Shuttle XPC Prima P2 4800X System Review

By Bill Lake, Jeff Prehm
published

Crysis Setup

Crysis continues to cut down powerful systems as fast as Nomad dispatches his foes. At first, the system was not stable and was overheating. We then updated the BIOS and used the Nvidia system tools software to turn the fan speed up on the GeForce GTX 280, which helped. However, Crysis continued to cause the system to crash at resolutions of 1920x1200, which we resolved with the driver 178.24 release in October. The system would not crash even at 1920x1200 with 16x anti-aliasing and Very High system settings. We did continue to have heat issues (understandably) during our OC test and could not resolve them.

Screen resolution

Gameplay

Playing through each level of the game showed that this system had no major weaknesses--well, at least compared to full-sized systems running Crysis.

Bill Lake
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • 1raflo
    This is an overpriced rig, thats for sure.
    Reply
  • StupidRabbit
    It's an oldie, but a goody. We take apart a Shuttle XPC Prima P2 4800X, based on Intel's X48 chipset, and test this fully-built system's mettle against XPCs that came before. Our conclusion? You could do better for less if you built your own.

    lol i didnt even have to read the article since you put the conclusion right in the description on the main page.. but i guess it couldnt have ended any other way. overpriced.
    Reply
  • BillLake
    StupidRabbitlol i didnt even have to read the article since you put the conclusion right in the description on the main page.. but i guess it couldnt have ended any other way. overpriced.

    Well I don't see that in the article anywhere. It would seem that you might be quoting something else but the concussion is true. For those looking for a SFF it is overpriced for what it provides. You can say the same about any customer builder, Falcon Northwest, Alienware and so forth. They all sell their products for a huge premium but they do give you warranties on your "super fast and overclocked system". For me, I really like the SFF so I buy the barebones version of Shuttles products and am very happy with them.
    Reply
  • StupidRabbit
    well at one point i myself was thinking of buying a thermaltake lanbox. but since i dont go to any lan parties and have no need to carry my rig around, i just could not justify a small form factor box over a mid-sized one. as you said it really is a very niche market, and i guess i am just not one of the consumers that is targeted.
    nontheless, it is one cool looking thing and has more performance than most gamers need, and you are a lucky guy to have their products.

    but until i transform into a really hardcore gamer, and have a couple grand laying (lying?) around im just gonna stick with my trusty intel e6420 overclocked by 50% and a thermaltake big-typ vx-10.. something that would have a hard time fitting in there
    Reply
  • StupidRabbit
    *big-typ 120 vx.. correction
    Reply
  • BillLake
    Yeah you might be able to get some other heat sink in there but it would be hard as they really designed it for this one. Maybe remove the side fan and get one that blows out that same side?

    The reason I like the Shuttle boxes is that they take up little room and you generally do not give up much. Now that said they do lack expandability but of course I can put three in the space of a full tower case. Look at the barebones units, they are very affordable but then again if something fails you have to get their board to fix it and that is not cheap.
    Reply
  • cletus_slackjawd
    I have a shuttle XPC with an athlon64 3000+ skt 754, 1gig ram, x800pro, 1gb DDR-400 dual channel, sony DVD Burner and 300gb maxtor IDE PATA.
    It's based on the Nforce2 so it has good audio by Nvidia, firewire, great access up front w/ 2ea USB, Mini 1394 in front, normal in back, speaker, mic, headphone jacks up front, memory card readers up front, mirror finish up front, quiet, reliable as hell. It's actually now my wife's rig as I've built 2 new computer since handing it down, but it's pretty awesome. I will repurpose it as a media PC/Console Emulator when the time comes she wants a new one. In conclusion, a very positive experience from a Shuttle product.
    Reply
  • 1potato
    Page 3 - "RAID supports stripping for improved data security". Made me chuckle :). I think you mean striping, and actually I think you really mean mirroring in that context.
    Reply
  • gaiden2k7
    you guys really need someone who knows his/her way w/ the camera.. blurry pictures = dizzy viewers.
    Reply
  • BillLake
    Thanks for catching the miss use of the word, spell check can save you from misspelling but not miss use. The system could do Striping, mirroring or striping with parity if you put three disks in. It support three disk by putting one below the optical drive. Shuttle does not sell it with 3 drives but I have done it. Well thanks again for catching that.
    Reply