Introduction

The trend of having Small Form Factor PCs is clearly taking off really well in the recent years and it has become no doubt one of the top option among PC buyers who pursue looks, compactness as well as performance. Shuttle for the past few years has established a brand name and leadership which most people would associate when it comes to SFF PCs and they have expect shipments of XPCs to continue to grow in the upcoming years. Shuttle is a very exciting company as viewed by many and there are a lot more innovative and interesting XPCs to be launched in time to come. As for Soldam, if this is the first time you are hearing about them, they are actually a company based in Japan which produces really high quality computer cases. When I say high-quality, I really mean HIGH-QUALITY! Coolermaster and LianLi are 2 of the top case-manufacturers, but Soldam really goes one level higher. What’s so special about their cases? Well firstly, Soldam creates really unique looking cases, like the Prism. And secondly, their cases come in a wide range of colors to suit your individual preference.

The interesting part is that Shuttle and Soldam have close working relationship for quite some time particularly on the case designs and components. Soldam does not produce its own motherboards. Thus, the XPCs that they sell come with Shuttle XPC mobos. Soldam’s cases do come at a premium. This is mostly due to the high shipping cost from Japan. The Altium RS4 Claire costs almost US$ 500 exclusive of shipping. With shipping, the cost can go up to US$ 600! The Soldam Altium RS4 Claire is based on the Shuttle FB61 mobo, which is exactly the same mobo as that used in Shuttle’s SB61G2. Thus, there is no worry about future BIOS or driver updates as all these can be downloaded directly from Shuttle’s website. The Japanese website which has a larger variety of cases is at http://www3.soldam.co.jp while the US website is http://www.soldam.com

VR-Zone will take a close look at two of the newest models from Shuttle and Soldam, the SB75G2 and Altium RS4 respectively. First of all, let’s compare the specifications for both SFFs. 

SB75G2 External

The SB75G2 case is made of black brushed aluminum, which makes for a very cool and stylish look.

 

The front panel holds the power and IDE activity LED, the power and reset switches, two USB 2.0 ports, a firewire 4-pin port and the mic-in, line-in and headphone connectors.

 

Shuttle has wisely opted for a case cover with meshed wire on both sides for better ventilation and cooling purposes.

 

The back panel of the SB75G2 comes with 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 serial ports, 1 firewire 6-pin port, 3 audio headers, PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, SPDIF In and Out ports and most importantly, a Gigabit LAN connection.

SB75G2 Internal

The SB75G2 supplied to us came with an unlabelled PSU. What was good was that the PSU had one SATA power connector. This is especially useful for people who are running SATA devices and this will eliminate the need for them to buy a molex to SATA power converter.

 

I emailed Shuttle tech support for more info on the specs of the PSU and was promptly told that the SB75G2 will ship with a 220W PSU. Apparently, there will be 2 different models of the 220W PSU and depending on availability, users will get either of the two models pictured above. (Pics provided by Shuttle Taiwan)

 

Different views of the side with the case cover, fan shroud and heat pipe removed.

 

The floppy header is located right under the PSU just like all the other Shuttle XPCs. This location is very difficult to reach, but it does not really matter if you do not plan on installing any floppy drives. In addition, the BIOS can be easily flashed from within windows through a program available from Shuttle’s website called Winflash.

 

The front of the mobo contains the dual PATA IDE connectors. In addition, the dual SATA headers are located just right at the edge of the mobo for easy access, together with the yellow clear CMOS jumper. The dual dimm slots can also be easily accessed without much difficulty. A heatsink and fan is needed to cool the Intel chipset as seen above.

 

The central portion of the mobo contains the cpu socket and AGP and PCI slots.

 

The back of the mobo contains the SPDIF headers and also the various connectors on the back of the panel.

SB75G2 BIOS

The ram speed and timings can be set manually or by SPD.

 

Different options to configure the SATA. The SATA can be set to run in either IDE or RAID mode.

 

There are many options to configure the fan speed, depending on whether you want near-silent operation or temperature-dependent cooling or just maximum cooling throughout.

 

The frequency/voltage controls allow a wide range of settings for the hardcore overclocker. FSB ranges from 100 to 355fsb. The AGP/PCI/SATA clock can also be locked at 66/33/100 MHz for more stable overclocking.

