Shuttle XPC SZ68R5

uunut

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Messages
187
New offering from Shuttle for 2012, now available in the US (yay!):

http://us.shuttle.com/barebone/Models/SZ68R5.html

Available on the egg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856101126

Picked up a 2600k at MC, the rest is coming from the egg.

I will play with the onboard video and some oc'ing before I decide what video card will go in it. I'm hoping I can get a MSI Lightning 6970 in there, but that may be too much to ask, if not will go with a ref 6970 or maybe a 6950, wherever the deals are at.

So it's either my new htpc, or my new hold-me-over gaming rig until ib-e (and then my new htpc). Just real interested as to what this can do. This will be my fourth Shuttle, but my first one in a long time.
 
Hmm just when I thought I was finally happy by getting a TJ08-E this shuttle looks great. I would need to sacrifice my X FI Sound card, better motherboard in terms of overclocking even though the shuttle review seems to hit 4.6 ghz with no problems. I'll wait to see if there will be more reviews poping up in the next couple of months before I make a move. My last one was back in the nForce 2 days- much fun and moding and they never let me down.
 
Yeah, the last shuttle I owned was also the nforce2 days.

The SFF market has really kicked in since then though, with the variety of cases and motherboards. I find it really hard going back to Shuttle since you are so limited on expandability and overclocking
 
Yeah, with the selections we have today you can build something better than a Shuttle I feel. Probably cheaper too if you go about it correctly. Shuttle has a lot of competition now.
 
Yeah, with the selections we have today you can build something better than a Shuttle I feel. Probably cheaper too if you go about it correctly. Shuttle has a lot of competition now.

Actually, by the time you do a case, mobo, and 500w psu, and cpu cooler all in an effective/efficient little case, I would say the Shuttle is a pretty impressive competitor in the ITX realm.
 
What's the maximum length for a graphics card in this model?
Will my Sapphire Radeon HD7950 OC (275mm / 11") fit in it?
 
What's the maximum length for a graphics card in this model?
Will my Sapphire Radeon HD7950 OC (275mm / 11") fit in it?

The length is there, 11.5" max, though I haven't fitted my gpu yet. That would rule out something like the MSI Lightning 6970 that I was thinking about (12.2) would not fit at all. Also, I think the reference card/cooler is a better choice for this case,
 
I pulled the trigger and ordered mine. Shipped out today, expect it by Monday.

I ordered:

¤ Shuttle XPC SZ68R5
¤ Intel i5-2500K
¤ G.SKILL Ripjaws X 8GB (2x4) DDR3 1600 Low Voltage (1.35V)

Again, I will use my LG Blu-ray Burner and GTX 260 (for now). In April, I can grab two more sticks of RAM, giving me 16GB in total, a new GPU, and also:

¤ Asetek 545LC 92mm Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Question about Z68 and the SSD cache (SRT): Does this SSD to be used as a cache for an HDD have to be dedicated? Or, can I partition my current SSD and run the cache partition along with an OS on the primary partition?
 
Question about Z68 and the SSD cache (SRT): Does this SSD to be used as a cache for an HDD have to be dedicated? Or, can I partition my current SSD and run the cache partition along with an OS on the primary partition?

When you setup SRT you can choose how much of the SSD drive to use as cache, the rest is free for another partition. The only real restriction is that you cant use more than 60GB for cache.
 
I don't plan on putting a spinning hdd in mine, so I won't be able to corroborate. If I was I would probably get a 60gb msata drive and use the msata slot for the SRT.

There is a freshly released bios (already!) that relates to SRT (.105), so you should update that, of course, if it didn't ship with it.

I'm sorry to say that my new Shuttle looks to be a dud. I'm still waiting on the Asetek cooler, but I went ahead and started putting things together for a baseline test, and I cannot get any video at this time. Either from the onboard DVI or HDMI, nor from installing a video card (just using a 8600GT right now for testing). Going through the motions with Shuttle right now, but looks like I will be returning it to the egg for a replacement. me sad :..(

Sh..... it happens!
 
