Small form-factor specialists, Shuttle, has today launched two new XPC systems, including their first barebone to support Intel's Viiv technology.

Both are based on the Shuttle G5 chassis, which is generally regarded as the company's most stylish and refined design, as well as one of the smallest, according to the press release.

The SD36G5M is the Intel-based box, with a combination of Socket 775 processor, i945 chipset and x16 PCI-E graphics. In supporting Viiv, the Media Center-powered SD36G5M comes with a remote control and instant on / off. It adds a multicoloured VFD display to the front which can display DVD timing, MP3 titles, system temperatures and other useful information.

The AMD-based SN21G5 a stock G5 without the VFD but under the hood it boasts an NVIDIA nForce 410 motherboard with GeForce 6100 on-board graphics, SATA 3Gb/s and 5.1 audio.

Clearly, from an enthusiasts perspective, we'd sooner pair a Radeon X1900XTX with the Socket 939 Athlon 64 FX or X2 processor but for mainstream users on a budget, the addition of DirectX 9.0 compliant on-board graphics is a bonus, especially if low noise is a priority.

"Combining the most popular features of previous XPC products with the latest advances in PC technology, the XPC SD36G5M and XPC SN21G5 are aimed to be the most versatile XPC solutions for mainstream home or office users in 2006," said Troy Yang, Head of XPC Barebone Product Marketing.

We will certainly see when we test both these new XPC systems in the coming weeks.

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