At first I would like to thank Shuttle Europe for offering a sample of their latest XS35GTA V3 Barebone for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About Shuttle:

 

"Shuttle Inc, founded in Taiwan in 1983, is specialised in development and production of innovative mini PCs. The joint-stock company is represented worldwide by a network of branch offices in Germany, the US and Japan. Since 2001 the attractive cube-shaped PCs have conquered nearly any field of application and have become the core business of the company headquartered in Taipei / Taiwan. Widely acclaimed by customers and press across the globe, Shuttle founds its success on effective management and long-term experience in making mainboards of highest quality standards. Since years Shuttle's mini PC barebones and fully-configured systems are the first choice of many system integrators, VARs, OEMs and ODMs banking on the high reliability and build quality. With appealing mini PC solutions Shuttle meets the requirements of consumers excellently and seeks to provide further user-friendly solutions of consumer electronics for the digital home environment."

 

Product Features:

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

Fanless and silent

Passive cooling, no fan noise at all

Perfect to be used in noise-sensitive environments

Fanless, dust-free and thus virtually maintenance-free

 

Low power consumption

Power consumption: ca. 19W (idle mode) and ca. 27W (full load)

 

Chassis

Dimensions without Stand: 25.2 x 16.2 x 3.85 cm (DxHxW) = 1.57 L

Weight: 2.1 kg net, 2.8 kg gross

Hole for the Kensington Lock at the back panel

Optional accessory: 75mm and 100mm VESA mounting kit (PV01)

 

Operation System

This system comes without operating system.

It is compatible with Windows 7 (32 oder 64 bit)

 

Processor

Intel Dual Core Atom processor D2700 (Codename: Cedarview)

Intel Hyper-Threading technology: 2-threads per core

32 nm manufacturing process, Micro-FCBGA11 package

Intel 64 architecture, Core clock: 2.13 GHz

L2 Cache: 1024kB , TDP: max. 10W

Supports SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Execute Disable Bit

Integrated North Bridge with controller for memory and graphics

 

Passive cooling without fan

Passive, completely fanless cooling through convective heat transfer

Warning: Please make sure the system is always placed

upright using either its stand or the optional VESA mount.

Ventilation holes must not be blocked to ensure sufficient cooling.

 

Chipset

Intel® NM10 Express Chipset (south bridge)

Platform Controller Hub (PCH)

Code name: Tiger Point

 

BIOS

AMI BIOS in a 8Mbit Flash ROM supports PnP, ACPI 2.0

Supports external USB flash memory card boot up

Supports Power fail resume / AC power on state / always on / always off

Supports Wake-on-LAN (WOL) from S3, S3, S5 ACPI states

Supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)

 

Memory

2x SO-DIMM slots with 204 pins

Supports two modules DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500)

DDR3-1333 is supported at DDR3-1066 clock rate

Supported maximum capacity: 4 GB

 

Optical drive (optional)

Support an optical DVD or Blu-ray slim-line drive

Serial ATA interface, 12.7mm height, Slimline SATA connector

 

Hard disk drive/SSD

Supports one Serial ATA hard disk (5400 / 7200 rpm)

or one SATA SSD drive in 6.35cm/2.5" format

The SATA 2.0 interface supports up to 300MB/s data transfer speed

Supports a drive with 9.5mm height (12.5mm is not supported)

Supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)

 

Discrete ATI Graphics

AMD Radeon™ HD 7410M graphics processor (Codename "Seymore-LP")

Dedicated 3D graphics card

VRAM: 512MB DDR3, 800MHz, 64 bit (no shared memory)

160 Stream Processing Units, 40nm technology

Supports DirectX 11, Shader Model 5.0, OpenGL 4.1

Unified Video Decoder (UVD 3) dedicated video playback accelerator

Supports full HD decode (1080i/p)

Support for up to 2 simultaneous displays:

1) Digital HDMI™ 1.4a, max. resolution: 1920x1200

2) Analog D-Sub VGA, max. resolution: 2048x1536

Supports Extended Desktop Mode and Clone Mode

Supports Blu-ray play back in combination with an optional slim-line

Blu-ray drive and appropriate software

Integrated HD audio controller for 7.1 Surround Sound via HDMI.

