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So here we have the unit opened up, everything is connected and fitted for you in the factory, all you need to do is to pop in the processor, memory and storage. Shuttle makes use of their own form factor, this motherboard does not entail an ATX form factor of any kind. It works well as there is heaps of space in there. Shuttle definitely has a trick or two behind their sleeves, let's check them out.
So the first thing you'll notice is the power supply hanging there. Included is a 300 Watt SFF Bronze certified unit, this is FleX ATX form factor size. Flex ATX power supplies are designed to deliver nominal power output capabilities of between 180 and 500 watts, which is ideal for the small systems for which they are designed. A Bronze certification means that the unit is 85% efficient at 50% load. Which is pretty good for a unit of this size. If you like to include a dedicated graphics card into this PC, alternatively you can opt a 500 Watt model PSU as well, massively recommended if you add such a components.
Now the processor has not been installed just yet, but this is the cooler unit shuttle includes. It works really well, I will show you some stress temps later on. Basically a copper block has direct heat-pipes running through them, which transports heat to a radiator. A fan blows the heat directly out of the system. The brilliant thing here is that CPU heat is exhausted outside the chassis and as such it is not heating up ambient air inside the unit.
Shuttle calls this their Shuttle I.C.E. (Integrated Cooling Engine) cooler. It has 3 pipes and an PWM (Temperature) controlled 92 mm fan. The fan was not extremely silent, we could hear it so if you are a bit of an audiophile, just replace it with a nice 92mm Noctua fan or something. In fact that would have my preference if this unit would be used as a HTPC, as aside from the one fan, this puppy does not make any sound.
I quickly pulled out the storage bay. You can mount two optical drives in there (5.25") and two HDDs at 3.5". For the love of gawd I do not understand why anno 2016 there are no 2.5" mounts here. Additionally you could optionally purchase Shuttle's HD3: 3.5" to 2.5" adapter. If you are using a 2.5" SSD, just connect it and put it in there I'd say.