I'm sorry to say that my new Shuttle looks to be a dud. I'm still waiting on the Asetek cooler, but I went ahead and started putting things together for a baseline test, and I cannot get any video at this time. Either from the onboard DVI or HDMI, nor from installing a video card (just using a 8600GT right now for testing). Going through the motions with Shuttle right now, but looks like I will be returning it to the egg for a replacement.

My CPU and RAM arrived today. Tomorrow my SZ68R5 arrives, so I will have updated news and pictures. I hope mine is not a dud! Sorry to hear about yours.
 
Built my SZ68R5 w/ the Asetek 545LC liquid cooler mentioned in this thread over the weekend. Absolutely loving it...You can check out my build log here.
 
Built my SZ68R5 w/ the Asetek 545LC liquid cooler mentioned in this thread over the weekend. Absolutely loving it...You can check out my build log here." ... 92mm PWM Fan + Asetek 545LC Liquid Cooler = Excellent Cooling Combination!"

What kind of overclock and temps are you getting on that spectacular build?
 
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Built my SZ68R5 w/ the Asetek 545LC liquid cooler mentioned in this thread over the weekend. Absolutely loving it...You can check out my build log here.


Som e questions about sound.... :)

first of all, how is the psu fan under load?
can you hear the fan on the astek cooler?

is the 7970 noicy??
 
What kind of overclock and temps are you getting on that spectacular build?

Haven't really had a chance to really put it through it's paces yet but was able to get it to 4.5GHz yesterday afternoon. Ran Prime for about 2 hours and it didn't go above 63 ºC (with fan set to Mid Mode in bios).
 
Haven't really had a chance to really put it through it's paces yet but was able to get it to 4.5GHz yesterday afternoon. Ran Prime for about 2 hours and it didn't go above 63 ºC (with fan set to Mid Mode in bios).

I am in the process of installing everything now. I plan on getting that Asetek cooler soon--I absolutely HATE PUSH PIN COOLERS :mad:
 
I let Shuttle support double check my troubleshooting, they made a suggestion or two that did not work out, so it's definitely defective. Advance replacement from the egg is on the way. Sad, but it happens. I would rather have something be just plain not working than being flaky. Just hate having all this other hardware just sitting. I did not fit any hardware other than the cpu memory, and a small graphics card (gt8600) to see if it was just the on-board video.



Things I have noticed to date:

Don't like the power button much, but it is workable. The button and the front bay covers are very thin plastic. Hopefully I can power on from the keyboard.

The cable/connector to the front USB3 ports is stiff and flexes in a way that pulls away from the pins a bit. It backs right up to the back side of the video card. Do not mess with this thing any more than you have to. This is my first on-board USB3. I expect a tightly packed unit to be a bit of a pain during assembly, hopefully it is not a problem afterwards.

The unit is very light, has a bit more flex than my older shuttles, but not overly so.

The PSU is much more quiet than I thought it would bej, we'll see what happens under load. The cpu fan is about average, again, haven't been able to observe under load yet. Of course, with the 7970 I do not expect this to be a quiet system.


I have the Asetek water cooler in hand now, We'll see how that fits. I will try the fan that came with the shuttle first, but I also have an evercool 92mm pwm fan to try also.

Hopefully will have pics and results this coming weekend.
 
And the case fits ITX motherboards when your Z68 doesn't cut it anymore? Yummy! If only it was the other way around, I'd love to take the board out of one of these and put it into a DTX-style case, like a Lian Li Q__... Had an SG45H7 a few years ago, great box until I started building quieter and quieter rigs. And considering this one takes 4x DIMMs, it trumps anything ITX for people who absolutely need as much RAM as possible.
 
I was able to put my SZ68R5 setup together without any major hiccups. As mentioned, the internal USB3 cable is very stiff, so use caution when touching it. The only issue I had (aside from the push pins on the ICE cooler) was putting the optical/hard drive tray back in while keeping the PSU cables out of the way. Also, my GPU uses power connections on the top of the card, so the tray gave very little room for these---but it went together without any major issues.

