All-in-one PC by stefan @ 2013-03-04
The DS61 is a nice little barebone from Shuttle, which supports both Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge CPUs and besides the CPU, it only needs some RAM (SO-DIMM) and a storage drive (HDD/SSD) in order to operate. The barebone is also shipped with a VESA mount for added value and the preinstalled CPU cooler is enhanced for better cooling, sporting two heatpipes and is ventilated by a dual-fan system.
At first I would like to thank Shuttle Europe for offering a sample of their latest DS61 Barebone for testing and reviewing.
"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."
The DS61 barebone from Shuttle is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box, with the usual box-art:
On one of the sides, we will find a sticker showing a photo of the product, along with some of the technical specifications:
The box is provided with a plastic handle:
Inside we will find the product wrapped in foam material and the accessories are supplied in a separate cardboard box:
So, here is the bundle that ships with the barebone:
-power adapter
-power lead
-mounting screws
-thermal paste
-the CPU socket protection cover
-installation DVD
The documentation is also supplied separately, in multiple languages:
The power supply is manufactured by Delta Electronics and is rated on the output 19V, 4.74A:
The barebone is supplied with preinstalled mounting plates (VESA mount) on both sides; the chassis measures 190x165x43 mm (LWH):
On the frontal side we will find the Power button, two USB 2.0 ports, the microphone and headphone jacks and also a card reader:
A little above the microphone/headphone jacks we will also locate the power and HDD activity LEDs:
Here are some views of the laterals of the chassis, with the VESA mount installed; the lateral vents are used by the chassis for exhausting the hot air:
On the top side of the case there are orifices for the two intake fans:
The back side of the unit comes with a DC-IN port, two LAN ports, two COMs, two USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI and one DVI. Near the DVI port we will also find a Kensington lock port:
Here is a view of the bottom side of the chassis, with the VESA mount attached:
We have also taken a shot without the mount:
A sticker can be also found here with the product serial number and power rating:
On each corner of the unit we will find a small rubber foot:
The top cover can be removed and lifted easily, only to reveal the innards:
In order to start the installation, we’ll have to remove the top metallic frame, which also is a component of the 2.5’’ HDD/SSD tray:
The CPU heatsink is massive and covers about half of the motherboard and is cooled with not one but two fans; it is held fixed with four screws, placed arout the CPU socket:
Despite the low amount of free space inside, most of the components are placed in such a way so they remain accessible:
Shuttle promises that the heatsink equipped with two heatpipes will remain silent even during high stress periods; the temperatures obtained and the fan speeds are also strictly dependant on the CPU we install into the barebone (maximum TDP allowed is 65W):
Both fans are linked to the same connector:
The audio interface is provided on this board by a Realtek ALC662 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio Codec:
Also, the dual USB 3.0 ports in the back of the machine are supported by the ASMedia ASM1042 Universal Serial Bus 3.0 Extended Host Controller:
Surrounding the socket we will find the CPU VRM:
In a quite cramped space, we’ll see the headers for the Front Panel Connectors, the COM port jumpers, two COM ports, 4x USB 2.0 ports, the Audio connectors and the LPC header:
Near them we’ll also find the BIOS chip and the LVDS connector:
Two SATA ports are present on the board, along with the SATA power connector:
In the same area we will find the mSATA port:
The CMOS battery is encapsulated and connected to the motherboard via cable:
On the front side we’ll find the separate PCBs for the LEDs, buttons and the card reader:
2x SO-DIMM slots are provided for installing a maximum of 16GB DDR3:
The H61 chipset is covered by a smaller heatsink:
Before mounting the CPU, we must check for bent pins and then attach it carefully inside the socket:
After a small amount of thermal compound has been placed on the CPU, we have to re-mount carefully the heatsink onto the motherboard; the screws must be aligned carefully to the holes, so we won’t scratch the PCB:
Afterwards, we can connect the fans to one of the headers:
The RAM can be installed easily into the slots:
The storage is next, so we must take care of installing a 2.5’’ HDD or SSD into the tray:
Here is a view of the chassis with all components installed:
Let’s take now a look a little bit on the BIOS; the DS61 ships with a regular Aptio Setup Utility interface and not an UEFI one. As we know from the previously reviewed products, the Aptio has several menus on the top side of the screen, from where we can customize the system settings. In the Main tab, we can adjust the date/time but we can also see the current BIOS version, build date, the name of the currently installed CPU and running speed, along with the total installed memory quantity:
The Advanced tab comes with multiple sub-sections:
Inside the Power Management Configuration menu, we can adjust the Suspend mode, the Wake Up by USB function, along with the EuP Function:
The CPU Configuration menu will show us more detailed information regarding the CPU and from here we can also enable or disable several functions:
The SATA Configuration menu will show us the current mode and the attached drives to the SATA ports:
The USB Configuration section will allow us to enable or disable the USB 3.0 controller along with the card reader:
From the Hardware Health Configuration menu we can adjust the Smart Fan control mode, but also see the current fan speeds, system temperatures and voltages:
The Onboard Device Configuration menu comes with options to enable or disable the interfaces regarding LVDS, audio, Mini-PCIe, LAN or serial ports. Here we can also adjust the IGD Graphics memory size:
The Boot menu lets us set the priority of the boot devices:
From the Security tab, we can set a password for both Supervisor and User accounts:
Finally, inside the Save & Exit tab, we can save, discard or load factory defaults:
Shuttle was nice and supplied us with an Intel Pentium G630 CPU for testing the DS61 barebone. With the latest version of CPU-Z we can extract some more information regarding the CPU and Motherboard and installed Memory:
CPU
Caches
Motherboard
Memory
SPD
Integrated Graphics
By firing up AIDA64 we can find even more detailed information about the hardware:
Intel Pentium G630 CPU
Shuttle Motherboard
Avexir Memory module used for testing
CPU IMC
Intel H61 Chipset
Intel HD Graphics
The new DS61 mini-PC from Shuttle sports quite small dimensions (190x165x43mm / LWH) and is shipped with the VESA mount preinstalled. The unit supports both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors, but only the models that do not exceed the specified power envelope, which is 65W.
The CPU cooler is preinstalled and comes with a dual-heatpipe system for a more efficient heat evacuation and the top surface is ventilated by two fans, both connected from the same header on the motherboard. We can mount up to 16GB of RAM onto the motherboard and for storage we can have a 2.5’’ HDD or SSD, with a maximum height of 12.7mm. Additional storage can be mounted on the provided mini-PCIe slot, but we can also use this for installing a WiFi card. Audio signal can be offered through the analog ports or via the HDMI connector in the back. The device is also equipped with a card reader, which is compatible with SD, SDHC and SDXC memory flash cards. Dual LAN is also available for load balancing or maximum availability via failover. Only two USB 2.0 ports are available, which makes OS installation a little difficult since most Windows kits do not have drivers for the USB 3.0 ports in the back; however, this problem should be solved by using an USB powered hub.
The overall system performance is also dictated by the CPU which we will install into the unit so we must choose wisely, depending on the activity the small computer will have to perform. In the performed tests, we pitted the small system with the Viako Mini Letter ML55, which had an i3 2100 CPU preinstalled; if we would have installed the same processor inside the DS61 Shuttle Barebone, the system performances would have been identical.
As a barebone, the Shuttle DS61 can be found online for about 175 Euros, which we think that it’s fair for what it is offered.
I would like to thank again to Shuttle Europe for sending the test sample!