At first we would like to thank Shuttle Europe for offering a sample of their latest XPC Slim Barebone XH310 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."

 

Remote Power-on

If because of space constraints the machine cannot be switched on by pressing the front power button, it can be started with a separate remote control. You will find an appropriate four-pin connector on the back panel of the PC (pitch 2.54 mm).

 

HDMI 2.0

The enhanced version of the popular HDMI standard permits even higher screen resolutions. 4K playback in resolutions of 3.840x2.160 and above promise breathtakingly sharp details. And the audio signal is of course still transmitted via the same cable – creating fewer cables.

 

Dual network connection

In this model two gigabit network controllers ensure maximum data transmission rates via load balancing and maximum availability via the failover function.

 

Rapid system and program start-up thanks to NVMe support

SSDs are already very fast compared to hard disks. But what is possible thanks to M.2 modules with PCIe Express technology really takes your breath away. The NVMe modules process several gigabytes per second and thus ensure the system starts up in just a few seconds with noticeably shorter program start-up times.

 

Always-on Jumper

This machine is provided with a hardware solution to keep it permanently switched on (e.g. after a power outage). If you remove the jumper documented in the manual, the PC then starts as soon as the power supply is restored.

 

High-resolution DisplayPort

The DisplayPort connector allows for connections with digital high-resolution displays. Depending on processor and display model resolutions of up to 4K/Ultra HD (3840x2160) can be achieved. Besides picture signal, DisplayPort cables can also lead digital sounds signals in excellent quality.

 

The interface for the fastest of memory media

Internal drives to be used inside this Mini-PC can transfer data at a speed of up to 6 Gbit/s. Hard drives thus run significantly faster and brand-new media technologies such as SSDs can use their full potential. Be sure to look for SATA 6 Gbit/s.

 

6-channel audio

With the inbuilt sound card you can connect up to six speakers. Get your own personal surround-sound experience at home.

 

Intelligent cooling

Shuttle's patented Heatpipe Cooling technology with variable speed control automatically ensures maximum system stability and quiet operation in this steel Shuttle Mini-PC. Instead of swirling around the chassis, as is the case with conventional solutions, the warm air is specifically transferred out of the chassis.

 

Anti-theft protection

The Kensington Lock forms part of the anti-theft system. As with many other Notebooks, this Mini-PC can also be safely locked, ensuring long-term enjoyment from your Shuttle product.

 

The fastest connection to external peripheral devices available to date

The USB 3.0 connectors of this model allow for data transfer of up to 5 Gbit/s (625 MB/s). This enables external devices such as USB hard disks to be connected and run at nearly the same speed as their internal siblings. USB 3.0 is downward compatible so that also devices of previous USB generations can be hooked up.

 

Fan-less external power supply

A highly effective external power supply provides the Shuttle Mini-PC with its energy. And since it works without a fan, it is completely noise-free.

 

Intelligent fan control

The Smart Fan system promises low operating noise with its large, slowly rotating fans, which generate a very large airflow and have automatic variable speed control.

Pre-assembled cabling saves time

The most important power and data cables are already routed and just have to inserted into the relevant components. This saves valuable time when setting up the system.

 

Intel chipset inside

Play it safe with the reliable chipsets from the world's largest chip manufacturer. Intel chipsets have proven themselves over many years, have been presented with awards by the trade press and offer the best possible degree of compatibility.

 

Just 2.5" HDDs

An extremely compact PC housing offers less space for drives, that's why this Mini-PC uses slimline 2.5-inch hard disks. The advantage of this is that there's less noise, less heat generated and reduced power consumption. However small hard disks in a small housing does not have to mean less memory. Modern 2.5" HDDs are every bit as good as their 3.5" brothers.

 

You can rely on SSD

This is where an energy-saving "Solid State Drive" should be used. This drive technology guarantees extremely short access times, the highest data transmission rates and considerably lower energy consumption compared to conventional hard disks. SSDs have no mechanical components at all, are therefore subject to less wear and tear and consequently benefit from a longer service life.

 

For a longer life and more system stability

All the components of the highly integrated mainboard of this PC are fitted with modern solid capacitors, which offer six times the lifespan of normal capacitors.

