Shuttle XPC P2 3800 Small Form Factor Desktop PC

Apr 1 2009 - Shuttle's XPC P2 3800 offers a very flexible platform for a small form factor system. The company also offers a wide range of customization options for higher performance, storage, graphics and even networking. Thanks to the use of desktop components, performance is just the same as if it were a full sized desktop. The problem is that the cost of the machine is more than if consumers bought the parts themselves and put it together rather than paying for Shuttle to build one for them.

Apr 1 2009 - Shuttle was the king of the small form factor platform thanks to their XPC barebone kits. The XPC P2 3800 is a complete small form factor PC based around their XPC P2 chassis design that gives it a clean look and relatively small dimensions without sacrificing performance potential.

As with previous XPC generations, the P2 3800 uses full desktop PC components that lend it some very strong performance. While it doesn't use the latest generation Core i7 processors, the Core 2 Duo platform still provides some good overall performance. The Core 2 Duo E8400 offers a strong mix of performance thanks to its high clock speeds and its dual core processor. The 4GB of PC2-6400 DDR2 memory allow it to run applications smoothly but it falls behind newer platforms that can use DDR3 memory.

Storage is quite good on the XPC P2 3800 thanks to the multiple drive bays. The most common configuration that people will choose to put together will include a one terabyte hard drive, 22x dual layer DVD burner and the 23-in-1 flash card reader. Users have a wide range of options for configuring the storage including removing the flash reader for a second hard drive or upgrading to a Blu-ray drive.

Graphics are a bit mixed on the XPC P2 3800. The NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT graphics card is older but still provides decent 3D performance. Options are available for the Radeon HD 4850 or 4870 graphics cards, but they are not advisable. The upgrade costs for these cards is essentially the same cost as purchasing one and installing it yourself.

This brings up the overall problem with the Shuttle XPC P2 3800. The overall cost of the system is more than if a consumer were to purchase the same components by themselves and putting it together on their own. This makes it only useful if you aren't comfortable building your own PC.