Shuttle SZ68R5 unboxing video!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This has the Z68 chipset and a 500W PSU:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LinusTechTips#p/u/9/VX28ay0By6k

It also has SRT support,a mini-PCIE slot,PCI-E 2.0 1X and a PCI-E 2.0 16X slots.

There is also a new front fascia.

Edit!!

The picture is not clickable!!

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Shuttle tell me that these should be going to retailers late in Feb.
They are bringing one to BETT 12 in London this week, and then they have said that I can have it So next week I should have one and will write a review for the forum.

Shuttle were seriously underplaying the overclocking ability of the machine when I spoke to them in TW, which does seem rather odd as its a Z68 chipset. I look forward to trying it out with regards overclocking.

They gave it for you for free?? How did you manage that one??

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Shuttle gave it to me as a gift because of my collection. I am allowing them to use the photos of my ever growing collection. It was pure good will on thier part and i'm very greatful. I just contacted them to find out when it would be for sale and things went from there.

After they see what I did to one of their cases,there is no such hope for me:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18111519

Using your new contacts at Shuttle - is there any chance of knowing when they will start selling their cases only??

They said they were going to do so in an interview with Bit-tech last year.

So far there is no noise and it was the main reason I modded by old G2.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If Shuttle can provide mini-ITX support for their cheaper SFF systems,then why not the high end ones like this case??

I am a massive Shuttle fan,but I am not going to look at their actions through rose-tinted glasses too.

The market has changed unlike, even in the time when I assembled my SF37P2 based computer.

The higher end Shuttle SFF PCs are expensive for what they offer now(if you consider the lack of upgradeability) and even if you look at the motherboard in SZ68R5, it seems basic for a Z68 motherboard - probably fine for an H67 one. A 4 phase VRM is probably OKish,but open chokes and only a 4 pin ATX power connector?? I have only seen open chokes on sub £50 socket 1155 mATX motherboards and usually OEM ones at that too. Intel used to have them on their reference motherboards have now moved away from using them.

They seriously need to get off their backsides and improve BIOS development too.

In the past this was fine as the competition was non-existent. It is not the case now. It is a shame as they make lovely cases IMHO.

On top of this you have ZERO upgrade paths making most Shuttles a one shot disposable system. I can put up with the limitations of their motherboards but this is not an excuse any more.

Do Shuttle sell you motherboards as an upgrade cycle?? Can I get a Haswell(or whatever Intel has at the time) compatible motherboard for the SZ68R5 in two to three years??No.

The next best thing is mini-ITX compatibility,but they gimp this on the high end systems too!

Shuttle keeps making noises(official ones) about selling the motherboards and even the cases and PSUs but nothing ever happens.

So basically the WHOLE system is a dead end. You have a lovely case and a decent SFF 300W or 500W PSU which essentially you will need to chuck away if you want to get a new Shuttle system. For the higher end systems which cost £300 to £350,that means chucking away around £200 to £250 of case and PSU away.

Even if your newish system is outside the warranty and the motherboard dies,you will be lucky to even find a replacement motherboard,and even then they charge so much it might make more sense to get just another Shuttle system(or not).

You basically are buying another case and another PSU again. In most instances the newer case and PSU are probably similar too.

In 2007 Shuttle made noises about selling motherboards:

http://www.techspot.com/news/25531-shuttle-to-sell-standalone-xpc-motherboards.html

That never materialised.

They then say the market for their motherboards is too small nearly 4 years later. Fair enough. They add mini-ITX support to the steel J1,J2 and J3 series. They then find a way to do it with the all-aluminium R4 series but then decide it is not possible for the newer Z5 series.

Have a look at this interview last year:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/pcs/2011/02/24/shuttle-talks-shop-and-previews-its-sh67h3/1

"However, this conversation did lead onto the exclusive revelation that Shuttle will be launching a series of standard mini-ITX bare chassis. This is a clever move, because current mini-ITX cases are often too expensive or lacking in aesthetic appeal, and Shuttle's XPC designs are consistently some of the best out there. Shuttle explained that these cases will all feature space for a dual PCI-E, and will likely come pre-fitted with its 250W, 300W and 500W PSUs, the latter of which is 80Plus Bronze certified."

So,if they are developing mini-ITX compatible Shuttle cases,using their existing SFF PSUs,why does the new high end range not have mini-ITX support??

However,its been a year now and I guess that there is a good chance we won't see the mini-ITX compatible cases now!!

