Shuttle XPC systems. The G4 series case also provides integrated media card slots, for the included 6-in-1 media card reader. The "slots" on the front of the case are non-removable, and create a conundrum for those who need an internal 3.5" floppy drive. Fortunately, few users still use floppies these days, but as you?ll see later on in the review, we had to use a floppy to build our testbench system!
However, for those who commonly use media cards to transfer images from digital cameras or music from an MP3 player, you?ll enjoy having the 6-in-1 media card reader integrated directly into the front faceplate. Speaking of the front faceplate, the ST61?s front port offering is identical to the SB65/SB75 series, and appears to be Shuttle?s standard for the foreseeable future. First, there are new power and reset buttons as well as power and IDE LED?s.
That icon above the power button on the left isn?t actually lit, even though it appears blue in the image. It "reflects" similar to the "holographic" Shuttle XPC logo, hence the blue hue. The actual power LED is to the right of the power button, and is blue. The reset button sits between the power LED and the IDE activity LED. It?s rather small, and somewhat difficult to press. This can be a good thing for reset buttons though. Moving on to the front IO ports?
Typical USB, audio, and Firewire 1394a connections are present. Note, the front Firewire port is 4-pin, and will not provide power to your peripherals. A powered 6-pin Firewire port is included on the back of the system.
Other ports on the rear include two USB 2.0, RJ45 LAN, a single DB9 serial port, SPDIF In and Out, 15-pin VGA Out, SVideo Out, as well as the standard array of 5.1 channel audio outputs which double as inputs depending on your speaker configuration. The inclusion of SVideo out is a nice touch for those planning on using the ST61G4 as a HTPC.
Note, as in the SB65/SB75 series, you?ll find the SPDIF In/Out ports at the top right of the rear side of the case, separate from the normal IO ports.
Similar to other XPC?s, the ST61G4 features an array of air intake vents on the left and right sides of the case, as well as underneath the front of the system.
Let?s move on to the internals? (1 of 10) - next > Page 1 of 1 pages for this article Search
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