Supports AC-3, AAC, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio formats.

 

Integrated Audio

IDT92HD81 Audio Codec with Azalia support

Two analog audio connectors (3.5mm):

1) Line out (head phone)

2) microphone input

Supports digital 7.1 HD audio via the HDMI port.

 

Card Reader

4-in-1 card reader at the front side

Supports SDHC, SD, MS und MS-pro memory cards

PCIe Interface

 

Wired Network

RJ45 connector supports Gigabit LAN at 10/100/1000 Mbit/sec.

Network controller JMC 251

Supports Wake-on-LAN (WOL) from S3, S3, S5 ACPI states

 

Wireless Network (WLAN)

Supports IEEE 802.11b/g/n, max. 150Mbps up-/downstream

Security: WPA/WPA2(-PSK), WEP 64/128bit, IEEE 802.11x/i

Half size Mini-PCIe-Card

 

Connectors

HDMI v1.3 digital video and audio output

D-Sub/ VGA analog video ( 15 pin)

5x USB 2.0 (1x front, 4x rear)

Gigabit network (LAN, RJ45)

Audio Line-out (head phone)

Microphone input

DC input for the external power adapter

 

LEDs and Buttons

Power button

Power LED (white)

Hard disk LED (blue)

 

Power supply

External 40W AC/DC power adapter (fanless), 19V / 2.1A

AC Input: 100~240V AC, 50~60Hz

Automatic voltage adjust

Dimensions: 89.5 x 37 x 26.5 mm (LWH)

DC Connector: 5.5/2.5mm (outer/inner diameter)

 

Optional Accessories

- VESA mount made of metal (PV01)

- Adapter for second 2.5" drive instead of optical drive (PHD2)

 

24/7 nonstop operation

This device is approved for 24/7 permanent operation.

Requirements:

- Free circulation of air amongst the PC must be guaranteed.

- Ventilation holes must be clear.

- If a hard disk is installed, this must also be approved for permanent

operation by its manufacturer (max. one hard disk)

 

Environmental Spec

Operating temperature range: 0~35°C

Relative humidity range: 10~90% (non-condensing)

 

Certification and Compliance

EMI: CE, FCC, BSMI, C-Tick, CCC

Safety: CB, BSMI, ETL

Other compliances: RoHS, Eup Lot6

This device is classed as a technical information

equipment (ITE) in class B and is intended for use in

living room and office. The CE-mark approves the

conformity by the EU-guidelines:

- EMV-guideline 89/336/EWG electromagnetic tolerance

- LVD-guideline 73/23/EWG use of electric devices

within certain voltage-limits

 

The latest Shuttle barebone shares some similarities compared to the XS35 GT model we have tested in the past and comes packed inside a regular cardboard box with a plastic handle:

 

 

 

On one of the box laterals, we can see a summary of technical specifications:

 

 

 

After opening up the main packaging, we will see the barebone carefully protected, along with a separate box which contains the rest of the bundle:

 

 

 

Outside of the plain cardboard box we mentioned earlier, we will find the documentation, placed inside a transparent plastic bag:

 

 

 

The box contains multiple compartments, each holding a specific component:

 

 

 

Here is what we will find inside:

 

-power lead

-barebone stand

-HDD mounting piece with screws

-installation disk

-power adapter

 

 

 

The power adapter was manufactured by Asian Power Devices Inc. and is rated on the output 19V, 2.1A:

 

 

 

The adapter also has a LED on the front, which signals when power is fed to it:

 

 

 

The PSU cable ends with a jack plug:

 

 

 

Within the Quick Guide, Shuttle explains to us how we can finish the rest of the components installation, along with usage tips:

