Things sure have come a long way since Shuttle introduced the SV24 in 2001. Over the last couple of years, Shuttle has gone about revising the style of is SFFs to include the “larger” P-series chassis. While the benefits to this are self evident, fans of the original G-series size remained. In recognition of this, Shuttle has continued to present new models based on this form factor. Both the “G” and the “G5” continue to be produced in varying form for different chipsets. Today, we take a look at the SD36G5M, Shuttle’s latest Intel based G form factor.
What differentiates this unit from the other G5s is the chipset. Specifically, this is the first Shuttle to include Intel’s new Viiv technology. Intended to incorporate home entertainment, this places the SD36G5M squarely in the media center market. Because this is so new, let’s take a brief look at Viiv technology.
Viiv - What is it?
Intel Viiv is Intel’s attempts to bring digital entertainment to the masses. Viiv requires that the computer have certain components, much the same way that a laptop can be referred to as a Centrino. Specifically, a Viiv computer requires that the computer have either a Pentium D, Core Duo or Pentium Extreme Edition processor, along with specific chipsets and components.
As Intel promotions indicate, Viiv should allow you to “take charge of your media”, “share experiences with movies, photos, and music with your friends and family”, and “simplify your digital life”. If you are starting to think, “I already do this without Viiv”, you would be correct. What Viiv really does is make the technology more consumer-friendly by putting a “stamp of approval” on hardware so that the buyer can feel confident that the media center experience will be simple and enjoyable. Whether this translates into greater market penetration for media center computers is something that will only be determined over time.
The SD36G5M barebones is Viiv-ready with a 945G chipset, on-board graphics accelerator, 7.1 audio, fast Ethernet, and VFD display. Whether the SD36G5 is Viiv-compliant depends on the components that you install. For example, installing a Pentium 4 will not make the SD36 Viiv compliant because single core Pentium 4s are not part of the Viiv specification. As tested with a Pentium D, DDR2, SATA drive, XP Media Center 2005, and a DVD-R/+R, our review sample was Viiv compliant.
Here is the tale of the tape:
Processor
Intel Pentium 4 and D LGA775 533/800/1066 MHz FSB, Dual core support, 64-bit enabled platform
Chipset
Intel 945G and ICH7R
Memory
2 x 240 pin DDR2 DIMM at 400/533 Dual channel support up to 2GB
Audio
Realtek ALC822 High Definition Audio with 7.1 channel support
LAN
Intel 82573L Gigabit LAN Network Controller 10/100/1000Gbps
PSU
SilentX 250W
Dimensions:
310mm(L) x 200mm(W) x 185mm(H)
On-Board Video
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
PCI
One
PCI-E
1 x16
Front Panel Connections
2 x USB 2.0 2 x Firewire 400 1 x Mic In 1 x Headphone Out 1 x Power Button 1 x Reset Button 1 x Power LED 1 x IDE Activity LED
Rear Panel Connections
2 x USB 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x Firewire 400 1 x Audio Front Out 1 x Audio Rear Out 1 x Audio Center/Bass Out 1 x Audio Line In 1 x SPDIF In 1 x RJ45 Gigabit LAN 2 x PCI Bays 1 x VGA connector 1 x Composite video out
Test Bench
Installing components into the SD36 was like every other G5. A screwdriver is needed to remove the drive cage and install the optical and hard drive. Although there is room for a floppy, we think the proliferation of USB thumb drives makes this bay better used with another hard drive. Cables are pre-run although a floppy cable is included but not installed, as is a second SATA cable.
As with all G-series chassis, the components fit snugly together, but without any real difficulty. There appears to be ample room for appropriate components.
We installed the following components for testing purposes:
Processor
Intel Pentium D 830 at 3.0GHz
Memory
2 x 256MB Partriot DDR-4200 533 MHz Modules
Video
Onboard
Storage
Western Digital Raptor SATA 36GB, 10K RPM
CD-RW
Sony CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM CRX320E
Benchmarks were run initially at stock settings. All testing was completed under Windows XP Media Edition with Chipset, Audio, Video and LAN drivers installed directly from the provided Shuttle Driver CD. Video display settings were set to 1024x768 with 32 bit color at 60Hz refresh rate.
DDR memory timings were set at AUTO for the entire test. All benchmarks were run three times to average the results. Three hours of continuous memory testing was used to validate memory timings prior to benchmarking.
