Shuttle KPC K45 Barebones System

Reviews: Hardware

Motherboards | Power Supplies | Memory | Systems | Video Cards

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Max Slowik
Beth
N/A
Jun. 25, 2008

Specifications

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Conclusion

The KPC is, in a lot of ways, a compromise. And that's its greatest shortcoming. Compromises leave everybody a little under-satisfied. The case relies on legacy connectivity because Shuttle expects people to use this barebones to breathe new life into old hardware. But in doing so they've sacrificed USB ports, already a choice commodity before you needed one for a DVD drive. On the outside, the build quality is top-shelf, but the power supply's an eyebrow-raiser and the complete lack of accessories is almost worse than not having some USB plugs in front. GMA950 is a well-supported video processor, but it's very basic and doesn't do much other than run a display.

Many people are frustrated by the PCI slot. I see both sides: the power supply isn't great enough to handle the maximum extra 75W a PCI-Express card can draw. But there are lots of PCIe cards, video cards, that operate within the PCI power envelope. Point in case: Radeon HD 2400s are available in PCI, and they work fine in a KPC. But it's still an irritating limitation. Others are bothered by the noise of the power supply, which is unacceptably high for any kind of HTPC work. And then there's the whole cables-too-short, -too-few problem.

So it's pretty unanimous. The power supply got the short end of the stick with this KPC, and you know what? I'm fine with that--because it only cost $100 (plus $20 for the aforementioned accessories, and then whatever hardware you put in it). When you deliver on a machine that cheap, it's very easy to overlook the bad stuff, in light of everything nice about it. Asus is a long way from making an Eee PC Desktop that will ever compete with this kind of potential at such a small price.

And it isn't just hardware freedom, the potential is in having a machine that has set you back so little that you've got no reason not to try Linux, or Vista... You don't have to take it seriously, and it becomes playful. Even if you're buying a KPC because it's what you can afford, you can be happy knowing you've bought a full-fledged, no-sacrifices workstation.

The only bad thing would be if Shuttle stopped here. Shuttle needs to make a KPA, Alternative, AMD... it doesn't matter. But if this machine's all about budget, where's the budget company? And 780G is a ten-fold improvement over GMA950--a big enough improvement that people will justify a moderately higher price. And after that, the KPC should give way for a KP2, another Intel barebones, and both should have PCIe and a better power supply. Maybe even enough cables to go around. With everything that the KPC does for one hundred dollars, imagine what you could get for two.

Actually, in my imagination, you get this:

The exact same chassis
A more recent Intel or AMD chipset
1 PCI-Express slot
On-board or included wireless
USB instead of legacy
200W or greater PSU
An optional, KPC-styled slim optical multi-drive with a card reader, USB and Firewire ports.

If Shuttle does that, people just won't shop elsewhere. I'm working on a second part of this KPC review now: performance. I'm going to compare it to another budget platform, and then I'm going to see if I can overclock it...

I'd love to hear from some of you who've either used a KPC or something similar, or perhaps are in the market for one. Leave a comment or user review, tell me what you like about it, what you hate about it, or even, what do you do with it.

Pros

Very small
Good-looking
Unbeatable price
Universal hardware--great for Vista, Linux, and there's got to be a way to stick OSX on it

Imaginary Cons

No room for an optical drive
PCI, not PCIe

Real Cons

Woe is the power supply, for it is
deprived of cables, in quantity and length
and made of noise
...and there are only four USB ports.

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Page 4 of 4

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Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Inside the Case & Settings Things Up
Page 3: In Use
Page 4: Conclusion

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6 User Comments

1 - Posted by afs on June 26, 2008 - 12:02 am

Imo the reason the KPC is missing features is so it doesn't cannibalize the sales of Shuttle's costlier barebones. They do sell models that have the "missing" options.

2 - Posted by Anthony on June 26, 2008 - 10:20 am

I have two XPCs - one is a W2k3 Server and the other is a WHS box. Both work really well and only consume about 50W of power.

3 - Posted by loz on June 26, 2008 - 2:05 pm

I agree the PSU a loud.
But I disagree on two things :
- there's room for a slim optical drive (take care to choose a short power adapter for it). You just need to remove or cut the front panel.
- Mine came with the 92 exhaust fan.

And by the way I didn't had any heat problem (with the exhaust fan, and all components chosen for being low-power consumption, though). But I had memory recognition problems with 800Mhz Kingstone sticks. I downgraded to 667Mhz and now it runs flawlessly.

4 - Posted by Kurtis on June 26, 2008 - 2:50 pm

afs: good point about the other models which come with the other stuff :-P

loz: I think he meant you can't just plop a drive in there, since most people wouldn't want or know how to modify the case.

5 - Posted by loz on June 27, 2008 - 3:19 am

You don't have to "modify the case".
- Remove the front panel (4 screws, tool included)
- Remove the metalic grid from the front of the case (no tool needed, just your fingers).
- "plop" the drive

If you want the (optional, it's just for the look) plastic panel back, and if you want a permanent access to the drive, you'll have to drill a hole in the plastic panel, indeed.

6 - Posted by cubiclegangsta on June 27, 2008 - 3:27 am

very nice article. in fact, it was one of the most relevant I have read on the kPC.

Regarding "kP2" there are some new variations coming out "soon":

global.shuttle.com/awards_de tail.jsp?award_id=848

No idea on price or actual release though. I don't know if I can/want to wait.... damn it.

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