Bundle and brief specification of the barebone kit

The bundle is not rich: a poster with instructions, CD with drivers, removable antenna to be installed on the rear panel, power plug connectors for various standards, thermal compound, HDMI-DVI adapter, mounting accessories, floppy cable. Utilities include XPC Tool to monitor system parameters and control the cooling system as well as some third-party software: PC-cillin 2007, Adobe Reader 8.1.

• Enclosure format: "cubic"
• Enclosure dimensions (WxDxH): 200x310x185 mm
• Bays: 1 x 3.5" internal, 1 x 3.5" external, 1 x 5.25" external
• Power supply unit: Shuttle SilentX, 300 W
• Motherboard, chipset: FN68, GeForce 7050 + nForce 630
• Graphics: integrated GeForce 7050
• Audio: Realtek ALC888DD HDA
• Network: 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi-g, Bluetooth
• Expansion slots: 1 x PCIEx16 (for full-size cards) and 1 x PCI
• Front panel connectors: 2 x Audio (mike/headphones), 2 x USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, fingerprint scanner
• Back panel connectors: 5 x Audio, optical S/PDIF-Out, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA, 2 x eSATA, 1 x FireWire, 4 x USB (2.0), 1 x LAN

Performance tests

Testbed configuration:

• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+, Socket AM2
• Memory: 2 x Kingston KHX7200D2K2/1G (DDR2-800, 5-5-5-15-1T)
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (SATA, 7200 rpm)
• Graphics card: integrated graphics core and AMD Radeon HD 4850
• Power supply unit: Shuttle SilentX, 300 W
• OS: Windows XP SP2

OS and drivers:

• Windows XP Professional SP2
• DirectX 9.0c
• NVIDIA ForceWare 175.19

Benchmarks:

• 7-Zip 4.10b
• XviD 1.0.2 (29.08.2004)
• Doom 3 (v1.0.1282)
• FarCry (v1.1.3.1337)
• Unreal Tournament 2004 (v3339)

We decided to compare this product with MSI K9NGM3 motherboard on the same chipset. Test results in games are published only for the integrated graphics mode.

There are only minimal differences, so we can say that the clock rate of the integrated graphics core matches the reference value. Computing performance is also up to the mark -- there is nothing surprising about it, considering that BIOS allows to specify memory frequency and timings, and even to raise voltages.

Conclusions

It's up to our readers to decide whether this enclosure is actually glamorous, but we cannot say that G6 is radically different from G5 in design. As for the insides, there are only minimal differences. On the whole, owing to the chipset, this model is a good choice for a generic computer with rich functionality, which is very high in this DELUXE modification -- a rich bundle of additional adapters (fingerprint scanner, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth). On the other hand, such adapters are cheap, while Shuttle often prices extra functionality inadequately high. So if you don't see any special advantages in G6, you may have a closer look at SN68PTG5 as it offers identical features (up to models of integrated controllers), and it has a moderate price tag.

In conclusion we'll publish a short list of typical pros and cons of the reviewed barebone kit.

Pros:

• Support for a wide range of processors for Socket AM2
• Convenient assembling/disassembling
• Highly efficient cooling system at a moderate noise level
• Front panel preserves its stylish appearance even after an optical drive is installed
• You can install a full-size single-slot graphics card
• FireWire and eSATA
• DELUXE modification offers Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters, as well as a fingerprint scanner

Cons:

• High price

Shuttle SN68PTG6 DELUXE gets our Original Design award.

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