The system is rather QUIET. I am not currently overclocking my 2500K... since idle temps sit at around 45C. I did some media encoding, putting the 4 cores at 100% load for 30 minutes, and the temps never went over 70-72C. The PSU fan is rather QUIET as well, even under load. The only fan I can hear is the GPU.

One thing I need to change is my RAM voltages---but I only see a way to add voltage, not decrease it. Also my timings are 11-11-11-28 rather than 9-9-9-24. Same for the CPU, only to add voltage rather than decrease. I am using BIOS 1.04.

So far I am very pleased with this case. I will throw in that Asetek 92mm cooler and a better GPU in due time. Also I will explore the new Ivy Bridge CPUs since they will sit in a 1155 socket.
 
UPS guy met me at the door when I got home from work, woot! Was going to leave it until the weekend, couldn't. Put the cpu and memory in, connected to on-board DVI, powered on, and BIOS page came right up, then went straight to "No bootable device" message, and there was much rejoicing...

I'm curious, when you power on from a cold start, and go right into the BIOS hardware monitor, what are you seeing for CPU and System temps? My cold cpu temps look high(93), assuming they are in C not F(it doesn't say), system looks right(35). I will pull the ICE off to double check I am sitting it correctly. (yes I removed the mylar socket cover)

The push pins on the ICE cooler are not optimal, but a trade for ease and convenience I guess. I much preferred the spring loaded screws on the original ICE. No matter the Asetek is going on at some point soon!

Fitting the drive tray in, when loaded and connected has always been a bit of a dance on these guys, no worries you shouldn't have to do it too often.

The USB3 mobo connector on the new unit is bent/curved in a slightly different way than the first unit, and it looks to be much more solidly connected. The cable is thick, so if you get one of these and you do not like the way it sits, it may be worth some time bending/training the shape/curve of the cable.

BIOS: My unit also shipped with 104. I will upgrade it to 105 first opportunity, though it is probably not needed. The Award BIOS is very simplistic, as expected. I'm not surprised the OC control is not very granular, maybe they will change it in the future, though I would not count on it. The go-no-lower settings are an issue on even some of the full atx boards with UEFI. Oddity: One of the boot options is UEFI, though Shuttle doesn't list UEFI as being a feature. I put it first in line and rebooted, same bios, meh...

The system is unexpectedly quiet so far. With just the on-board video, or a quiet single slot gpu, it will make a fine HTPC. Since there is a second pwm fan header, I am considering adding a third party heat-sink/fan for the chipset while I have the mobo out to install the Asetek cooler. Of course I may want that header if I have to go as far as putting a puller on the backside of the Asetek.

I was able to put my SZ68R5 setup together without any major hiccups. As mentioned, the internal USB3 cable is very stiff, so use caution when touching it. The only issue I had (aside from the push pins on the ICE cooler) was putting the optical/hard drive tray back in while keeping the PSU cables out of the way. Also, my GPU uses power connections on the top of the card, so the tray gave very little room for these---but it went together without any major issues.

The system is rather QUIET. I am not currently overclocking my 2500K... since idle temps sit at around 45C. I did some media encoding, putting the 4 cores at 100% load for 30 minutes, and the temps never went over 70-72C. The PSU fan is rather QUIET as well, even under load. The only fan I can hear is the GPU.

One thing I need to change is my RAM voltages---but I only see a way to add voltage, not decrease it. Also my timings are 11-11-11-28 rather than 9-9-9-24. Same for the CPU, only to add voltage rather than decrease. I am using BIOS 1.04.

So far I am very pleased with this case. I will throw in that Asetek 92mm cooler and a better GPU in due time. Also I will explore the new Ivy Bridge CPUs since they will sit in a 1155 socket.
 