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

To CATCH-THE-FIFTH

Thanks for clarifying your thoughts, very interesting comments and disapointing to hear how things have been 'promissed' but not delivered I also apprechiate you moving this into this thread and out of the review, thank you.

Let me just comment that I have no bias in my comments, i'm fairly neutral and just like to understand things a little.

Firstly, can you tell me how you know the SZ68R5 has a 4 phase VRM? I'm not doubting it, I just can't find any data on this and would like some evidence before mentioning it in my review. ta.

You can see 4 chokes on the motherboard which is generally indicative of a 4 phase setup. Of course generally having six or eight phases should help with overclocking(less stress on phases) although a 4 phase VRM can be decent if beefier components are used.

Mini-ITX Z68 based motherboards have 4 phases VRMs and are fairly limited for overclocking.

The Shuttle motherboard should be able to fit a six phase VRM TBH. The SX48P2E had an 8 phase VRM and very decent cooling:

http://www.shuttle.eu/_archive/old/en/www.shuttle.eu/images/sx48p2_mb.jpg

The SX58H7 had a 6 phase VRM and decent cooling:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/shuttle-sx58h7-sff,2282-3.html

It had an 8 pin EPS power connector.

Socket 1155 does consume less power than socket 1366,but a 6 phase VRM and a 8 pin EPS connector would mean you could get a bigger overclock.

Look at the SZ68Z5 motherboard:

http://home2.btconnect.com/motormice/PhotoAlbums/album_1327182435/IMG_3779.JPG

Secondly, I'm a bit confused by your comments about the quality of the motherboard on the SZ68R5. As far as I can see all the mini-ITX motherboards with the Z68 chipset only use a 4 pin ATX connector. Due to space, I doubt they use more in the way of VRM as well becuase space is even more of a premium on Mini-ITX. The Shuttle motherboard includes 4 ram slots and an mSata slot, which I cant see on other Mini-ITX boards. All i'm saying is that the Shuttle board is not lacking and because its a little bigger it does have some extra benifits. I fully accept you comments on the Bios though. We are not likely to be impressed with the features Shuttle offer.

The motherboard uses open chokes which seem a slightly cheap option AFAIK. However,the lack of an eight pin ATX is surprising as it means less power can be supplied to the motherboard. However,I suspect the VRM design used by Shuttle is limited and it is indicated by the relatively small heatsinks for the VRMs.

But overclocking should be better than a mini-ITX motherboard as the parts are not bunched together.

With regards the cost. I think the Shuttle barebones systems actually represent quite good value. A case, Motherboard, Heatsink and PSU for between £220 (SH67H3) and probably £300 (SZ68R5 with the 500w PSU). If you were to build a similar system of components it would be something like... Motherboard £65, Case £100, PSU £65 and Heat Sink £30 so in the region of £260. I do accept your comments about upgrading and am 100% agreed that motherboard upgrades should be made available. It's not really fair to say that we have to throw away an old system though, Shuttles have a very good second hand market value, so it is easy enough to sell the old one and then buy a new one... unless you are like me and just keep them all LOL.

I think if the Shuttle systems had an upgrade path they would be more popular. I personally know a few people who have been put off by this and got mini-ITX systems. Another complaint is the proprietary motherboards are expensive and hard to get hold of if you need to replace one outside the warranty. I remember the P2 series had a unique PSU which at times was very hard to get hold off and generally failed after a few years. I know people who were put off ever buying a Shuttle again after bad experiences with getting parts for their P2 systems.

The next best thing is mini-ITX compatability.

The H3 systems have dropped in price which makes them decent for the price, but I wish they allowed mini-ITX motherboards like the cheaper R4 series. However,the R4 is not as nice as the H7 and Z5 series.

If the SZ68R5 and SH67H7 had mini-ITX compatability I probably would have got one.

Thinking about the case and fitting any Mini-ITX motherboard. I think that this must be a difficult one for Shuttle. Thier market is and has always been providing a barebones system. I suspect thier cases alone would appear expensive in the market, there are already cases out there as well. Shuttle clearly have a neiche market and are worried about 'rocking the boat'.

As I said before, my comments are nothing more than my thoughts, I mean no offence and do understand your frustration. There is no real point in getting too upset though, as customers we can make our desires known, but as a business thay have to decide if its commercially viable and if they want to develop in that area.... we will never have any control over that.

Hope my comments are taken in the manor intended

I suppose - but at least if they sold their own motherboards as upgrades it would be a good start IMHO.