Cooling, BIOS

Additional ventilation on the bottom of the SN95G5

For keeping the Athlon 64 CPU cool, Shuttle continues to rely on their ICE (Integrated Cooling Engine) cooling system for the SN95G5. Shuttle has revamped the cooler’s design to make it more effective.

ICE cooling has copper base plate

ICE cooling

Here is ICE installed

If you recall, Shuttle’s ICE technology is heat pipe based. The heat pipes themselves are composed of copper and are filled with distilled water. As the CPU heats up, the liquid in the heat pipe begins to boil, forcing hot vapor to the other end of the heat pipe where it is cooled. From there the vapor condenses back to the liquid phase and returns to the other end of the heat pipe. This cycle is continually in motion, working to keep the processor cool.

Shuttle uses a larger heatsink for increased surface area, improving the cooler’s effectiveness. The copper heat pipes themselves are nickel-plated.

On the other end of ICE tech is Shuttle’s 92mm Smart Fan. This means that the fan operates dynamically – if the CPU begins to get too toasty, the SN95G5’s fan kicks up the RPMs for better cooling. Once the processor’s temperature settles down, the fan will then revert back to its lower level. This can all be preset in the SN95G5’s BIOS based on temperature thresholds you desire. The fan can move up to 50 cubic feet per minute of air if necessary, but fortunately for our ears, we never hit that setting during gaming sessions or while we were running benchmarks for this article.

Installation

Setting up the SN95G5 was a breeze. If you’re familiar with previous Shuttle small form factor systems, you’ll be right at home with the SN95G5 as the concept hasn’t changed one bit. Simply remove the drive cage and ICE cooling systems, which are already housed inside the chassis. The ICE cooling module is removed by pressing down on two latches, which reside on the retention mechanism. No tools are required. Once the retention mechanism is removed you’ll need to unfasten four thumbscrews, which hold the Smart Fan in place. After this is done you can then pull the entire apparatus out of the SN95G5’s chassis, drop in the processor, and then reverse the entire process.

This procedure may sound a little complicated at first, but it’s actually easier than some of the cooling systems we’ve dealt with for conventional desktop ATX Athlon 64 systems.

After the processor and cooling are back in place, you’ll want to install your memory modules, drop in your graphics card and PCI card (if necessary), and hook up any additional IDE or floppy connections you’ll need (if necessary). Once that’s done, populate the drive cage with your DVD-ROM and hard drive(s), slip the drive cage back into the SN95G5’s chassis, and hook the drive’s up to the system. It’s this last step – connecting the drives power and data cables that is the most challenging, at least if you have large hands. The entire process shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes if you’re an experienced system builder.

BIOS

For overclockers and enthusiasts, Shuttle goes out of their way to deliver a solid BIOS for the SN95G5. Bus speed options range from 200MHz-280MHz in 1MHz increments, while CPU voltages of up to 1.7V are available in increments of 0.025V. Like other nForce3 motherboards, you can lock the AGP frequency to run at the speed you specify. Clock speeds ranging from 66MHz to 100MHz are available in the SN95G5’s BIOS. Memory voltages top out at 2.9V, while 1.8V is the maximum AGP voltage available. Shuttle also includes voltage settings of 1.7V, 1.8V, and 1.9V for the nForce3 Ultra chipset.

Hardcore overclockers may be disappointed by the 1.7V CPU limitation, as well as the 280MHz max bus speed setting, but when you compare Shuttle’s BIOS’s to other SFF manufacturers, they’re always one of, if not the best in the BIOS features department.