Today we take a look at their latest HTPC flagship - the SG33G5M.It comes with the acronym D'VO, which stands for Digital Visualized Opera, and it's equipped with Intel's latest integrapted graphics chipset, the G33 Express. The Shuttle D'VO Series is the latest SFF XPC in the home entertainment platform. Experience visually stunning High-Definition video playback, paired with the finest cinematic surround sound effects. Home theater is only a Shuttle D’VO platform away.

The main features of this little shiny -really shiny- gem of a SFF include: the implementation of integrated HDMI output utilizing the Intel G33 graphics core and sound via the onboard Realtek ALC888DD chipset. Other features include integrated wireless LAN, Biometric Fingerprint recogntion, Speedlink connectivity and Dolby DTS 5.1 via SPDIF Optical which will enhance and maximize your home theater experience.

The D'VO is an astonishingly small machine with its brushed onyx-black aluminium cover, chrome-coated mirror finishing on the front panel. Enough bling to make a real opera diva want to use the front panel as a mirror!

We shall go into specifications next!

FORM FACTOR	Shuttle Form Factor (G Chassis)
PROCESSOR	Intel Core 2 Quad,Core 2 Duo,Dual-Core,Pentium 4,Celeron 400 series support FSB 800/1066/1333MHz support
CHIPSET	Intel G33 + ICH9DH
MEMORY	2 x 240 pin DDR2 DIMM slots,2GB per DIMM (Max 4GB) Dual Channel DDR2 667/800MHz
VGA	Built-in Intel GMA 3100 256bit 3D engine with a powerful 400MHz core and DirectX 9.0 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 3.0 supports up to 384MB of video memory
AUDIO	Realtek ALC888DD 7.1 channel High Definition Audio support Dolby Digital Live! and DTS
ETHERNET	Marvell 88E8056 IEEE 802.3u 100Base-T specification revision 1.0 100Mb/s and 1Gb/s operation Support Wake-On-LAN function
IEEE1394 (firewire)	TI TSB43AB22A Complise with 1394 OHCI specification revision 1.0 Support 400Mb/s,200Mb/s,100Mb/s transfer rate
Storage Interface	3) 3.0Gb/s bandwidth SATA II (2) 3.0Gb/s bandwidth eSATA (1) Ultra DMA/100 IDE channel (1) Floppy
Onboard Connectors	3) SATA connectors (1) ATA100 bus IDE connector (2) 2x5 pin USB 2.0 header (1) Floppy connector (1) ATX main power connector (1) ATX 12V power connector (1) set 4pin fan connectors (1) set 3pin fan connectors (1) PS/2 keyboard and mouse header
Front Panel	(2) UBS 2.0 ports (1) mini IEEE 1394 port (1) Microphone-In (1) Earphone-Out Power-On button Reset button Power LED HDD LED
Back Panel	(1) PCI-E x16 slot (1) PCI slot (1) RJ45 Gigabit LAN port (2) eSATA port (1) HDMI port (4) USB 2.0 ports (1) VGA port (1) Line-in port (1) Front out port (1) Side Surround out port (1) Rear Surround out port (1) Center/Bass port (1) S/PDIF Out port (1) S/PDIF in port (Option) (1) IEEE1394 port (1) Clear CMOS button (1) Printer port fixture (1) Wireless Antenna fixture
Expansion Bay	(2) 3.5' bay (1) 5.25' bay
Dimensions	310(L) x 200(W) x 185(H) mm
Power	250W Input:100-240V AC Dimensions:190(L) x 82(W) x 43(H) mm
Accessories	Mainboard User manual Mainboard CD-Driver XPC Installation Guide FDD Cable CD-ROM Cable(pre-install) SATA cable(pre-install) HDMI to DVI converter Power cord Others: Remote control Screws Heatsink Compound

And here we have the retail packaging box. Black and gold colour themes with images of a remote controller to give users a feel of entertainment.