 

CPU Vcore options range from 0.8250V to 1.5875V in 0.0125V increments. The voltage range is very wide but the highest Vcore possible is only 1.5875V. Overclockers will be limited by the lack of higher Vcore options.

 

DDR voltage options: AUTO, 2.65V, 2.70V, 2.75V
AGP voltage options: AUTO, 1.55V, 1.60V, 1.65V

SB75G2 Installation

Installation is extremely straight-forward and simple. The Installation Guide included in the bundle is detailed with full-colored pictures and clear instructions. You can’t go wrong following the guide.

The SB75G2 comes with a removable bay which allows easy installation of one 5.25” device and two 3.5” devices.

The I.C.E Technology heatpipe is an impressive looking heatsink with a fan shroud covering the upper portion to allow more efficient air-flow and cooling across the numerous fins. The copper portion is very smooth and well-polished.

 

The fan shroud can be easily removed through the 4 thumb-screws which secure it to the case from the back. An 80mm Sunon case fan is included to help dissipate the heat from the I.C.E Technology heatpipe, which has proven to be pretty effective in keeping the Shuttle XPC cool despite the cramped interior. Installation of the heatpipe is simple and idiot-proof.

 

One thing which I really liked was that Shuttle installed 4 rubber washers on the fan shroud so as to minimize the vibrations caused by the fan.

In addition, Shuttle has also installed black rubber strips across the metal parts which help to hold the IDE and floppy cables in place. This will reduce chances of the cables being cut by the sharp edges of the metal.

 

Mandrake Bundle

Remember earlier on, we mentioned that the SB75G2 comes with 2 Mandrake CDs? Well, Shuttle has announced that they will be bundling MandrakeSoft Inc’s Mandrake Linux 9.1 with every SB52G2, SB62G2 and SB75G2 XPCs, beginning from Computex 2003. All 3 XPCs have been tested and certified compatible with Mandrake Linux 9.1.

Below are just some screenshots of the Mandrake installation process which I tried:

You will need to insert the first disc during windows.

After which, the computer will reboot and go into the Mandrake installation screen where you will be required to configure some options.

 

After configuring the options, you will be required to partition and format your harddisk for installation of Mandrake.

 

And the copying process will then take place automatically after a partition is created and formatted.

 

Overall, I did not encounter any problems during the installation nor operation of Mandrake 9.1 on the SB75G2.

Altium RS4 External

This is an isometric view of the Altium RS4. The sides look really weird, don’t you agree?? More on that later on.

 

The case is made of silver-colored aluminum and the front looks really stylish and modern. There are two 5.25” slots as compared to just one on the Shuttle XPCs. This allows more expansion possibilities. In addition, notice that there is a meshed vent located under the floppy drive slot. This allows cooling of the hdd and the rams slots with fresh air intake through it. This is a really great idea for reducing temperatures in what is already a very cramped and hot case.

 

The power and IDE activity LED are located on the left side of the front of the case together with the reset and power switch. The centre bottom of the front panel holds two USB 2.0 ports, a firewire 4-pin port and the mic-in, line-in and headphone connectors.

 

A side view of the case with the cover on

You can see that the cover is actually meshed entirely. It’s made of 2mm thick aluminum and is strong and sturdy. With holes throughout the entire cover, this allows for much better air intake or exhaust, resulting in much lower temperatures throughout the entire case.

 

This is the back of the case. Notice that there are no SPDIF connectors like the SB75G2.

 

The connectors on the back panel include 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 serial port, 1 VGA output, 1 firewire 6-pin port, 3 audio headers, PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, a 10/100 LAN port.

 

The fan used by the Soldam Altium RS4 is a 92mm fan as opposed to the 80mm Sunon fan on the SB75G2. A larger fan allows more air to be pushed at a much lower volume than a smaller sized fan. This is another good design idea by Soldam to help reduce the noise level.

 

These are the 3 thumbscrews used to secure the cover to the case at the back. Notice that there is a plastic washer on every screw. This prevents the screw from scratching the surface of the cover or the case. Shuttle also uses thumbscrews for its cover but Soldam has really gone the extra mile here.

Altium RS4 Internal

The 200W PSU used by Soldam is the exact same Achme 200W PSU used by Shuttle in their XPCs.

