External II
The rear is no less feature packed. We'll concentrate on the bottom panel first. 2 COM ports sit to the left of the 10/100 LAN port. Below, we have the VGA connection that's powered by the on-board Intel i830 graphics chip. S/PDIF in, 2 1394a (Firewire) ports, and a further 2 USB2.0 ports give us an increased range of connectivity options. Standard PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports find their way on to the SB51G. Lastly, we have the output jacks powered from the on-board sound (Front, rear, and subwoofer support). Shuttle have kept this configuration intact from the transition from SS51G to SB51G.
The two slots on the right-hand-side are of some interest. The furthest right represents the AGP slot, essential if you're planning to add a dedicated graphics card. We're also given one 33MHz PCI slot. Considering most of the features are integrated, one PCI slot will be enough for the majority of people.
In terms of extras, we have the essential power lead, 2 manuals; one of which outlines the installation process of the various components, the other gives us a comprehensive understanding of the micro-sized FB51 i845GE motherboard. Quite importantly, they're both well written and even novice users should be able to build and re-build the SB51G with the minimum of fuss. The various screws required for full assembly are included, naturally.
A 21cm ATA100 IDE cable, a longer, twisted IDE cable, and a floppy drive cable are included to ensure that you can setup your devices easily. This is one instance where the thin Serial ATA cables would have come in handy. A driver CD containing the necessary utilities and drivers for the plethora of on-board features completes the package.
It certainly looks good. With an aluminium cover and diminutive size, it weighs in at under 3KG; that's impressive considering it's packing a PSU, motherboard, cooler, and chassis.
Let's now take off the cover and see just how it manages to integrate a considerable number of features into such a small chassis.