The SG33G5M, at first sight, exhibits some wow factor to even the most demanding image-savvy computing individuals.

Just take a a look at the precise evenly coated surface of the front panel. Gold ascents coupled together with a stealthed 5.25" drive bay cover makes this little shiny gem a joy to look at!

A really cool aspect of the Shuttle SG33G5M would be the VFD.  The unique Versatile Front-panel Display (VFD) shows currently playing multimedia content.

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A close-up shot just for you at VR-Zone! The faux gold buttons give the system an added bling factor.

The underside view of the SG33G5M, comes with 4 rubberized standoffs to elevate the casing above the desk level. Perforated ventilation holes are also present to assist in the intake of cool air.

Side ventilation holes galore - no problems with airflow here!

Here you have the backview of the Shuttle D'VO, heat is primarily drawn out via a 92mm exhaust fan, cooling Shuttle's proprietory heatsink. Shuttle has managed to keep the form factor relatively small despite the huge advancements in hardware.

The usual array of audio outputs, USB ports and even a firewire miniport, are concealed beneath a foldable cover-flap. Over to the extreme left, there is a built in Biometric fingerprint scanner, and a USB speedlink function button.

With the Biometric scanner, users can scan their fingerprints to login instead of using a conventional keyboard and mouse. The USB speed link function allows users to dedicate a designated folder as a "thumbdrive" ; by using a USB Link cable, it can connect to other PCs and will show up as a thumbdrive (using the dedicated folder) on the destination PC.

The Biometric scanner and USB Speed Link function are features available on the Deluxe model only.

Now let's have a look at some of the accessories provided!

A quick-setup booklet, some screws for mounting the hard drive and optical drive, a floppy cable and a HDMI to DVI converter! Kudos to Shuttle for providing such an excellent accessory!

Provided in the package, the very basic component of a HTPC - a remote controller! Some software is provided with the shuttle D'VO to make use of the Home Theatre capabilities that  the shuttle provides.Navigate and access your entire digital multimedia contents easily with a remote controller, without the fuss of typing and clicking the keyboard and mouse.

Gold-plated connectors for the converter to ensure maximum conductivity and lessen the effects of oxidation.

The converter is used for situations where LCD Monitor users (whom mostly have DVI connections only by now) have trouble finding VGA cables to connect the shuttle PC to their monitors. The converter solves all their LCD connection woes! The HDMI output is also HDCP compliant, so no worries about playing protected high-definition content!

A bird's eye view from the top.

In our preliminary testing phase, we found that because of the built in HDMI port on the Shuttle PC , there was a jumper that had to be switched in order for external graphic cards to be plugged into the PCIE slot. The black long row of jumpers that you see above the PCI slot are the ones you have to switch , if using an external graphics card.

Not switching the jumper would result in only the display being shown via the built in HDMI/VGA ports instead of the graphic card's ports. So potential buyers please take note. It befuddled us awhile before we realised it, as most boards nowadays will automatically change the default output to any external graphics card plugged in instead of still using the onboard GPU.

Again potential buyers , take note - despite the impressive array of USB, Firewire, LAN, sound and display outputs, the SG33G5M does away with PS/2 ports. It will be compulsory to have to use USB-based keyboards & mice.

Here is the heatsink that has come a long way. With many variants and long used in Shuttle's XPC line of PCs, it has been proven to cool efficiently, without hindering any height or weight restrictions. A 0.50amp 92mm fan is provided together with rubberized fan mounts to ensure better CPU temperatures.

Do take note that the wireless module we see here is only built in on the Deluxe model of the SG33G5M.

Next up, a look at the innards.

Solid capactors are used throughout the board, quickly becoming a mainstream feature for most motherboard makers. Also visible is the Realtek ALC888 DTS audio chip - Digital Dolby certified.

Mosfets are also cooled by large metal heatsinks. Do note the awkwardly positioned Floppy drive connector.

