XPC Tools is the long awaited system management program for Shuttle XPC barebones and complete Shuttle systems. XPC Tools allows Shuttle owners to monitor, control and dynamically adjust a variety of system components with features such as; overclocking support, dynamic adjustment of the ICE fan and other system fans, real time temperature monitoring and customization of the output on the Shuttle VFD kit. While XPC Tools currently fully supports only a handful of Intel based chipset Shuttle products, a wide number of the AMD based chipset units are supported by publicly available beta versions of XPC Tools.

XPC Tools Version 1.0 with a beta release of the ST20G5 profile was used for this review. Public release of XPC Tools 1.1 on 9/23/2005 may exhibit changes from the experiences described here.

This review was based off experiences and interaction with XPC Tools running BIOS version FT20SO15 on a stock configuration Shuttle XPC ST20G5 with an AMD 64 Venice 3200+ processor, 1 GB of GeIL ValueRAM running displays off of both the onboard VGA video and a Gigabyte Fanless X800XL, operating a Shuttle VFD from an SB83G5C.

Design:

Part of what makes Shuttle systems so appealing is the simplicity and beauty found in the design of their products. Upon first glance, it is clear that XPC Tools is no exception. Designed by the German firm Gesamtbild the XPC Tools interface is nothing short of gorgeous. The silver interfaces and menus have been placed on a black frame with subtle highlights creating the expectation that if one were to reach out and touch it, they would unquestionably feel the same brushed aluminum found on Shuttle XPCs.

Abandoning the typical MS Windows interface with their standard array of toolbars and buttons at the top of the window, XPC Tools opts for a row of buttons on the top and bottom of the main display frame. While it retains the Minimize, Scaling, and ?X? buttons found on all Windows programs, these function in XPC Tools in ways that may be unexpected for the average user. Instead of minimizing to the Windows Taskbar, the minimize button reduces XPC Tools to an icon in the Windows Notification area next to the Start Menu clock.

Installation:

Installing XPC Tools is a breeze thanks to the included setup program. However it is on the first run of XPC Tools where some users may encounter difficulties. XPC BIOS requires that the system be using the latest BIOS release for that model and version. Furthermore it appears necessary for those users who must update their BIOS, that the DMI data must also be cleared during that process. For users who have XPC Tools included on their Shuttle built system this requirement is negligible as the system should already have the latest BIOS installed. However for those users who purchased their Shuttle as a barebones and may very well be required to update their BIOS from an older version, they may find this extra step including a very specific type of BIOS update to be intimidating. For most users however, the use of XPC Tools will be worth any trials and tribulations required to get the system updated.

A variety of initialization errors and loss of certain functions inside the program have been reported for some Shuttle XPC models. It is important however to acknowledge that most of these versions remain unsupported or are in the beta testing stage with version 1.0. Version 1.1 can be expected to move some models into the beta testing stage and hopefully will graduate some to a full release. It is unusually critical that any users of XPC Tools read the included READ-ME file before beginning the installation process. The read-me file goes into significant depth with instructions on which users should update their BIOSes, gives step by step instructions for multiple methods used to do such an update, and lists acknowledged bugs and incompatibilities.

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• Features (1 of 6)
• Overclocking (2 of 6)
• Fan Control (3 of 6)
• Options (4 of 6)
• VFD (5 of 6)
• Conclusion (6 of 6)