System setup and notes
Here's a quick rundown of the test system should you wish to compare benchmark results with your own.- Shuttle XPC SB75G2 Canterwood SFF system (flashed to 25/2/2004 BIOS)
- Shuttle XPC ST62K Zen SFF system (28/1/2004 BIOS)
- EPoX Mini Me eX5-300S SFF System (17/10/2003 BIOS)
Other components
- Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz Northwood
- ATI Radeon 9
Software
- Windows XP Professional
Our benchmarks provide an objective assessment of each system's potential. The inherent trouble in using them for a product like the Zen XPC lies with the cube's intended purpose. It's clearly not meant to seriously challenge the performance might of the SB75G2, especially in gaming benchmarks conducted with a discrete Radeon 9800 XT video card. We'll still run through the usual tests and comment on either cube's strength or failing, but please bear in mind that benchmarks shouldn't automatically dictate what's best.
Zen notes
A quick word regarding the Zen's 2D. In a word, decent, and far superior to Intel's Extreme Graphics 2 onboard video's, for example. The Smart Fan setting and passively cooled PSU made for an extremely quiet system. TV output was crisp and sharp. It does the things that it's designed for well.
SB75G2 notes
The SB75G2 is more of a known quantity. Our sample managed to hit 275MHz FSB without compromising stability in the least, so all users with a special 2.4GHz M0 P4 chips may be relishing the thought of some high FSB action. The 250w SilentX PSU was happy powering a Radeon 9800 XT 256MB graphics card, an 160GB hard drive and a DVD-RW.
Running speeds were as follows:
3207.3MHz - Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz / Shuttle XPC SB75G2 (Canterwood i875P)
3200.5MHz - Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz / EPoX Mini Me eX5-300S SFF (Springdale i865G)
3192.6MHz - Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz / Shuttle XPC ST62K Zen (Radeon 9100 IGP)
There were no problems encountered during installation. Benchmarks were run three times and carried out at 1024x768x32 85Hz unless otherwise stated. The highest and lowest results were discarded.