 

Chassis

Slim 3.5-litre chassis, colour: black

Dimensions: 238 x 200 x 72.5 mm (LWH without rubber feet) = 3.5-litre

Height including rubber feet: 73.2 mm

Weight: 2.2 kg net, 3.5 kg gross

Open front - without covers for optical drive and front panel connectors

Hole for Kensington Lock at the back panel

Operation position horizontal or even vertical with the optional stand PS01

 

Power Adapter

External 90 W power adapter (fanless)

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

Output: 19 V DC, max. 4.74 A, max. 90 W output wattage

AC Connector with protective-earth contacts, cable length: 1.7m

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

Remark: the DC-input of the computer supports an external power source with either 12V±5% or 19V±5%.

 

Operating System

This system comes without operating system.

It is compatible with Windows 10 and Linux (64-bit)

 

Processor support

Processor Socket LGA 1151v2

Supports Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3, Pentium and Celeron processors

Supports the 8th generation Intel Core processors, codename "Coffee Lake-S" in 14++ nm process technology

Maximum supported processor power consumption (TDP) = 65 W

Up to 6 CPU cores, 12 threads and 12 MB of L3 cache

Does not support the unlock-function of Intel K-Series processors.

Not compatible with older Socket LGA 1151 processors (6th Gen. "Skylake" and 7th Gen. "Kaby Lake").

The processor integrates PCI-Express, memory controller and the graphics engine on the same die (performance features depending on processor type)

 

Processor heat-pipe cooling

Processor cooling with heat-pipe technology and two fans (6cm)

 

Mainboard / Chipset / BIOS

Mainboard FH310V, Mini-ITX form factor 17 x 17 cm, 8 layer design

Chipset: Intel® H310 Chipset

AMI BIOS in 8 Mbit EEPROM with SPI interface

All capacitors are high quality solid capacitors

Supports hardware monitoring and watch dog functionality

Supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI)

Supports power on after power failure

Supports Firmware TPM v2.0 (fTPM)

 

Memory support

2x SO-DIMM slot with 260 pins

Supports DDR4-2400/2666 (PC4-19200/21300) SDRAM at 1.2 V

Supports Dual Channel mode

Supports a maximum of 16 GB per DIMM, maximum total size: 32 GB

Supports two unbuffered DIMM modules (no ECC or registered)

 

Integrated Graphics

The features of the integrated Intel UHD graphics function depend on the processor type used.

Supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.5

The PC features three video outputs:

- 1x HDMI v2.0a (supports 1080p/60 and 2160p/60)

- 1x DisplayPort v1.2 (supports 1080p/60 and 2160p/60)

- 1x Analog VGA (15-pin D-Sub)

Supports two independent displays simultaneously with the integrated graphics function.

Supports Blu-ray (BD) playback with HDCP content protection

Hardware video decoding/encoding: H.264, H. 265 (8- and 10-bit, encoding via QuickSync), VP9 (10-bit VP9 can only be decoded)

 

5.1-channel audio

Audio Realtek® ALC 662 5.1-channel High-Definition Audio

Three analog audio connectors (3.5mm) at the back panel:

1) Front line-out (head-phones)

2) Rear Surround line-out (shared with microphone input)

3) Center line-out (shared with line-in)

Digital multi-channel audio output: by HDMI and DisplayPort

 

Dual Gigabit LAN Controller

Dual network with two RJ45 ports

Used network chips:

2x Intel i211 Ethernet Controller with MAC, PHY and PCIe interface

Supports 10 / 100 / 1.000 MBit/s operation

Supports WAKE ON LAN (WOL)

Supports network boot by Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE)

Supports Teaming mode

 

M.2-2280M SSD slot

The M.2 2280M slot provides the following interfaces:

- PCI-Express Gen. 2.0 X4, supports NVMe

- SATA v3.0 (max. 6 Gbps)

It supports M.2 cards with a width of 22 mm and a length of 42, 60 or 80 mm (type 2242, 2260, 2280).

Supports M.2 SSDs with SATA or PCI-Express interface

 

M.2-2230E slot for WLAN cards

Interfaces: PCI-Express Gen. 2.0 X1 und USB 2.0

Supports M.2 cards with a width of 22 mm and a length of 30 mm (type 2230)

Supports WLAN extension cards (optional Shuttle accessory: WLN-M)

 

Drive connectors

3x Serial-ATA connector, max. 6 Gbps

Supports NCQ and AHCI

Note: The package includes pre-installed cables (for SATA and power) and mounting screws for one 2.5" drive and one optical slimline drive.

