Slender and shiny, the Shuttle XPC ST20G5 demonstrates mainstream appeal.
Shuttle’s small form factor barebones case and motherboard kits have given the company a deserved reputation for creating quiet, high-performance powerhouses. Now the introduction of a mainstream chipset in the XPC ST20G5 suggests a change of direction.
The system is based on ATI’s Radeon Xpress 200P chipset with integrated graphics, used mainly in notebooks (such as Acer’s Ferrari F4005WLMi, see page 47), desknotes, and occasionally in HP media centre PCs. The 200P’s DirectX 9-compatible graphics adaptor is roughly equivalent to the performance of a Radeon X300-based card.
The Shuttle XPC ST20G5 has a Socket 939 for use with AMD Athlon 64 and X2 processors. Also included is a single 16x PCI Express slot for discrete graphics (though physically larger or double-width cards wouldn’t fit into the cramped interior) and a PCI slot for expansion. Space for one SATA hard disk drive, optical drive and floppy is available, but that’s all.
While the 240W power supply is ample for the integrated components, high-end video cards may suffer due to the low power available. VGA and DVI connectors output from the integrated graphics, so both traditional CRT and modern LCD monitors are directly supported. A Realtek ALC880-driven, 7.1-channel audio output is on the rear panel, along with optical S/PDIF input and output connectors.
APC Labs built the XPC ST20G5 up with an Athlon X2 4800+, 512MB of DDR and a Seagate SATA hard disk drive. After some initial difficulties installing an updated BIOS for the X2 support, the system was fast and responsive under 2D tasks. Attempts at benchmarking it with the X2 were hindered, however, with both PCMarkO4 and PCMarkO5 reporting wildly inaccurate scores. Swapping the CPU to an Athlon FX-55 (single core) processor brought the benchmarks into line, and the system subsequently scored 4,688 in PCMarkO4. The total score was let down by the internal graphics; though powerful compared with older onboard graphics solutions, this iteration still dramatically lags behind standalone cards.
The Radeon Xpress 200 chipset is reasonable and performance with a video card installed was good. However, the single PCI slot reduces its usefulness as a media centre and limited power narrows the options for installing performance video cards.
Shuttle’s design for the XPC ST20G5 is thoughtful, its internal components are easy to access and install, and the finished system stays cool and quiet. But while it’s a competent system, it’s difficult to get excited about either the features or performance.

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