Thoughts, HEXUS.awards & HEXUS.right2reply
I didn't specifically look at the performance of the integrated graphics, despite them being an important feature of the XPC, for brevity. It's not a high-performance graphics core compared to anything above £30 spent on a discrete graphics board. A pair of pixel units and a single vertex unit, clocked at up to 350MHz, see to that. However, while performance in 3D applications isn't stellar, the IGP core does bequeath the ST20G5 with a very important peripheral feature that enhances its appeal massively.SurroundView, where you pair an ATI IGP graphics core with an ATI discrete graphics chip, allows you to run three displays with only a single add-in board. While it won't appeal to all users, those considering an ST20G5 should seriously ponder making use of it, since it works so well and you're provided with a DVI output to use with it. Paired with another dual-DVI ATI add-in board and you have yourself a relatively inexpensive means to run three digital displays from a single PC. As a dual-display user myself, I find myself longing for a third head to put application windows on while I work, and going back to the restrictive nature of a single display would cause me huge productivity problems. For a PC user like myself, that feature of the ST20G5 makes it worth serious consideration.
Secondary to that, it pairs Socket 939 with PCI Express for the most potent gaming platform available at the time of writing. Nothing can beat the gaming performance of an Athlon 64 processor, paired with the power of a high-end PCI Express graphics board. While the supply issue of ATI's - with ATI supplying the GPUs you'll want to use with the ST20G5 - high-end SKUs on AGP being a little better than it used to be, the forward-thinking PC user will be looking to PCI Express for his or her next graphics purchase, if they haven't done so already. The ST20G5 is a fine, albeit really ATI-only at the time of writing, host for those endeavours.
Additional features are strong, with the ULi southbridge giving you a competent audio implementation with Realtek's ALC880 HD Audio CODEC doing the output for you. USB2.0 performance, while not explicitly measured by me for this article, isn't as strong as you'll find elsewhere, but it's passable for many uses. Where it would maybe let you down, say with an external hard disk, there's always FireWire400 to fall back on.
All wrapped up in the very stylish G5 XPC chassis, the ST20G5 has a whole lot going for it. Until Shuttle pair nForce4 with the G5 chassis, there's arguably no better teeny PC to place a Socket 939 CPU and a PCI Express graphics board into.
That's not to say it's without its problems, not least of all my inability to make any NVIDIA graphics board work with it for more than a very short period of time before the system became unstable, and my frustration with the optical drive fitment, but if you're willing to overlook the performance and chassis foibles (nothing's perfect), it makes a great case for itself. Realistically, you're limited to a single hard disk, too.
That all said and considered, I'm very tempted to switch to the ST20G5 for my main PC system, and at the very least it's made me consider a full ATX RS480 board (if I can find one with a DVI output) for my future three-display adventures. That's a fair recommendation.
SurroundView in such a powerful, small space is what really sells this Shuttle XPC to me. If that appeals to you, go forth and purchase. After the disappointment of the last Shuttle XPC I looked at, the ST20G5 redeems the Taiwanese SFF giant very well. Recommended.
HEXUS Awards
Shuttle XPC ST20G5
