Shuttle XPC SB65G2: Big Performance in This Small Package

Shuttle SB65G2: FB65 Motherboard

Motherboard Specifications
CPU Interface	Socket-478
Chipset	Intel 82865PE MCH (North Bridge) Intel ICH5 (South Bridge)
Bus Speeds	100 to 355 MHz (in 1MHz increments)
AGP/PCI Speeds	Auto and Fixed 66/33, 77/36, 80/40
Core Voltages Supported	1.10V to 1.85V (in 0.0125V increments)
AGP Voltages Supported	Auto, 1.55, 1.60, 1.65
DRAM Voltages Supported	Auto, 2.65, 2.70, 2.75
Memory Slots	2 x 184-pin Dual-Channel DDR DIMM Slots
Expansion Slots	1 AGP 8X Slot 1 PCI Slot
Onboard RAID	None
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394	Eight USB 2.0 supported through South Bridge VIA VT6307 FireWire Controller
Onboard LAN	Realtek 8100B 10/100
Onboard Audio	CMedia 9397A 5.1 Digital Audio With SPDIF Optical In & Out
Onboard Serial ATA	Two Standard SATA connectors via Intel ICH5 Southbridge

As in any computer system, the motherboard controls the features and options available on the system. Comparing the SFF Shuttle FB65 motherboard to any recently reviewed Springdale, you will see that the SB65G2 provides all the contemporary features you will find on a full-size board. The only exception here is that Shuttle did not enable any of the undocumented PAT features that we have seen used on some full-size boards. Perhaps that is part of the reason why the Shuttle is such an incredibly stable system. As you will also see in our Performance tests, the missing PAT schemes also do not affect performance nearly as much as you might think.

The only concession we see to the small motherboard size is the 2-dimm limit, but the 2-dimm slots are dual-channel to make the most of the 865PE chipset. While memory is limited to a maximum of 2GB, it is doubtful you would want to use more memory in this small, quiet system.

Here is another inside view of the SB65G2.

You can clearly see the dimm slots on the left and the 4 coils used in the 3-phase power design. Certainly, Shuttle has not skimped in any way on the power regulation on the FB65 motherboard. This is part of the reason why the SB65G2 seemed to handle anything we installed in the system despite the tiny 200-watt power supply.

The biggest surprises on the motherboard were the overclocking options. The vCore, vDimm, and vAGP ranges are what you expect on a good full-size motherboard, and not on a SFF board.