Shuttle XPC Prima SX38P2 Pro

Features
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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.

14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dragonsprayer
    Shuttles are great computers if you want something very small they can not be beat. I use both micro atx systems and sff (shuttles). I have a few now, my rock solid old P4 (nw 3.0c running 3.6ghz) lasted 4 years while running 24/7 and logging close to 12 hours a day of usage. The major disadvantage is lack of non oem parts, i.e. a mobo replacement is expensive. The advantage is the initial cost is low. The psu's are much stronger then their rating compared to similar rated standard psu's. Since you get a cool, cpu cooler with the deal they are very reasonably priced and easy to build! Put some foam on the inside vents and you got a filtered system you can have up and running in a few hours. This new crossfire unit should rock with the new 700 series ati cards. Bios upgrades can be a pain, or lacking, so make sure the initial bios works for your set up. I love shuttles! If you fill your system will lots of drives and dual video cards you can tweak the cooling by adding second fan in the back of the shuttle dual, fan out.
    Reply
  • One thing about this and the 35 model... DO NOT PLAN on RAID if you BUY a SATA DVD/CD UNIT. For what ever reason.. You can't get the RAID setup screen with all three items on SATA. You'll need to buy IDE DVD/CD Unit then you can utilized the built in RAID CONTROLLER. Live and learn.. I did on both the 35 and 38 unit.
    Reply
  • BillLake
    Great tip about the raid controller, another tip is if you pick ACHI for the SATA controller for the newest features of SATA 2 then a SATA optical drive is not seen in windows. there is no alternative SATA controller so you have to use IDE to have an optical drive.
    Reply
  • rgsaunders
    Note: your comment about max crossfix config is incorrect, there are a few single slot HD3870 cards, I am currently running the Sapphire HD 3870 Toxic, an excellent single slot solution which runs very cool and quiet.
    Reply
  • alphastryk
    yay shuttle... got my SX38P@ running a Q6600, 8gb ram, 9800gx2... not that loud really... and the power supplies are far above standard quality and power...
    Reply
  • mbaroud
    So alpha...i was actually planing to purchase this. The 9800GX2 fits in this SFF????
    Reply
  • BillLake
    Yeah got one and unless you are running 100 % load it is pretty quiet. If a 8800 GTX fits you should be able to get a 9800GX2 in, just compare it to the XFX card I used in the review.
    Reply
  • mbaroud
    My concern is the power, will the PSU handle the load of a Q6700 the 9800GX2 and 2 hard-drives in RAID-0???
    I move alot for my work, wanted something compact and SUPER POWERFULL!!
    Reply
  • Mathos
    They should add another video card option. The Sapphire Toxic/Atomic edition 3870 could easily fit in there. Mines runs pretty cool even under load, which is great for single slot. Would also give them a higher end dual card solution for those systems.
    Reply
  • BillLake
    mbaroud, I checked and the 9800GX2 only pulls about 10-15 more than the 8800GTX used in the testing PC. The 9650 should be a very big draw when overclocked and so I would think you could be OK with your config.

    Mathos, I wish they did offer more selection but you can get any video card you want if you build up a barebones unit.
    Reply