Phenomenal PC power in an iddy-biddy living-space

SHUTTLE does make pretty little PCs. And now, in the shape of the XPC P 2500G, it's produced the fastest small form factor (SFF) PC we've ever seen, writes Will Stapley.

As far as the processor goes, you don't get much faster than the Athlon 64 FX-60 from AMD. this is housed in a traditional black chassis, the light blue panels at the front concealing Shuttle's own CR40 dual-layer DVD writer, a 3.5in drive bay and a selection of audio, USB and Firewire ports. A handy multi-format card reader is situated just above the DVD drive.

Shuttle has decided to leave the FX-60 at its standard 2.6GHz, which is a wise decision since the small XPC SN25P case is a bit stuffy, although Shuttle has enhanced airflow with separate cooling zones for the processor, graphics card and hard drive sections of the case. Extra vents on the underside of the case aid cooling of the motherboard.

Using the Shuttle Smart Fan application, you can adjust the fan speed manually or alternatively leave it up to the PC to adjust the speed when necessary. Despite the lack of space inside, Shuttle found room for one of ATI's Radeon X1900 XT cards. This model comes from Connect3D and, although it's not the fastest (the X1900 XTX is ATI's current king of the hill) it's still a pacey little number.

The XPC P 2500G flew through our performance tests, clocking up a score of 273 in Sysmark 2004 SE. The single X1900 XT powered 3Dmark05 to 9,541, which a good score by anyone's standards and indicates it won't have any problems with the latest games. Handy, since you'll never cram two graphics cards in this diminutive case.

A single 250GB hard drive sits inside the case with two further 3.5in drives can be placed neatly above the PSU and optical drive at the top of the case.

This system comes in at a staggering £2,300, and that doesn't include a monitor, keyboard or mouse. The processor and graphics card may have a combined street price of around £1,000 - an FX-60 will set you back over £700, while the X1900 XT retails for around £300 - buit its still a bit steep in our view.

But if you must have a super-charged PC in a small and stylish case, then you'll need the budget to boot. ?

L'INQ
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