Conclusions
The Shuttle system has proven that it is a very stable and fast system. It is not without its flaws, but Shuttle definitely delivers an extremely high performance machine that is not limited in performance due to being a SFF system.
The Good
- Very fast system
- Very good cable management
- High quality construction
- Top quality throughout, including solid state capacitors
- Good and easy overclocking out of the box
The Bad
- Loud system fans under heavy load
- Loud hard drive access during activity
- Front access door could be more solid
- No PCI slot
- Fingerprint reader accuracy
This system even worked well when things did not go as expected. If an overclocking setting was too aggressive, it was easy to reset the BIOS by pressing the button on the back of the system. When the fingerprint reader proved to be unreliable, removing the software restored the normal Vista login. Shuttle provided the top-end hardware CPU, GPU and a quality board that exceeded expectations. This was clearly a system that did not sacrifice performance for size.
The memory and board could perform slightly better, but reaching higher FSB numbers does not really translate into better performance. The system could use some noise dampening, such as silicone or rubber grommets for the hard drive, and noise absorbing material inside the cover to muffle HDD activity.
The system is not cheap by any means, but does provide warranty coverage for overclocking. All things considered, this is a great system packed into an SFF package that more than earn my respect.
