The Power Supply, Operating System, and Extras

Shuttle includes a 450 watt PSU that is customized to fit in this form factor. All the cables are pre-wired to locations needed, which provides for a very clean internal space, and power outlets where you can use them. The PSU and system are 80 Plus certified and the PSU provides 3.5 amps on both the 3.3 V and 5 V rails, and 17 amps on both of the two separate 12 V rails. While this won’t be overkill for most systems, it should drive two Radeon 3850’s in addition to a CPU without trouble.

The operating systems that Shuttle offers are limited to flavors of Windows Vista and a single option for XP PRO. It’s no surprise that Shuttle doesn’t bother with a Linux offering on this high-end PC.

• MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 32 BIT
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 64 BIT
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA BUSINESS 32BIT
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA BUSINESS 64BIT
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP PRO EDITION
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE 32 BIT
• MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE 64 BIT

Shuttle, of course, will help you deck out your XPC with the following accessories and options. They do, however, charge a premium for all of the optional parts.

• 1GB INTEL TURBO MEMORY (SUPPORTS VISTA 32bit OS ONLY)
• SHUTTLE PN20 802.11B/G WIRELESS LAN KIT
• EXTERNAL USB V.92 MODEM
• EXTNERNAL USB FLOPPY DRIVE 3.5" 1.44MB
• IDEAZON MERC STEALTH ZXP2000 KEYBOARD
• LOGITECH INTERNET 350 USB DESKTOP BLACK
• LOGITECH DELUXE 660 CORDLESS DESKTOP BLACK
• IDEAZON REAPER EDGE LASER GAMING MOUSE
• CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER LIVE! 24-BIT 5.1 EXTERNAL USB
• LOGITECH S-120 STEREO BLACK
• LOGITECH S-220 2.1CH 34 WATTS
• LOGITECH Z-2300 2.1CH 200 WATTS THX WIRED REMOTE
• LOGITECH PRECISION PC GAMING HEADSET
• SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 206BW 20" WIDE LCD BLACK
• SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 226BW 22" WIDE LCD BLACK

The SX38P2 tested was a fully configured system from Shuttle with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit, Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, 4 GB of DDR2 Memory, a factory overclocked XFX Geforce 8800 GTX video card, a Western Digital 150 GB Raptor hard drive, and the 20x20 DVD+-RW dual layer burner. It would cost $3,958 US to buy this directly from Shuttle; you could build a similar system using the barebones SX38P2 and parts from an online retailer for about $2,725. Of course, in that case, you have to build it and deal with many vendors if there are any issues in the future.

When we contacted Shuttle about warranty issues, they provided the following quote: “We feel that the customer should feel free to overclock without voiding their warranty. That is why we have dynamic overclock technology.” This alone could provide justification for paying a premium for a Shuttle XPC.