 

Storage Bays

This system features three drive bays:

1) supports one optical drive (ODD) in 5.25" slimline format with max. 12.7 mm height - this bay can alternatively be used for a 2.5" drive

2) upper 2.5" bay supports one 2.5" drive with max. 12.7 mm height

3) lower 2.5" bay supports one 2.5" drive with max. 9.5 mm height

The system includes the following pre-installed cables:

- 2x Power cable for 2.5" drives (5 Volt)

- 1x SATA cable for one 2.5" drive

- 1x combo connector (SATA and power) for an optical slimline drive (DVD or Blu-ray)

Note: This system is ready for one 2.5" drive (SSD or hard disk) and one DVD/Blu-ray drive in slimline format to be installed.

For further 2.5" drives, additional SATA cables and screws are required. For a possible third 2.5" drive also a Y power cable is required. (All not included)

The optional accessory PHD4 allows the installation of a 3.5" hard disk.

 

Front Panel connectors

Microphone input

Audio Line-out (headphones)

2x USB 3.0 (= USB 3.1 Gen 1)

2x USB 2.0

Power button

Power LED (blue)

HDD LED (yellow)

 

Back Panel connectors

1x DisplayPort 1.2 audio/video output

1x HDMI 2.0a audio/video output

1x Analog VGA video output (15-pin D-Sub)

Note: a maximum of two displays can be operated at the same time.

2x USB 3.0 (= USB 3.1 Gen 1)

2x USB 2.0

2x GigaBit LAN (RJ45)

1x COM (RS232) - on the right side

1x COM (RS232/422/485) - middle/down

3x Audio 3.5mm (Line-in, Line-out, Mic-in)

1x DC-input connector for external power adapter (supports 12V±5% or 19V±5%)

1x 4-pin connector (2.54 mm pitch) supports:

- external power on button (see optional accessory CXP01)

- Clear CMOS function

- +5V DC voltage for external components

2x Perforation for Wireless LAN antennas

1x Hole for Kensington Lock

 

Other onboard connectors

Power on after power fail (hardware solution by jumper)

Front connectors for power button, LEDs, USBs, audio ports

USB 2.0 headers (4-pin)

4x RS232 COM port (2x5-pin header, 2 mm pitch) - 1x occupied

Two 4-pin fan connectors (one occupied by the CPU cooling system)

LPC interface (2x5-pin header, 2 mm pitch)

Embedded DisplayPort (eDP, 2x 15-pin)

Power input connector (4-pin P4 ATX 12V female)

 

Supplied Accessories

Multi-language installation guide (EN, DE, FR, ES, JP, KR, SC, TC)

DVD with Windows 10 driver software and manuals in PDF format

Pre-installed SATA and power cables for one 2.5" drive and one slimline drive

External power adapter with 1.7m AC power cord (with protective-earth contacts)

Protector cap for the CPU socket (do not use if heat-pipe or fan is mounted)

CPU heatpipe cooling system with heatsink compound

2 screws for installation of two M.2 cards

8 screws for installation of two 2.5" drives

2 screws for installation of an optional slimline drive

 

Optional Accessory

- PS01: Vertical stand

- PV02: VESA mount

- WLN-M: WLAN module

- PHD4: 3.5" Hard Disk Rack

- CXP01: adapter cable for external power button

- PCM31: Adapter for three additional RS232 COM ports

 

Environmental Specifications

Operating temperature range: 0~50°C

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

 

Conformity and Certifications

EMI: FCC, CE, BSMI, C-Tick

Safety: ETL, CB, BSMI

Other: RoHS, Energy Star 5.0, ErP

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 directives:

(1) 2004/108/EC relating to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC),

(2) 2006/95/EC relating to Electrical Equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (LVD),

(3) 2009/125/EC relating to ecodesign requirements for energy-related products (ErP)

 

In the following article, we will concentrate our look upon another XPC slim barebone from Shuttle, the XH310; this particular model can fit an optical drive, two 2.5’’ storage drive but also an M.2 (NVMe) SSD for extra storage. With an extra adapter, we can user a 3.5’’ HDD inside, add extra COM ports, add wireless capabilities with the WLN-M kit and more.

 

The unit includes the Intel H310 chipset and does support Pentium Gold/Celeron/i3/i5/i7 processors, with a theoretical TDP limit of 65W; we will use for testing purposes an i5 8600K SKU and see how it does handle, despite its 95W TDP rated value.

