Review: shuttle sx79r5

Small format computers with ITX and MicroATX boards are in fashion and are possibly the present and the future of computing with slight modifications. Shuttle wants to be one of the pioneers and presents the first "Cube PC" with X79 chipset and compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge-E microprocessors. Do you want to know more about the Shuttle SX79R5?

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SHUTTLE SX79R511 FEATURES
Color	Black
Housing Type	HTPC - Barebone - Small Dimensions.
Measurements	216 x 198 x 322 mm.
Compatible with processors.	Intel Socket 2011: i7 3820 / 3930K / 3960X.
DDR3 memory	32 GB DDR3.
Chipset	X79 Intel Express.
Interfaces	4x DDR3, 2x PCIe x16, 2x Mini-PCIe, 4x USB 3.0, 8x USB 2.0, eSATA, Mikrofon, Line-Out, 2x RJ-45
Cards of red	2 x RJ45 Gigabit LAN.
Power supply	SFX 500W 80 Plus Bronze.
RAID support	Yes: 0, 1, 5, 10.,
OS	None
Warranty	2 years.
Availability	Absolute

A good presentation always enters through the eye. Shuttle has used a minimalist white color design.

On both sides of the box we find the characteristics of the equipment. We can already see that it is a small SX79R5 unit for socket 2011.

The equipment is perfectly protected against any impact with polystyrene, cork and a cover to prevent the entry of dust.

The kit includes a quick guide in different languages.

Among its accessories we find:

• Screws. SATA cables. SocketCD protection.

The quality of the equipment is seen at first glance. Although it fails a little in the sheet metal, but aesthetically it is brutal.

Small details like a hatch to insert a card reader or a floppy drive. In addition to a button to extract CDs from a possible DVD.

Two USB 2.0 connections, two USB 3.0 and an audio input / output on the bottom, also with a hatch.

Both sides are black, brushed, smooth and include small holes for air outlet.

On the back we note that we can install two standard PCI graphics cards, we have a cooling for a 92mm fan and a small power supply.

As an output we have 2 USB 3.0, an E-SATA, USB 2.0, 2 network cards and the sound card outputs.

Now we start with the interior. It seems very computer and is that it only includes the equipment: chassis + motherboard + power supply. What do we need? Processor, memory, graphics card, hard drives and a reader if we need it.

The power supply is a 500w 80 Plus Bronze certified SFX. This allows us to install any MonoGPU graphics card on the market and various hard drives without problems.

We have two SATA 3.0 connections and another two SATA 6.0 Gbp / s.

Also two 16x PCI Express ports with the possibility of SLI or CrossFireX. The problem is that we will need liquid cooling to do it… another option is to choose a single SLOT graphics card to install a dedicated sound card.

To cool a high-end CPU we need a good heatsink. Shuttle has included a heatsink with 4 aluminum heatpipes and a 92mm fan. I have seen that some users of this barebone have used a 92mm Asetek liquid cooling kit, greatly improving performance. But it is enough to slightly overclock a six core from 2011.

Installation of an Intel i7 3820.

We tighten the 4 screws and installation completed!

With the theme of memories we will have no problem installing any profile. We have used a very good Kingston Predator at 2133 mhz CL11.

I have installed a Gigabyte GTX 670 Overclock version graphics card to test the equipment. Although I highly recommend acquiring a card with reference dissipation. This will allow us to put the hot air inside and blow it out.

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i7 3930k
Base plate:	Barebone Shuttle
Memory:	Kingston Hyperx Predator
Heatsink	Stock Barebone Shuttle
HDD	Kingston Hyperx 120gb
Graphic card	Gigabyte GTX 670 OC
Power supply	Stock Barebone Shuttle

We have passed several tests with a slight overclock at 4200 mhz.

WE RECOMMEND YOU Shuttle announces its new mini Shuttle DH270PC DH270

TESTS BAREBONE SHUTTLE SX79R5
3Dmark Vantage	43311 points
3DMark11 Performance	P10098 points
Heaven 2.1 DX11	2090 points and 83 FPS
The Planet 2 (Directx11)	108.2 FPS
Resident Evil 5 (Directx10)	319.8 pts

Shuttle SX79R5 is a small barebone designed to serve as the largest equipment on the market. Incorporating unique features with X79 socket chipset ITX motherboard, Quad Channel DDR3, support for Intel i7 Sandy Bridge Extreme processor, PCi Express 3.0 and SATA 6.0 connections. On paper it is a machine for the most gamers users.

In our test bench we have installed an Intel i7 3930K, giving it a slight overclock at 4200 mhz, 16 GB DDR3 Quad Channel at 2133 mhz, a Corsair 120 GB SSD and a GTX 670 graphics card. The performance is the same as a computer desktop.

One of the points that Shuttle should improve is its BIOS, since it is a Classic BIOS and not UEFI. In addition, the overclocking parameters could be said to be quite slight and we did not want to exceed 4200 mhz with their cooling.

Alavar the SFX Shuttle 80 PLus bronze power supply, which allows us to install any mono gpu of the moment. For example, we have installed the aforementioned Gigabyte GTX 670 OC and we have played the best games of the moment: WOW, Far Cry 3, Hitman… full resolution 1920 x 1200.

We can find the barebone for the modest price of: € 470 in online stores.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ AESTHETICS AND FINISHES.	- NONE.
+ ITX X79 PLATE.
+ INSTALLATION OF HIGH-RANGE GRAPHICS CARDS.
+ QUAD CHANNEL AND SMALL MARGIN OF OVERCLOCK.
+ 2 NETWORK CARDS.
+ GOOD REFRIGERATION.

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal: