Layout and features
The micro-ATX form factor specifications almost dictate a perfectly square motherboard; that seems to be the case here. For all intents and purposes, the Shuttle MN31N is simply missing the two or three additional PCI slots on a standard ATX motherboard. Unlike a number of other manufacturers, Shuttle have kept the four mounting holes around the CPU ZIFF socket, although mounting larger, aftermarket coolers goes against this board's raison d'etre. It's interesting to see USB-style headers for COM ports sitting just above the socket. With dual VGA taking up valuable space on the backplane, Shuttle have had to resort to mounting COM ports on the board itself. A bracket is provided for you to use the COM port immediately.
It's all a little busy here. That's to be expected on a motherboard that sacrifices a little PCB real estate. As the nForce2 is capable of running in dual channel configuration, Shuttle have thoughtfully colour-coded the two required DIMM slots. A second fan header sits in an unusual place. Again, the proximity of the DDR slots to the 8x AGP slot means that you should install system memory first. A 4-pin 12v power connector sits in close attendance to the AGP slot. You do have to have this connected for the system to boot correctly. It spins up without it, but doesn't POST.
The nForce2 IGP northbridge is passively cooled by a large aluminium heatsink. It did become quite warm to the touch.
The MN31N uses a bank of 3300uF capacitors for effective power regulation. As stability is the number one priority for motherboards destined to be used by OEMs and system integrators, everything else, including performance, comes second.
The MCP-T (media and communication processor - T for Turbo) is a Godsend to system integrators. As mentioned previously, it supports, amongst other things, 6 USB2.0 ports, 2 integrated LANs (one featured here), 6 PCI slots (3 used here), 6-channel sound with the capability of encoding dolby digital on the fly via the impressive NVIDIA APU, Firewire support, and ATA133 operation. Pretty good, huh ?. That takes away the need for separate controllers. The only feature missing is the provision for Serial ATA, something the new Intel ICH5 will bring to the specification table. You can see two Firewire headers in the foreground with a Realtek RTL8801B PHY. The nForce2 still requires for its features to be physically routed to the headers or ports. Realtek provide this with their PHYs (physical layers).
The bottom-left of the board hosts the S/PDIF header for digital transfers and a further two Realtek PHYs (ALC650 and RTL8201BL for sound and LAN respectively). We lose a little sound resolution as the MCP S.B is capable of delivering 20-bit audio, whilst the Realtek PHY delivers 18-bit at best.
You'll know that NVIDIA like to push their video cards' Twinview features. This is actually quite pertinent to the systems that the MN31N will find itself in. Having the ability to run two displays through an intuitive GUI is a bonus. I must temper this by stating that the on-board GeForce4 MX's 2D clarity at 1280x1024x32 left a little to be desired, especially if you're used to ATi's excellent 2D. You may be wondering how we get 6-channel sound from three jacks ?. The green jack gives you the front two speakers, the blue jack (line-in) doubles up as the rear speakers output, with the pink jack (Mic-in) providing centre / subwoofer support. The various speaker options are contained in the nifty NVIDIA audio control panel. The backplane fits in perfectly with standard ATX specifications.
The board's layout is pretty good considering the number of features it carries.
A deceptively powerful system can be based on this micro-ATX motherboard. An XP2700, 2 x 256MB Mushkin PC3500, and ATi Radeon 9800 Pro add the power to the potential.