 

The unit is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, which features the usual Shuttle art:

 

 

 

The box is also provided with a plastic handle, for easy manipulation:

 

 

 

In order to avoid damages during transit, the product is protected between a thick layer of foam material:

 

 

 

The bundle is supplied inside a separate cardboard box, while the documentation is available in different languages, all which are wrapped in a re-sealable bag:

 

 

 

The documentation is supplied in very much detail, with each installation step described with photos and text:

 

 

 

As a bundle, we did receive a power lead, the power brick, thermal compound inside a syringe, drive fixing screws, M.2 slot fixing screws, the LGA1151v2 cover but also the CD with the necessary drivers:

 

 

 

The power supply was manufactured by Ac Bel and is rated on the output as 19V at 4.74A (90W peak):

 

 

 

 

The unit does measure 23.8 x 20 x 7.25 cm (L/W/H) and is available with an all-black color design:

 

 

 

The frontal plastic cover does house a 5.25’’ bay cover for the optical slimline drive (DVD or Blu-ray), two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a microphone and headphone jack, one Power button with a small blue LED but also an orange LED indicator for HDD activity:

 

 

 

The left side does feature a large ventilation grill:

 

 

 

Same design can be also spotted on the right, but this time with two 60mm fans that help with the air movement:

 

 

 

Plenty of interfaces can be spotted in the back:

 

-2x perforations for the optional WLAN antenna ports

-a Kensington Lock port

-one DC-IN port for the power adapter (supports 12V and 19V input voltage)

-a DisplayPort 1.2 video/audio output

-a HDMI 2.0 video/audio output

-a D-Sub/VGA video output

-a RS232/422/485 serial interface (COM port)

-a connector (4-pin, 2.54mm pitch) for an external power button, Clear CMOS and 5V DC voltage output

-dual Gigabit LAN ports with LAN teaming support

-two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports

-two USB 2.0 ports

-audio ports

-a RS232 serial interface (COM port)

 

 

 

The back side of the unit does include a small sticker with the power rating, but also four black rubber circular feet, one in each corner:

 

 

 

 

After removing the two thunbscrews in the back, we can lift the top metallic cover:

 

 

 

Right from the start, we can spot on the top layer the tray for the optical drive, but also the smaller one that can hold up to 2.5’’ drives:

 

 

 

 

After removing these, we can take a look at the internal ITX motherboard and all other pre-installed hardware like the cooling system, the frontal daughter-board, the SATA cables and so on:

 

 

 

The LGA1151v2 socket is surrounded by the VRM components; these do not feature extra heatsinks since the build was not designed for overclocking:

 

 

 

The cooling system has not changed a bit from the latest iterations and includes a push-pin retention system, with two heatpipes and one radiator:

 

 

 

Considering that we are talking about a 65W chipset cap for the installed CPUs, this type of cooling system should suffice:

 

 

 

The frontal daughter-board is linked to the motherboard with a slim data cable:

 

 

 

In the vicinity of the VRM, we will find the Richtek Dual Channel PWM controller with integrated driver:

 

 

 

The M.2 2280 slot does support SSD SATA storage and NVMe; not only 2280 format is supported, but also 2242 and 2260; nearby we do also have a red “Power on after Power fail” jumper:

 

 

 

As an alternative option, the XH310 motherboard can be supplied with a power source of 12V (given that the power supply comes with a 4-pin P4 ATX 12V female connector):

 

 

 

The 60mm fans are of PWM type and use the same header on the motherboard:

 

 

 

A secondary PWM header is also available for connecting extra cooling:

 

 

 

A MegaChips MCDP2800BC DisplayPort1.2-to-HDMI 2.0 converter can be also spotted nearby:

 

 

 

Two Intel WGI211AT Gigabit Ethernet controllers can be linked for double the throughput:

 

 

 

On the same side of the PCB we do have the XR34350 MaxLinear RS-232/RS-485/RS-422 serial transceiver with Internal Termination and wide output swing:

 

 

 

The CMOS battery is installed in a vertical manner, in order to conserve space on the PCB:

 

 

 

The well-known Realtek ALC662 CODEC takes care of the audio interface:

 

 

No less than three SATA ports are available on the board, two of which are already populated with cables:

 

 

The Intel chipset is covered by a small aluminum heatsink with fins:

