Shuttle's Zen XPC ST62K small form factor system - The Tech Report

Shuttle's Zen XPC ST62K small form factor system
iCube
by Geoff Gasior — 2:00 AM on January 20, 2004

Manufacturer	Shuttle
Model	ST62K
Price (Street)	$320
Availability	Soon

SHUTTLE HAS made some long strides its first SV24 barebones system, but the delightful little cubes have actually put on weight along the way. As enthusiasts and gamers demanded more robust power supplies and support for AGP graphics cards, Shuttle's XPC cubes grew to accommodate those desires. However, not everyone needs a beefy power supply or the pixel-pushing prowess of a discrete graphics card.

For mainstream markets and applications that don't require discrete AGP graphics, Shuttle has whipped up a smaller, quieter "Zen" XPC ST62K system. By stripping the cube of its AGP slot and using a passively-cooled external power supply, Shuttle manages to make the ST62K nearly 20% smaller than current XPC systems. And thanks to ATI's Radeon 9100 IGP, the ST62K is still packing DirectX 8 graphics under the hood.

Is Shuttle's Zen concept a viable alternative to AGP-equipped XPC systems? Read on to find out.

The specs
Let's get things rolling with a peek at the ST62K's spec sheet.

CPU support	Socket 478-based Intel Pentium 4 processors
Form factor	Flex ATX (Shuttle form factor)
Chipset	ATI Radeon 9100 IGP
North bridge	ATI RS300
South bridge	ATI IXP 150
Interconnect	Intel Accelerated Hub (266MB/sec)
PCI slots	1 32-bit/33MHz
AGP slots	None
AMR/CNR slots	None
Memory	2 184-pin DIMM sockets Maximum of 2GB of DDR400/333/266 SDRAM
Storage I/O	2 channels ATA/100
Serial ATA	None
RAID	None
Legacy ports	1 PS/2 keyboard, 1 PS/2 mouse, and 1 Serial port
USB	4 USB 2.0 ports Additional two USB 2.0 ports via internal header
Firewire	2 IEEE 1394 Firewire ports via VT6307 Firewire controller
Audio	6-channel audio via IXP 150 integrated audio and ALC650 codec Rear-mounted analog front, rear, surround, and center outputs Front-mounted line in and microphone inputs, and headphone output Rear-mounted digital S/PDIF input and output ports (Tos-Link)
Video	Integrated Radeon 9100 IGP
Ethernet	10/100 Fast Ethernet via Realtek RTL8100C
BIOS	Phoenix AwardBIOS
Bus speeds	FSB: Default + 1-15MHz in 1MHz increments
Bus dividers	None
Voltages	CPU: default, 0.8250-1.5875V in 0.025V increments
Monitoring	Voltage, fan status, and temperature monitoring

Without an AGP slot, Serial ATA, or RAID capabilities, the ST62K's spec sheet looks a little sparse. However, the Zen's appeal has little to do with its paper specs. In fact, Apple fans may fall in love with the cube on sight.