Glad to hear these are so quiet, fan noise is about the only complaint I have about my current SP35P2 Pro. Hopefully the SZ77R5 is out in a couple months, don't know how long I'll be able to keep the upgrade bug at bay.
 
Som e questions about sound.... :)

first of all, how is the psu fan under load?
can you hear the fan on the astek cooler?

is the 7970 noicy??

I honestly can't hear any real noticeable difference between the psu fan under load vs. idle. I guess I was expecting a big increase in noise or some sort of high-pitched whine but I've been pleasantly surprised by this little psu.

With the Scythe Kama fan on the Asetek cooler set to Low or Mid Mode in the bios it is EXTREMELY quiet.
 
How is the bios voltage options? is it possible to undervolt??

As I can see, there is no way to undervolt anything in the BIOS. I am currently using BIOS 1.04. 1.05 is available, but it does not mention undervolting on the Shuttle site. The only changes to voltages is in increments of +50mv.

I hope they recognize this and release a new BIOS soon.
 
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Is the stock configuration of this machine compatible with soon to be released Ivy Bridge processors, assuming Shuttle releases the required BIOS revisions for Ivy Bridge? Also, based on previous Shuttle response, do you think it's likely that they will/can release a BIOS revision for Ivy Bridge compatibility for this machine in the near future?
 
Is the stock configuration of this machine compatible with soon to be released Ivy Bridge processors, assuming Shuttle releases the required BIOS revisions for Ivy Bridge? Also, based on previous Shuttle response, do you think it's likely that they will/can release a BIOS revision for Ivy Bridge compatibility for this machine in the near future?

Yes. The Ivy Bridge will fit in the 1155 socket. On the Shuttle BIOS releases, that I do not know. I am hoping for a new BIOS release that will allow to fine tune voltages... mainly to the CPU and DIMM (my RAM can run on 1.35V @ 1600Mhz, but currently runs a default of 1.50V, with the only adjustments going up in increments of +50mv). I would also like the ability to undervolt my CPU.

So to sum up your question: Yes. Shuttle is very likely to release a BIOS to allow this, based on the outgoing feedback and support.

This case is so far --- awesome.
 
So to sum up your question: Yes. Shuttle is very likely to release a BIOS to allow this, based on the outgoing feedback and support.

This case is so far --- awesome.

Thanks for the feedback and your input on this box...we like awesome.
Btw, posting this via SB61G2R Reflexion circa 2003...still running strong!
 
So, I've been taking pics, but not yet organized enough to offload and post them, coming to a post near you soon.

I didn't get the 7970 in until this evening, as I wanted to make sure everything was rock solid with everything defaulted and on onboard graphics, and it is.

Initial hardware setup and os/driver install:

CPU and Memory went in as usual, no problems, the push pins on the ICE cooler suck, as mentioned above, but are manageable.

Windows mem test (extensive) on 16gb (4x4) Kingston HyperX 1600 cl9, was good.
Bios sees the memory at 1333, no surprise as this is the stated mobo standard for this system, but they are set at cl11 with no way to change them, aggravates me a bit.

OS load fast and flawless, the sata 3 ssd just rocks. I set to bios to RAID, even though I don't need it, just in case I do in the future, made floppy and loaded raid drivers via usb floppy, no issues.

Reconfigured with 8gb (2x4) G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 cl8, redid memtest and os load, all good. They fit fine and the bios sees these at 1600, wierd, but ok by me. Also set at cl11 by bios, can't change, grrr...

On first OS load, installed drivers from the Shuttle CD, do not do this. You only get an option to "install all" which also installs Acrobat Reader 9 and some junk backup program. Second time I used a USB loaded with the stuff off the website, good to go.

I downloaded Sandra 2012 and did a baseline benchmark. I saved it, but as I am really unfamiliar with this software, so I have yet to review it in detail. Ran Prime 95 for a couple of hours, no issues.