A single PCI slot, accompanied by a PCIE slot. The placement of the PCIE slot allows only single-slot solutions to be used.

Shuttle has improved their optical drive tray ejection machanism. An adjustable contact point makes it absolutely convenient as there are varying degrees of front bezel designs for optical drives available on the market now.

All the device connectors are closely placed together for easy reach, with ample support for SATA-based devices. As with all Shuttle PCs, individuals accustomed to the large spacious allowances of a normal ATX casing might have a little bit of trouble adapting to a situation with such limited space for them to work with.

Internal cabling was very neat, with most of the work already done during assembly. Most cable ties and restrictors were already in place, making the cables snake around the casing; blended in with the metal frame of the case. Installing hard drives, optical drives and even processors will be a breeze due to the good amount of clearance provided.

Now , forward to some benchmarks!

Test System

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 (333Mhz x 7)
• Intel DG33BU
• G.Skill 2GB DDR2-800mhz @ 4-4-4-10
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB Sata
• For 3D Mark 06' and game tests - Sapphire HD 2600 XT
• Verudium Power Proxima 550w

For 3D mark 06 (v. 1.1.0)  utilizing an external graphics card, both the shuttle and intel board exhibited close performance margins.

In super PI, where lower times mean better performance, the shuttle  surges past the Intel board in SuperPI 8mb!

Again the odds are in Shuttle's favour in PC Mark 05' as the Shuttle beats the Intel board by 10 points.

MAXON CINEBENCH is based on MAXON's award winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such and Spiderman, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more.

The Shuttle barely manages to keep up with  the intel board in this benchmark.

SYSmark 2007 Preview is an application-based benchmark that reflects usage patterns of business users in the areas of Video creation, E-learning, 3D Modeling and Office Productivity. This new release includes a robust and refreshed set of applications.

The SYSmark family of benchmarks are used by PC OEMs, hardware and software developers, IT departments, system integrators, publishers and testing labs as well as Information technologists and computer industry analysts.

The Shuttle's Sysmark rating score barely exceeds that of the Intel board, but it has garnered overall better scores from each segment, which hints at the shuttle having a slight performance edge.

In the Winrar Bandwidth Benchmark Test, the Shuttle blows its competitor away with almost 15 kb more !

GAMING BENCHMARKS 

Quake 4 with High settings, no AA/AF.

 Fear with high settings, no AA/AF enabled.

Stalker, High settings, AA/AF disabled.

Company of Heroes, High settings, AA/AF disabled.

We have both the intel board and shuttle SG33G5M running near-point blank scores to each other, with negliglble differences!

Conclusion

We were able to play 1080P videos via a Blu-Ray ROM Drive via the onboard GMA3100 graphics without any hiccups - which goes to show that the Shuttle system can and will handle any high definition content easily given its default offerings, without any need for users to upgrade their graphics solutions. Playback was fluid, with no stoppages or sudden frame drops. Not bad for an onboard graphics solution! The two movies were tested on a 22" LCD Monitor.

Blu-ray media and players are still relatively expensive, so it is safe to say that users buying this system will find themselves with the fact that for the next year at least - they will have to stick to DVDs. As such , the Shuttle SG33G5M provides an excellent platform for streaming your favourite videos or music to your large-screen display or hi-fi set. Quiet in operation, yet not lacking in performance, the D'VO provides that added punch in processing power, coupled together with its GMA3100 graphics chip; it can provide a total solution for playing hi-definition content without any additional graphics upgrades.

Shuttle should be applauded for adding nifty knicks & knacks like the remote controller, HDMI to DVI connector and the Biometric Scanner and USB Speedlink port (both of which are available on the Deluxe model only). Brush in stunningly good looks for a front panel design and a really sleek , small & unhindering form factor that makes it fit almost snugly in any home  theatre setup. You have a winner - the Shuttle D'vo SG33G5M !

HTPC enthusiasts, let your imagination run wild with the new Shuttle SG33G5M.

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