Shuttle XPC SD37P2 supports Intel's Core 2 Duo

It was only a matter of time before we could stuff a shiny new Intel Core 2 Duo processor into an SFF box, and although its a little late to the party, Shuttle has unveiled the SD37P2 barebones case and labeled it the "world's fastest SFF PC," even though it doesn't actually come with a CPU. Nevertheless, the relatively standard looking black case rocks the Intel 975x Express chipset supporting the Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Duo Extreme, Pentium Extreme, and Pentium D. With a FSB of 1,066MHz, support for 8GB of DDR2 RAM, and dual PCIe (x16) slots sporting ATI CrossFire technology , you could actually make a halfway decent gaming machine out of this. The obligatory built-in Gigabit Ethernet and 7.1 channel HD audio is included, and the design engineers gave you plenty of reasons to utilize all your off-the-wall USB-powered toys by tossing in 10 USB ports. The SilentX 400 watt PSU, dual FireWire connectors, and support for three internal hard drives rounds out the fairly solid offering -- but as usual, Shuttle likes to throw a premium on their little boxes, and by slapping a €419 ($537) pricetag on this barebones kit, we'd probably suggest finding a less costly destination for your Core 2 Duo.

[Via RegHardware]

[Matt J @ Aug 21st 2006 8:39AM]

After having owned a Shuttle barebones, where the smart fan socket failed, relegating it to a shelf under my desk due to the noise, and then the hard drive's connection to the motherboard broke, forgive me for not rushing out to buy this.

[festa @ Oct 18th 2006 9:06AM]

Both my partner and I had the SB81P's and our graphic cards would die every 10 months, we got through 5 between us. We are convinced it is caused by the increased temperatures the shuttle and its components run at due to the small compact size, because never have we had this problem with standard size machines. If you too get this problem and can cope with renewing parts more often than usual then they are great pc's :)

[_man1c_ @ Aug 21st 2006 8:48AM]

ive always wanted to build a small SFF pc. maybe ill do it for my next build. :) and thats a clean case.

[Ryan @ Aug 21st 2006 1:09PM]

The Eject button looks a little close to the Power button.

[Peter Kirn @ Aug 21st 2006 7:38PM]

Not to conflict with what Matt is saying, but I've had fantastic results with Shuttle barebones. And I think that, for a form factor this size, the price premium can be worth it. I'm just sorry I got their AMD / NVIDIA SN26P just before this came out. ;)

But, seriously, when you add up the components and the thought that goes into their designs, they can be well worth it. Finding luggable machines with CrossFire or SLI is not an easy task. If you don't care about portability, go elsewhere.

[michael @ Aug 23rd 2006 7:21AM]

I have a Shuttle with an AMD and the processor is always overheating, causing the 'smart' fan to rev like a speed boat. Intel chips have less of a heat problem in Shuttles, and as the duo has lower power consumption and superior performance than the Pentium D, I guess I'll consider it. Anyone know when it is likely to be released?