PCI Express is the future of PC-bus technology, and while uptake is slowish at the moment it’s going to slowly phase out AGP. New PCI-E chipsets from Intel and NVIDIA are paving the way for consumers to jump aboard. Shuttle's SB95P is a small form factor (SFF) aimed at the enthusiast/gamer market, and it takes advantage of the i925 iteration of PCI-E.

Externally, the front panel of the Shuttle moves away from the well-known Shuttle XPC design of a 5.25” drivebay on top of a 3.25” bay -- instead opting for stealthed drive covers. Above these hidden drives is a proudly displayed 8-in-1 media reader.

Shuttle are known for their XPC’s striking looks, but in this case the colour scheme is nothing to write home about: is gun-metal anyone's favourite colour?

While there are some changes to the XPC outside, internally the system retains the same configuration of a removable drive cage above the RAM slots and motherboard. There are some features that mark the SB95P out from the now-crowded Shuttle lineup however including PCI Express of course, and a beefed-up 350W PSU. And there’s also RAID and the usual tool-less construction.

Not all of the improvements are successful though. The optical-drive mounting brackets are fiddly and don't feel sturdy enough to hold the drive -- small prongs hold the drive in place, and these may warp over time, particularly if you take the case around with you.

Elsewhere inside, the upgrade options are of course limited due to the compact size. Only two RAM slots, but this is compensated by the provision for up to three HDD's and four SATA connectors. One difficulty we experienced was that the cable management was a little too enthusiastic -- the SATA and IDE cables were tied off well, but nowhere near where they were useful. A pair of scissors fixed that. Many SFF's are employed as media servers due to their inconspicuous size, and to this end the Shuttle should serve well. The system is based on the new 925 chipset, so as a consequence it is afforded decent onboard sound courtesy of Intel's High Definition Audio -- the successor to the AC'97 standard. As most users won't need an extra soundcard as a result, the limited expansion offered (two PCI Express slots) should be less of an issue.

The back panel shows further enthusiast-level capability, not only is there an abundance of audio outputs (including both optical and coaxial digital), but also a ‘Clear CMOS’ button for over enthusiastic overclockers.

There is, however, one feature missing which usually comes standard with other SFF's - namely VGA-out.  For a barebones unit costing almost $800 the provision of a video output would help offset the cost a little.

Shuttle, for years the innovators in this sector, are rapidly finding themselves under fire from competitors such as FIC and Kloss, who are coming up with some fresh ideas in the SFF market. Shuttle will need to keep moving if it doesn't want to end up a dead shark.