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After laying your eyes on any of Shuttle's
initial small form factor mini systems, you can't
help but want one. Their compact, aluminum design and
high level of integration make them suitable for a multitude
of tasks. They're also just plain cool to look at!
There was one notable feature missing from their first few SFF systems though, an AGP slot. Well, the
product we'll be looking at today solves that problem.
The CF-868 "e-cube", also sold under the name "Thunderbolt",
is a small form factor PC for the Pentium 4 with an AGP
slot! This CF-868 '"e-cube" came to us by way of
Tecnacom
Europe BV, who distribute Chyang Fun Industry Co.
products throughout Europe. Like some competing
products, this system is also packed full of features like
USB 2.0 and 10/100 Ethernet, and unlike the SiS powered
Shuttle SFF PCs, the Thunderbolt is using a DDR chipset from
VIA, the P4M266. We were very interested in seeing how
this new player in the SFF game performed, so we slapped a
2.2GHz P4 into the socket and took her for a spin...
CLICK ANY IMAGE FOR AN
ENLARGED VIEW
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Specifications / Features of the CF-S868 SFF
Barebones System |
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Little, But Bad! |
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Mini Barebones System
(P4) CF-S868
CPU Support:
Chipset:
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VIA P4M266 chipsets
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Winbond W83627HF LPC
controller
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Realtek RTL8100B
Ethernet controller
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NEC uPD720100AGM USB 2.0
controller
Architecture:
Main Memory:
VGA:
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Integrated S3 ProSavage8
Graphics controller in North Bridge
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Support 3D/2D
enhancements
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Support AGP8X bandwidth.
Max. Bandwidth 2.1GB/sec
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VT1621 TV Encoder,
TV-out supported
Audio:
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AC-Link with AC'97 2.2
compliant
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Software audio with
AD1981A 6-channel AC'97 codec, S/PDIF output
supported
USB 2.0:
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NEC uPD720100AGM USB 2.0
controller
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Compliant with USB 2.0
specification
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Support Hi-speed,
Full-speed and Low-speed data transfer rate.
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Max. Bandwidth
480Mbits/s
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The USB 2.0 driver
supported
Ethernet:
Back Panel I/O
Output:
Front Panel I/O
Output Board:
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1 IR port, IrDA 1.0/FIR
supported
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2 Type A USB connectors
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1 PS/2 mouse connector
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Line-in
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MIC-in
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Speaker-out
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Game port
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Volume control
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Board size @ 30 mm (L) x
180 mm (W)
I/O Interface:
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Winbond W83627HF LPC
controller
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Two enhanced PCI IDE
channels which support up to 4 IDE devices
with ATA-133 transfers up to 133MB/sec
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Build in FDC supports
1.2M/1.44M/2.88M FDD
Form Factor:
System BIOS:
Expansion Slots:
Key Features:
Quick Specs:
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VIA P4M266 chipset
(400MHz FSB only)
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Winbond W83627HF LPC
controller
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Supports Intel Socket
478
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Pentium 4 processors:
(1.4GHz ~ 2.4GHz)
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Support 2x 184-pin
DDR200/266 SDRAM up to 2GB
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Onboard S3 ProSavage8
DDR 2D/3D graphics
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4 to 32MB frame buffer
using system memory
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VT1621 TV Encoder
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TV-out supported
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Video port
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Composite TV-out
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Onboard IR port
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Onboard Realtek 10/100
Fast Ethernet (support PXE and RPL Protocol)
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Onboard USB 2.0
interface (4 ports)
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Onboard AC'97 v2.2 audio
ports
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Supports ATA/133 ATA-6
IDE interface
Dimensions:
Drive Bays:
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Open 5.25"
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Open 3.5"
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Hidden 3.5"
Power Supply:
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150W (115v ~ 240v)
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Aluminum Construction
PCI Slot:
AGP Slot:
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Bundled with the system, we
found a User's Manual for the motherboard, a User's
Manual for the system itself and a CD containing all of
the necessary drivers needed to properly configure the
system. The same slim-line, copper cored CPU cooler
that ships with the Shuttle SS50 was also included with
the Thunderbolt. This cooler has a hinged clip
that makes it very easy to install or remove. For
its size, this cooler works very well. Our 2.2GHz
CPU never got hotter than 40° C, even after hours of
benchmarking. A power cable, some thermal grease and a
small bag of screws were also in the box. Two
"semi-rounded" 80-Wire IDE cables and a floppy cable
also ship with the Thunderbolt.
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The
BIOS & Setup |
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Nothing Crazy Here... |
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The Thunderbolt's BIOS is based
on an Award / Phoenix derivative similar to most of the
motherboards currently on the market. If you look closely at the
screenshots above, you'll probably be familiar with most of
the items listed. We did not find anything out of the
ordinary in the Thunderbolt's BIOS, but there was a full
compliment of options to manipulate and tweak all of the
on-board components and other features. In the "Frequency /
Voltage Control" section is where we found all of the
overclocking options...
Looking at the "Frequency /
Voltage Control" section of the BIOS, it's obvious that
overclocking wasn't a top priority when designing this
system. User's do not have the ability to adjust the CPU
core, DDR or I/O voltages. You can, however, choose
from seven different Front Side Bus frequencies ranging from
100MHz to 120MHz., in 3MHz or 4MHz increments. (Look at the
second to last screenshot for the exact FSBs available).
Having a few FSBs available in the BIOS is better than
nothing, but we would have liked to have seen them
adjustable in 1MHz increments. While overclocking with the
Thunderbolt we had some success. We were able to seta maximum FSB of 108MHz with our
2.2GHz Pentium 4, brining our top overclocked speed to
2.38GHz.
The Thunderbolt is based on a
Chyang Fun motherboard that is powered by a VIA P4M266
chipset with an integrated S3 ProSavage DDR graphics core.
Unfortunately, we found the on-board graphics to be
painfully inadequate. 2D quality was sub par. At
any resolution above 800x600, images seemed washed out and
out of focus, and as you'll see later 3D gaming performance
wasn't much better. Luckily, the Thunderbolt has an
AGP slot!
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