Specifications and discussion
Specification
Thoughts
We can see that Shuttle's P2 3700G takes in the high-end SD37P2 XPC chassis that's based on Intel's i975X chipset and whose motherboard features 2 PCIe x16 physical slots, with compatibility for ATI's CrossFire multi-GPU support.
However, Shuttle has chosen to outfit this range-topping pre-built system with NVIDIA's GeForce 7950GX2 instead. It makes sense, we suppose, as the chassis can only accommodate two single-slot graphics cards for multi-GPU operation.
Intel's Core 2 Extreme X6800 provides the CPU oomph, which is plenty, but, at the time of writing, Shuttle has been unable to guarantee the required level of stability with Intel's Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (quad-core) processor to attain spec. confirmation.
4GiB of DDR2 RAM is the most we've seen any pre-built consumer-level system ship with, but the use of Windows XP Professional 32-bit means that the entire memory space is not addressable; more on this later.
There's no PCI expansion space and the rear I/O section doesn't carry the legacy ports that we've seen on other XPCs, so you need to ensure that the P2 3700G carries the requisite functionality for your purposes. That's why high-definition audio is routed from the ICH7R southbridge, via a Realtek ALC882, and out to the connections on the back. You won't be able to add in additional audio cards.
High-speed ports connectivity is good, with a single eSATA port being the standout feature.
Shuttle ships this XPC with its 400W SilentX PSU. It may be small in size but we encountered no stability-related issues during a weekend of testing.
This Shuttle P2 3700G, then, is an extremely high-specification XPC system that will appeal to the power user who requires portability and is limited by spatial considerations.
Let's take a closer look.
