Shuttle XPC Prima Series SP35P2 Pro – no CPU Review

One of the firsts models to be released under the prima series of shuttle is the Shuttle XPC Prima Series SP35P2 Pro (barebone). This XPC boasts a new layout which is much more effective than the previous models Shuttle Company, Inc. has come up with.

An XPC barebone computer is a half-assembled platform that consists of a case with a power supply, a motherboard and a cooling system which are pre installed into the case.

The highlights of the Shuttle XPC Prima Series SP35P2 Pro (barebone) are:

• heat-pipe cooling system which spans the north and south bridge; the new ice cooling system, Shuttle OASIS Cooling Technology uses an 80 and 60 mm fans blowing out of the left side of the case which allows you to over-clock further while keeping all your main components cool, with fan-less heat-sinks dissipating all the excess heat while you enjoy a stable and silent operation.
• The Shuttle XPC Prima SP35P2 Pro is equipped with 80 PLUS® certified power supplies, with at least 80% energy-efficiency it is 33% more efficient than current power supplies. The 350wpower supply has an 80+% efficiency rating which is more than enough to power up all the components you could put in the xpc, including high end graphic cards. One thing to note about the power supply is that it has an 80mm exhaust fan which is much better with the previous 20mm fan used in the old xpc power supplies.
• another useful design improvement is that the hard disk drives are mounted on top of the xpc giving it better ventilation.
• Shuttle’s innovative USB Speed-Link technology allows file sharing between 2 PCs via a standard USB cable, no more hassles with addition cables or networking equipments
• advanced fingerprint recognition security: no need to use username/password. You can be certain all your data and personal details are in safely protected.

Although all solid capacitors motherboard design ensures maximum stability, reliability and longer system lifetime, one major design flaw of the motherboard layout is that the PCI-e slot is on the right side facing inward, which means the card is facing inside the case. Unlike the previous XPC’s, the graphic card is located on the left side of the motherboard facing outside the case which gives it better ventilation. Another possible flaw is that the board uses a legacy PCI slot instead of 1x PCI-e slot. Also, the 5.25 bay cover can’t be removed which limits the options of 5.25 bay devices you could use (you are limited to installing optical drives only).

Overall, the Shuttle XPC Prima Series SP35P2 Pro (barebone) has the best price-performance ratio among the prima xpc series with the exception of the spx38 if you’re planning to build a crossfire setup. The chassis of the highest performance allows the Shuttle XPC Prima SP35P2 Pro improved cooling, airflow and are designed easier to use drive cage assembly.

Shuttle XPC Prima Series SP35P2 Pro package includes matching keyboard and (mini) mouse, and speakers.

Tagged as: barebone, cpu