I should have went to bed, but I could not let the 7970 sit, so I went at it, It took some effort, but it fits! Barely. It got frustrating enough I had to go do something else for 30 minutes (Kill Bill vol 1: house of blue leaves scene, clears the mind every time!) to cool off. Getting the drive bay in with the power wires attached to the gpu was a bit of a struggle. Ended up having to put the bay in without the odd in, so I could manage the wires around and below it, then popped the odd in. cant access the screws on the back right side this way as they are blocked by the psu. Three attachment points is fine imho. She is all buttoned up and running! Loaded the graphics drivers while using the onboard gpu and rebooted, set bios to pcie and it came up good. Neither the onboard gpu, nor the 7970 (both via hdmi) are giving me an option to set at 120hz, have to figure that out.

Running prime95 overnight tonight.

Even with the graphics card in and leaving all the fan settings at default, this thing is quiet! Not silent of course, but a damn site quieter than I expected.

I have the intel mini pcie card in, drivers loaded, but can't use yet as I have no antenna attached yet. This is going to have to wait until I disassemble for the Asetek install as I need to drill/ream one of the antenna holes to fit my cable/antenna.

Damn I am going to be dragging butt at work tomorrow...
 
CPU and Memory went in as usual, no problems, the push pins on the ICE cooler suck, as mentioned above, but are manageable.

Agreed. I am going the Asetek 545LC route soon. What are your idle temps using the ICE cooler with no overclock? Mine sit around 45-47C. I keep thinking I need to re-seat the cooler.

Windows mem test (extensive) on 16gb (4x4) Kingston HyperX 1600 cl9, was good.
Bios sees the memory at 1333, no surprise as this is the stated mobo standard for this system, but they are set at cl11 with no way to change them, aggravates me a bit.

I looked at those Kingston memory sticks, but went another route since the voltage stated 1.65V, which is not recommended for Sandy Bridge CPUs. I am only running two G.Skill 1600 chips, and in the BIOS they are seen at 1600, but running CL11 as well with no way to adjust back down to CL9.

OS load fast and flawless, the sata 3 ssd just rocks.

I love it too! When Windows boots, the animation doesn't even complete before it gets to the next screen asking to login.

On first OS load, installed drivers from the Shuttle CD, do not do this. You only get an option to "install all" which also installs Acrobat Reader 9 and some junk backup program. Second time I used a USB loaded with the stuff off the website, good to go.

+1 on this.

I should have went to bed, but I could not let the 7970 sit, so I went at it, It took some effort, but it fits! Barely.

I am in no hurry to replace my GTX260, but I do have that upgrade itch! I will see how the new Kepler series play out this month or next month, and see how prices fall before I buy.

Even with the graphics card in and leaving all the fan settings at default, this thing is quiet! Not silent of course, but a damn site quieter than I expected.

+1 on this. This case is SILENT for most situations.

I have the intel mini pcie card in, drivers loaded, but can't use yet as I have no antenna attached yet. This is going to have to wait until I disassemble for the Asetek install as I need to drill/ream one of the antenna holes to fit my cable/antenna.

Let us know how this goes, I might look into grabbing one of these WiFi cards.
 
Let us know how this goes, I might look into grabbing one of these WiFi cards.

The shuttle did not come with a screw of the right size (very small) to pin down the mini (half)pcie wireless card, so I have to find one.

Anyone know what size these are? 2mm? 2.5mm?

Also my idle temps are looking more like 50 with the ICE and fan set on smartfan.
I used AC Silver 5 instead of the gummy stuff that comes with the shuttle.
 
Dont know if the z77 shuttle will be anny different from z68. but here it is :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX9raoe8W78&feature=g-all&context=G295e452FAAAAAAAAFAA

And guys..... we need some pics :D

Looks to be the exact same chassis. I would assume (very dangerous!) that the z77 would support Ivy Bridge, where that is in doubt on the SZ68R5.

Yeah I need to pull the pics off my camera and post them. Don't have a convenient place to host them anymore, any suggestions?
 
Very nice Shuttle.

I own 2 shuttles, great little boxes. I might just have to pick up the Z77 :D
 
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