Review: Shuttle XPC P 2500G SFF PC

A super-charged PC crammed into a ridiculously small chassis

Shuttle is no stranger to good-looking PCs (check out our review of its M1000 Media Center) and the latest to hit the shelves is the XPC P 2500G - the fastest small form factor (SFF) PC we've ever seen.

The traditional black chassis is combined with light blue panels at the front, concealing Shuttle's own CR40 dual-layer DVD writer, a 3.5in drive bay and a selection of audio, USB and Firewire ports .

A multi-format card reader is situated just above the DVD drive.

As far as the processor goes, you don't get much faster than the Athlon 64 FX-60 from AMD .

We first saw this CPU in action with our review of the Mesh Xtreme FX60 and, more recently, in the super-charged Chillblast Atlantis Fusion, where the clock speed was bumped up to 2.9GHz.

Shuttle has decided to leave the FX-60 at its standard 2.6GHz, which is a wise decision since the small XPC SN25P case needs all the help it can get when it comes to keeping things cool.

However, Shuttle has clearly spent a fair amount of time designing the XPC to enhance airflow with separate cooling zones, for the processor, graphics card and hard drive sections of the case.

The underneath of the case has extra vents to aid cooling of the motherboard.

Using the Shuttle Smart Fan application, you can adjust the fan speed manually or alternatively leave it up to the PC to adjust the speed when necessary.

Given the relatively small amount of space inside, we were surprised to see Shuttle found room for one of ATI's Radeon X1900 XT cards.

This model comes from Connect3D and, although it's not the fastest (the X1900 XTX is ATI's current king of the hill) it's still a pacey little number.

The XPC P 2500G flew through our performance tests, clocking up a score of 273 in Sysmark 2004 SE.

The only PC to beat this is the Chillblast Atlantis Fusion, with its overclocked processor pushing Sysmark to a mind-boggling 320.

The single X1900 XT powered 3Dmark05 to 9,541, which a good score by anyone's standards and indicates it won't have any problems with the latest games.

It can't match some of the dual-graphics card PCs we've seen, but cramming two graphics cards in this diminutive case just isn't an option.

A single 250GB hard drive sits inside the case and, should you want to increase your storage capacity, two further 3.5in drives can be placed neatly above the PSU and optical drive at the top of the case.

As is always the case with Shuttle, you end up paying a fair amount for the name.

This system comes in at a staggering £2,300, and that doesn't include a monitor, keyboard or mouse.

However, this price isn't as outlandish as you might first think. For a start, just the processor and graphics card have a combined street price of around £1,000 - an FX-60 will set you back over £700, while the X1900 XT retails for around £300.

Despite the high-quality components, it still costs more than we expected it to.

But if you want a super-charged PC in a small and stylish case, there are few alternatives at present and Shuttle has done an excellent job with the XPC P 2500G.

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