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Shuttle readies CrossFire XPC

But only for Intel

Computex 2006 Shuttle's new XPC SD37P2 with CrossFire support - the follow-up to last year's SLI-enabled XPC - was shown up and running at Computex this week. It’s built in the new P2 series of chassis. it’s based on the i975X chipset and it features dual x16 PCI Express slots.

There are also four DIMM slots for DDR 2 memory, it’s Core 2 Duo-compatible and does of course have 7.1-channel sound on board. Some of you might also be interested to know that it’s got a 350W PSU but you can only use single-slot cards, which means that you can’t run top-of-the-range cards in CrossFire mode.

XPC_CrossFire

Using the same chassis is the SN27P2, which is Shuttle's first Socket AM2 XPC. It's based on Nvidia's nForce 570 Ultra chipset with, again, four memory slots and 7.1-channel sound but only one x16 PCI Express slot.

The SS31T is a completely new design from Shuttle and it’s the company’s second attempt at a BTX barebone. However, this time around it has grown quite a bit and this is by far the largest system Shuttle has ever produced. It’s going to be cheaper than most XPC models and it works with any 800MHz and 533MHz FSB Pentium 4 or Pentium D processor. It has integrated SiS graphics, a x16 PCI Express slot and a standard PCI slot for expansion. The case is made from mild steel rather than aluminium which means that the cost of manufacture is a lot lower than it is for the XPCs.

Finally, the X100 got its lid removed to reveal what goes on inside the smallest system yet from Shuttle. Ken Huang, who is the main designer at Shuttle, told Reg Hardware that the company decided to go with a 3.5in SATA drive instead of a 2.5in hard drive due to the lower cost and larger capacity of the drives. Processor-wise the X100 will work with Core Duo processors, but it might not work with the upcoming Core 2 Duo processors.

Shuttle is using an Axiom module for the graphics card and the default chip is an ATI Mobility Radeon X1400. This might not be a very powerful graphics solution for a gamer, but Ken told us that it is upgradeable - although as a consumer it is likely to be hard to get hold of Axiom modules.

The memory can be configured in dual-channel mode and there’s also a mini PCI Express slot for network cards. Finally, there’s an internal USB port to which a USB Bluetooth dongle or a small wireless keyboard or mouse receiver can be fitted.

shuttle_xpc_x100

No launch dates where confirmed, but most of the models will be available within the next three months. ®

Full Computex coverage at Reg Hardware

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