 

 

 

Besides the protective material the barebone is wrapped in, on the sides we will also find some foam molds:

 

 

 

On the top, bottom, frontal sides and the laterals, we will find areas covered with transparent plastic film:

 

 

 

As the previous barebone from Shuttle, the XS35GTA V3 features lateral covers from a combination of metallic mesh and plastic, which have a cool, modern appearance:

 

 

 

 

On the back side, we will find a Kensington lock, the microphone and headphone jacks, a LAN port, 4 USB 2.0 ports, one D-SUB (VGA) port, a HDMI port and the Power jack:

 

 

 

The front side of the barebone is equipped with a 4-in-1 Card Reader and an extra USB 2.0 port; the top bay can be populated with a secondary HDD or an optical drive:

 

 

 

The slim power button has incorporated the HDD activity and Power LEDs:

 

 

 

To go inside of the barebone, we have to remove one screw which frees the two lateral covers; it is pleasing to see that now we have not one, but two SODIMM slots that we can use and the PCB design is kept clean enough:

 

 

 

The PCB components are covered with a large heatsink, which is linked to another small heatsink by a heatpipe:

 

 

 

Near the two memory slots, we can find the ITE IT8731F sensor chip:

 

 

 

A Realtek RTL-8188CE Wi-Fi card is preinstalled into the slot and is equipped with a single antenna:

 

 

 

The CMOS settings are kept saved with the help of the CR2032 3V battery, packaged individually, and connected to the motherboard with a short cable:

 

 

 

The card reader, as the extra USB 2.0 port, is located on a separate PCB:

 

 

 

 

Near the memory slots, we can also find the HDD/SSD Power/Data connector:

 

 

 

If we flip the barebone on the other side, we will see the PCB completely covered by a large heatspreader; the second half can be populated by an ODD or secondary HDD:

 

 

 

To install the main HDD, we’ll have to use the included mounting bracket, along with the screws:

 

 

 

Here is how the adapter does look when it has been attached to the bottom of the 2.5’’ HDD with the 4 black screws; the remaining 3 slim screws will be used to keep the bracket fixed to the chassis:

 

 

 

The memory can be installed into the slots even easier, by carefully inserting the module into the slot in a 45 degree angle and pushing town until it snaps into the locking mechanism:

 

 

 

Now let’s look a little at the bottom side of the barebone; here we’ll find a tiny screw hole and some other spaces left for dock alignment:

 

 

 

On the bottom of the dock we will find 4 rubber feet, a sticker which informs us about the company name, the product name, model number, power input (19V DC at 2.1A), but also the company address:

 

 

 

The top has some little plastic feet; for fixing it on the product, we will have first to align it to the chassis and then fix it properly with the included screw:

 

 

 

As you would suspect, a small system like this one does not have a lot of BIOS settings available and most of them do not affect the overall performance; the Main tab informs us regarding the installed BIOS version, build date, installed CPU along with its frequency and the installed memory. Here we can also adjust the date/time of the system:

 

 

 

Inside the Advanced tab, we will find several sub-menus like PM Configuration, CPU Configuration and so on:

 

 

 

The Power Management section allows us to set the suspend mode, along with the EuP function:

 

 

 

Inside the CPU Configuration section, we will find detailed information regarding the installed CPU and here it will be also possible to adjust the HT option:

 

 

 

The SATA Configuration menu has only one option that we can set, for both available channels (SATA Mode):

 

 

 

The Onboard Device Configuration menu lets us enable/disable different system interfaces like Audio, LAN, Wi-Fi:

 

 

 

The USB Configuration menu informs us of the connected USB Devices:

 

 

 

The Hardware Health Configuration sub-section will let us know regarding the current CPU temperature, but also the CPU, DRAM and Graphics Core voltages:

 

 

 

Inside the Boot menu, we will be able to select the priority of the boot devices:

 

 

 

The Security section allows us to enable or disable BIOS Flash Protection and define some passwors:

 

 

 

Finally, inside the Save & Exit area, we will be able to save/discard or load factory defaults to CMOS:

 

 

 

For testing the performances of the barebone from Shuttle, one Avexir DDR3 1333 SO-DIMM 4GB module was installed inside the barebone, along with a Hitachi Travelstar 5K250 250GB HDD. Some additional information regarding the components inside can be picked by using CPU-Z, GPU-Z or AIDA64.