 

Different views of the side of the case with the cover and PSU unit removed.

 

The front, middle and back sections of the mobo are almost identical to the SB75G2 mobo, except for minor differences. This is to be expected since the Intel 875 and 865 chipsets are almost identical, differing only in the PAT capability of the 875.

Altium RS4 BIOS

The Altium RS4 has already been flashed to the latest s03a version of the P-bios from Shuttle.

The ram speed and timings can be set manually or by SPD. Notice that there is a “TURBO MODE” option. This option supposedly enables PAT on the 865G chipset. However, various users have tested it and reported no increase in performance at all when set to enabled.

 

There are many options to configure the fan speed, depending on whether you want near-silent operation or temperature-dependent cooling or just maximum cooling throughout.

 

The frequency/voltage controls allow a wide range of settings for the hardcore overclocker. FSB ranges from 100 to 355fsb. The AGP/PCI/SATA clock can also be locked at 66/33/100 MHz for more stable overclocking.

 

CPU Vcore options range from 1.100V to 1.850V in 0.025V increments. The voltage range is very wide and the highest Vcore possible is 1.85V. Overclockers will definitely be delighted by the high Vcore.

 

DDR voltage options: AUTO, 2.65V, 2.70V, 2.75V
AGP voltage options: AUTO, 1.55V, 1.60V, 1.65V

Altium RS4 Installation

Notice that the PSU can be unscrewed and swung out for easier accessibility to the cpu socket, the floppy header and other components. This will make installation much easier.

The Soldam Altium RS4 is different from the SB75G2 and other Shuttle XPCs in that there is no removable drive cage. Instead the dual 5.25” bays and the floppy drive bay are attached to the chassis of the case while only the hdd cage is removable. Just unscrew the hdd cage and it can be slid out for easy installation or uninstallation of the hdd. Notice also that the hdd is mounted sideways instead of lengthwise. This has the added benefit that the hdd does not protrude over the cpu socket area and this allows installation of any heatsink, while the SB75G2 can only use the I.C.E Technology heatpipe.

 

To allow you to have a better idea of how spacious the case is, I have installed a Thermalright SLK-900U heatsink and a Delta Focus Flow 80mm EHE fan inside the case. The SLK-900U is a huge heatsink and the Delta FF EHE 80mm is a huge fan too. But the Altium RS4 is so spacious that it doesn’t really matter at all. In fact, the hsf is dwarfed by the case.

 

The 92mm fan is held in place by a fan holder, which can be easily unscrewed from the case. The sticker on the 92mm fan states that it is “Super Silent”. All I can say is that the fan really lives up to its name. The fan is so silent that even when running the fan at full speed, the only noise that I hear is those from the fan on my graphics card. I have absolutely no idea who is the manufacturer of the fan, though I strongly believe it to be from Panaflo. The fan is quiet but airflow is pretty decent. It really is a good idea to use a bigger fan to cool the case.

Testing Setup

Test System Configuration

• Gainward GF4 Ti4600
• Western Digital WD800JB
• Windows XP Professional SP1
• Detonator 52.16
• 1024 x 768@32bit 60Hz

For Shuttle SB75G2 (875P) & Soldam Altium RS4 Claire (865G)

• Intel P4 2.4C 800fsb (HyperThreading enabled)
• 2 x 512mb Corsair Valueselect DDR400 (2-3-3-5)

For Shuttle SN45 (NF2 Ultra 400)

• Barton 3200+
• Barton 2500+
• 2 x 512mb Twinmos DDR400 (at 2-3-2-6)

For Soltek Qbic EQ2000M (845GE)

• Intel P4 2.4B Engineering Sample
• 2 x 512mb Twinmos DDR333 (at 2-2-2-6)

Performance

Synthetic Performance

How to interpret the labels:
Mobo name – Speed of CPU – CPU fsb – Memory frequency

The SN45G with Barton 3200+ at 200fsb and memory running synchronously at DDR400 takes the lead here. The SB75G2 and Altium RS4 are performing very closely. We must take note that the SN45G with Barton 3200+ is being compared to an Intel 2.4C processor in this case. Hence, it’s no wonder that the 3200+ performs better.

