Outside the box
One of the first things you'll notice about the SB86i is the fact that it's actually a little bigger than Shuttle's previous cubes. Here it is posed next to a G4 chassis.

As you can see, both cubes are about the same height. However, the SB86i is a little wider and a few inches deeper. It's still a small form factor, but it's not quite as small as some of Shuttle's previous XPC chassis. The SB86i isn't as light, either. Unlike Shuttle's other XPC models, which are crafted from aluminum, the SB86i's metal bits are steel. This makes for a sturdier chassis, but there's also a weight penalty. Our fully assembled SB86i test system tipped the scales at 20 lbs.—50% heavier than an identically-equipped P-series XPC.

The SB86i's heavy steel body is a bit of a chore to lug around, so it's less than ideal for LAN party rigs and portable systems. The thick steel skin may also radiate heat less effectively than aluminum, making the SB86i more reliant on its active cooling components.

From the front, the SB86i looks like something from Apple's styling department. The all-white face has an almost iMac feel to it, although the cube is otherwise dominated by smooth steel, making its aesthetic significantly less clinical than the iMac's.

The SB86i's most curious facial feature is a horizontal groove that runs across the top of the bezel. When I first saw pictures of the cube, I thought it might be a slot-loading optical drive. It's nothing nearly that fancy, though—just a light bar that glows blue when the cube is powered up. The slot also houses an orange hard drive access LED.

Like most of Shuttle's recent cubes, the SB86i neatly stealths optical drives behind a spring-loaded door. The door is triggered by an external eject button that can be reached regardless of whether the drive is open, and the trigger's internals are adjustable to ensure compatibility with a wide range of optical drives.

Rather than hiding the SB86i's front peripheral ports and card reader behind another spring-loaded door, Shuttle moves the ports and card reader to the left and right edges of the cube's face plate. The side-mounted ports allow for a much cleaner look, especially when multiple external devices are connected.

Shuttle also lines the left and right side of the SB86i's face plate with a generous amount of venting. These vents are part of the cube's front-to-back BTX cooling system, which also relies on a series of larger vents located just under the bottom lip of the face plate.

Although the SB86i follows BTX's cooling prescription in that air is channeled from the front of the case to the rear, it's the only BTX platform I've seen whose air intakes are spread around the edges of the system. Most BTX systems have a large air intake right up front, but I guess Shuttle thought a more obvious intake would blemish the SB86i's clean lines.

With plenty of air intakes at the front and little venting along the sides of the cube, it's no surprise that the SB86i's rear is riddled with exhaust holes. Air sucked into the front of the system is channeled right through to the back, aided by an 80mm exhaust fan that also cools the cube's power supply.

Apart from its ample venting, the SB86i looks pretty standard from behind. The port cluster is loaded with goodies, including digital and analog audio ports, a CMOS reset button, and a VGA output for the system's GMA 900 integrated graphics. I suppose it would have been nice if the cube had a DVI rather than VGA output, but if you're that serious about video, you probably want more pixel pushing power than the GMA 900 provides.

While we're looking at the SB86i from the rear, note that the expansion slots are located on the left rather than on the right. This, combined with the motherboard layout, has interesting implications for graphics card cooling and compatibility. More on that in a moment.