 

CPU-Z CPU Information Tab

 

 

CPU-Z Caches Information Tab

 

 

CPU-Z Mainboard Information Tab

 

 

CPU-Z Memory Information Tab

(not extra details are offered)

 

 

GPU-Z Information Tab

 

 

AIDA64 Motherboard Information Tab

 

 

 

AIDA64 CPU Information Tab

 

 

 

AIDA64 IMC Information Tab

 

 

 

AIDA64 Chipset Information Tab

 

 

 

 

Power Consumption Test

Temperature Measurements

(ambient temperature: 29.4 degrees Celsius)

From the supplied disk, we will be able to install the necessary drivers; on it we will also find a trial version of the NTI Backup Now EZ application:

 

 

 

 

3DMark 2001

 

3DMark 2003

 

3DMark 2005

 

3DMark 2006

 

PCMark 2005

 

PCMark Vantage

 

PCMark 7

CrystalMark

 

SuperPI 1.5 XS 1M

 

wPrime 32M

 

CineBench R10

 

CineBench R11.5

 

x264 Encoding

 

Counterstrike Source

 

 

The XS35GTA V3 barebone from Shuttle occupies very little space on the table thanks to the included stand and does not produce noise while in operation. The large heatsinks on the both sides of the motherboard succeed to keep both CPU and GPU at acceptable temperatures and the system can be upgraded by installing higher capacity RAM in the two available SODIMM slots, or we can also install a secondary HDD or ODD with additional adapters.

 

The previously tested barebone from Foxconn was featuring the same CPU as this one, an Intel Dual Core Atom D2700 and was running on integrated graphics, which had low performance. In the current case, this issue is completely eliminated, thanks to the dedicated AMD Radeon HD Mobility 7410M GPU; this GPU can also drive two displays at once, one of them being HDMI and the other D-SUB/VGA. Of course, the other interfaces are not forgotten like LAN, Wi-Fi, audio or USB. XS35GTA V3 features 4 USB ports in the back and one extra in the front; all of them are 2.0 and we are wondering why Shuttle hasn’t adopted the 3.0 version already, at least for the ports in the back. One 4-in-1 Card Reader is also available on the front so we could load up the photos or videos from our camera for sharing with ease.

 

The barebone can be also installed in the back of the monitor with an optional VESA mount and is also approved for 24/7 operation, with some conditions:

 

-ambient temperature under load must be between 5 and 35 degrees Celsius

-air humidity under load 10-90% (not condensing)

-free circulation or air amongst the PC must be guaranteed

-ventilation holes must be clear

-if a HDD is installed, it must be also approved for 24/7 operation

 

In our tests, the barebone proved to be quite good for playing 1080P video, browsing with a moderate number of tabs and for playing old games. In CounterStrike: Source, the barebone proved to work really well, excepting some random hiccups. In many of the performed benchmarks, it got really close to the overclocked E-350 Zacate from AMD.

 

One small issue we have observed is the fact that when the system PCB becomes hotter, the back side ports also heat up and when connecting certain USB Flash Drives, they may become hot to the touch too, so we would recommend in this case not leaving the Flash Drives connected for a very long time to the system. A workaround would be to get some USB port extender cables or to use an USB hub.

 

The XS35GTA V3 barebone is available for about 282 Euros including taxes and this does not include ODD, HDD, memory or OS.

 

Shuttle Barebone XS35GTA V3 Recommended For:

 

I would like to thank again to Shuttle Europe for sending the test sample!