In this case, the dual channel memory capability of the SB75G2 and the Altium RS4 is really showing its prowess here, with the SB75G2 scoring almost 67.5% more than the SN45G with Barton 3200+. The Altium RS4 is barely 4% slower than the SB75G2.
But how does this translate into real-world performance? We shall find out.

 

Winstones Performance

Surprisingly in Business Winstone 2002, the SB75G2 and Altium RS4 take the last two spots, ranking behind even the Soltek Qbic, which is based on the older 845GE chipset.

In Multimedia CCWS2003, both the SB75G2 and Altium RS4 take the lead over the rest of the pack.

 

Gaming Performance

SB75G2 at 200 fsb and DDR400.

Altium RS4 at 200 fsb and DDR400

 

The SN45G with Barton 3200+ takes the lead here. Like I mentioned earlier, the SN45G is running a Barton 3200+ while the SB75G2 and Altium RS4 are only running a 2.4C, thus the SN45G’s performance will definitely be better.

 

In both Quake demos, the SB75G2 manages to slightly edge out the SN45G with Barton 3200+, while the Altium RS4 is just slightly behind the SN45G.

Overclocking

For the SB75G2, I was able to run at 250fsb with a 1:1 ratio.

 

The highest I could overclock on the SB75G2 was up to 280fsb with a 5:4 ratio.

 

Below are scores for the Altium RS4 at 250fsb with a 1:1 ratio.

 

Here are the scores for the Altium RS4 at 280fsb with a 5:4 ratio.

One thing that I noticed is that the Altium RS4 tends to score better in Sisoft CPU than the SB75G2. But in the Sisoft Memory benchmark, the SB75G2 takes the lead, no doubt due to PAT being enabled.

The Altium RS4 was even more impressive when it comes to overclocking. This is due to the fact that it has a much higher Vcore of 1.85V, as compared to the SB75G2’s 1.5875V. The highest fsb I could attain on the Altium RS4 at 1.85V was 295fsb. How is that for overclocking?!

But apparently at fsbs higher than 285mhz, the performance starts to decrease. This is probably due to the fact that the overclocked 2.4C is exceeding the temperature threshold and thus, thermal throttling has kicked in, resulting in decreased performance.

Below are the screenshots at 285fsb and 295fsb.

Anyway, to sum things up, both the SB75G2 and Altium RS4 are great overclockers, though I would have liked to see higher Vcore options on the SB75G2.

Conclusion

Both the SB75G2 and the Altium RS4 are highly recommended for both power users and gamers alike. Overclockers will also be delighted with the wide range of voltage, memory and fsb selections in both XPCs. With easy overclockability and high performance, they can rival any desktop system more than twice its size. Not to forget that the SB75G2 has Gigabit LAN and also RAID capability, it is really suited also for video editing or running as a server. If you have lots of cash to spare, the Soldam Altium RS4 (or even any other Soldam XPC) should definitely be at the top of your Xmas wish list this year. It’s a real beauty and the design is incredibly elegant and sleek.

SB75G2

Pros:
- Small and compact in size
- Good overclocking options and potential
- I.C.E heatpipe has pretty good CPU cooling performance
- Usage of thumbscrews for the cover and fan shroud allows easy installation and removal
- Easy removal and installation of heatpipe
- Best performance among the current Intel chipsets
- Wire mesh at the side enhances cooling
- Gigabit LAN
- Has onboard RAID
- Comes bundled with Mandrake 9.1

Cons:
- Lack of onboard VGA
- Limited expansion capabilities with only one 5.25” bay, 1 AGP and 1 PCI slot

 

Altium RS4

Pros:
- Small and compact in size
- Very modern and stylish look
- Excellent overclocking options and potential
- Wide space allows installation of any heatsink for better cooling performance
- Dual 5.25” bays allow more expansion capabilities
- Mesh vent under floppy slot allows better cooling of hdd and rams
- Meshed cover is a radical design and allows lower temperatures throughout the entire case without a need for a stronger and noiser fan
- Swingable PSU allows for easier access for installation of components
- Plastic washers on thumbscrews help to protect the surface of the case
- Larger case fan allows for better ventilation at a lower noise level
- Excellent bundled accessories

Cons:
- No onboard RAID
- No Gigabit LAN
- High price