 

 

 

The secondary M.2 slot is used for installing a WLAN adapter:

 

 

 

Plenty of unused headers are also visible on the board, for COM ports, LPC and nearby there is also the removable BIOS chip:

 

 

 

We can install up to 32GB of DDR4 SODIMM RAM and official supported frequencies are up to 2666MHz:

 

 

 

For conducting the tests, we have installed an Intel 760p series NVMe SSD of 128GB capacity:

 

 

 

Shuttle has also supplied a 2x4GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM CL17 Crucial kit from Micron:

 

 

 

We will also install the Wi-Fi kit (WLN-M) that holds at its core the AzureWave AW-CB209NF:

 

 

 

 

Here are also some shots with the installed hardware:

 

 

 

 

 

As expected, the XH310 board is offered with a standard Aptio Setup Utility BIOS, which handles like an old school GUI. The Main setup of the interface does display the BIOS version, installed CPU name, installed RAM quantity but also allows the user to adjust he system date/time:

 

 

 

The Advanced area comes with its own sub-sections:

 

 

 

If we do have a TPM security device, we can enable support for it in the respective area:

 

 

 

The Hardware Health Configuration area does allow fan speed control of both headers, but also displays the current temperatures, fan speeds and voltages:

 

 

 

 

From the CPU Configuration sub-section, we can adjust several CPU-related options, but also take a look at some of its specs:

 

 

 

The SATA Configuration menu allows us to take a look at the connected storage devices, but also enable/disable Hot Plug:

 

 

 

USB Configuration menu does only show the currently connected devices to the ports:

 

 

 

Several interfaces can be enabled/disabled from the Onboard Device Configuration menu:

 

 

 

Here we will be also able to set the config for the serial ports:

 

 

 

Shuttle did not omit to include Power Management options as well:

 

 

 

The Security menu allows the user to set a Supervisor and User password, enable/disable BIOS flash protection but also enable/disable Secure Boot:

 

 

 

Boot options are next:

 

 

 

The Exit menu does allow the user to Save/Discard or load Factory Defaults:

 

 

 

Before actually starting testing with the XH310, we picked up some more technical info with the help of the usual applications, such as CPU-Z and GPU-Z:

 

CPU

Caches

Mainboard

Memory

SPD

Graphics

 

Next, we did use AIDA64 for even more detailed information on the system:

 

CPU

Motherboard

Chipset

IMC

IGP

Memory

Storage

 

AIDA64

 

Cinebench R15

 

 

 

Blender Ryzen Render

 

 

PCMark 7

 

 

PCMark 8

 

 

SuperPI XS [2M]

 

X265 Benchmark 1080P 64-bit Normal

 

 

GeekBench 4

 

 

3DMark Vantage

 

 

3DMark 2013

 

 

Tomb Raider

Andrenaline Action Benchmark Presets

 

Hitman: Absolution

Andrenaline Action Benchmark Presets

 

Sleeping Dogs

Andrenaline Action Benchmark Presets

The 3-litre, XH310 slim barebone from Shuttle is very flexible in terms of configuration and supports the latest Coffee Lake Intel processors. We can install up to 32GB of system memory, CPUs up to 65W TDP (95W SKUs can be installed as well, but the chipset will limit the frequencies in order to avoid overheating), an NVMe SSD, a WiFi card and more. Besides the compact, NVMe SSD, we can also fill the unit with no less than two 2.5’’ drives and an optical drive; if the optical drive is not necessary, we can always purchase the PHD4 3.5’’ HDD rack for even more storage.

 

Since the unit is larger than the DH310 and features a more elaborated cooling system, it can run at maximum stress with lower peak CPU temperatures and this also translates and higher ratios and better overall performance.

 

 

 

In terms of power consumption, we have recorded a total of 13.3W in IDLE and 73.5W in Full Load; the cooling system is more silent as well versus the DH310 -> we have measured about 29.2 dBA in IDLE and 35.7 dBA in Full Load.

 

Shuttle does place at our disposal as optional hardware the vertical PS01 stand, the PV02 VESA mount accessory, the CXP01 cable for external push button switch but also the PCM31 bracket for installing three more COM ports, for development purposes.

 

The XH310 barebone has a RRP of 214 Euros excluding taxes, which is a good price for what we are getting.

Shuttle XPC Slim Barebone XH310 is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Shuttle Europe for making this review possible!