Shuttle SN85G4 XPC Preview: SFF Goes AMD64 by Article Admin
Friends, it?s finally here? Shuttle?s SN85G4 XPC sporting the brand new AMD Athlon 64 CPU, powered by nVidia?s nForce3 chipset. And as if that wasn?t enough, Shuttle has introduced a brand new case design with the SN85G4, denoted by the ?G4? suffix. But before you whip out that credit card, you better have a look at our preview?
Hats off to Shuttle for releasing the SN85G4 on the exact same day as the official launch of the AMD Athlon 64. Despite the complexities of a brand new CPU design and nVidia?s latest chipset, Shuttle has surprised us all by releasing the SN85G4 so soon. Similar to their synchronized release of the SN41 with the nVidia nForce2 Chipset, Shuttle has once again made it possible to immediately adopt state-of-the-art technology within a small form factor case design.
Just what was Shuttle able to cram into the SN85G4 in time to release this machine with the Athlon 64? Let?s take a look at the complete system specifications:
Shuttle SN85G4 XPC
Processor: AMD Athlon64 CPU with 200MHz FSB clock on 754-pin SMT Socket
Chipset: nVidia nForce3 150 Single Chip
Memory: 2x184 pin DDR SDRAM up to DDR400 (2GB Capacity)
Audio: Realtek ALC650 Six Channel AC?97 v2.1 Audio
LAN: Realtek 8201BL 10/100 Fast Ethernet
PSU: Enhance 240W 110/230V AC
Case Dimensions: 295mm(L) x 200mm(W) x 180mm(H)
SATA Storage: Dual Channel SATA RAID 0/1 (Silicon Image 3512a Controller)
PATA Storage: Dual Channel PATA ATA-100/133
On-Board Connectors:
2xUDMA 100/133 MB/s PATA IDE
2x150MB/s SATA IDE RAID
1xFDD Port
1xParallel Port
1xPCI Slot
1xAGP 8X Slot
1xCD In
1xMini CD In
1xAux In
3xFan Header
1xWireless Keyboard and Mouse Connector (WKMC)
Front Panel:
2xUSB 2.0
1xMini IEEE 1394a Firewire (4-Pin)
1xPower Button
1xReset Button
1xPower LED
1xHDD Activity LED
1xMic In
1xLine Out
1xHeadphone Out
1x6-in-1 Card Reader (CF-I/CF-II/SM/SD/MMC/MS)
Back Panel:
2xUSB 2.0
1xIEEE 1394a Firewire (6-Pin)
1xPS/2 Mouse
1xPS/2 Keyboard
1xAudio Rear Out
1xAudio Front Out
1xAudio Center/Bass Out
1xRJ45 LAN Port
1xSerial Port (9-pin)
1xParallel Port (SPP, EPP, ECP)
1xPCI Slot
1xAGP 8X/4X Slot
1xSPDIF In
1xSPDIF Out
The nForce3 150 chipset is actually a single chip solution, so you won?t find a separate Northbridge and Southbridge as in most standard chipset architectures. The main nForce3 chip is actually passively cooled with a fairly large heatsink. This is a nice change from the latest Intel 865 chipsets, some of which have actively cooled chipsets which contribute additional fan noise.
We’ve heard lots of rumors about whether or not the Athlon64 / nForce3 combination officially supports dual channel DDR. So does it? Actually, it does not. But it does feature a “double-wide” 128-bit data bus, which essentially will buy you the same performance as a 64-bit dual channel DDR system. The bottom line is, it’s a wash as far as performance is concerned, and you’ll most likely see this combination advertised as “dual channel” even though it’s actually technically “double-wide”. And remember folks, with the Athlon64, the memory controller is actually included on-die with the CPU, instead of being part of the nForce3 chipset.
Ironic that nVidia?s latest chipset does not, and apparently will not ever, include integrated video. Rumor has it this is due to AMD?s shift in design with the Athlon 64 series processors which include an on-die memory controller. We?re told on-board video performance suffers drastically when the memory controller is off chip, hence, nVidia opted to forgo a video option. You?ll need to throw in your favorite AGP card for this box.
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