Do you want to assemble a computer yourself? The Shuttle XPC Slim XH510G2 barebone is a reliable basis for a self-configurable system.

XH510G2 hi front view 2 2

When building a PC, you can select and assemble all components yourself. Another option is to purchase a barebone and add the missing components. This gives you a system of which the case, power supply, motherboard with internal and external connections are already present. You only have to determine which processor, type and amount of memory, SSD with storage capacity and possibly WiFi option you want to add. A well-known supplier of these types of systems is Shuttle, which offers a whole range of these types of systems in a compact format.

Shuttle XH510G2
The XH510G2 system comes in a 250 x 200 x 95 mm (W x D x H) box and the motherboard has an H510 chipset with LGA1200socket. There are 2 memory slots for up to 64GB DDR4 and a PCIe3 slot for a fast NVMe SSD, a SATA slot for HD or SSD and an M.2 slot for a WiFi/BT card. Further external connections are HDMI 2.0 and Displayport for external screens, 4x USB-3/5 Gbps and 4 USB-2, an RJ45 LAN connection and 3.5mm audio jack. A special feature of this model is the presence of a PCI-E 3.0×1 and PCI-E 2.0×16 slot for additional controllers, such as a (dual) graphics card.

Complete
The following guidelines and recommendations apply to further phasing out. The barebone comes without a processor, there is a choice of 10e and 11e generation Intel processors with 1200 socket and i3 is the low-end and i9 the fastest. For this barebone model, an i5 (fast processing with a good price/performance ratio) or i7 (many processor intensive tasks) is recommended. The 11e generation is effectively about 10% faster than the 10e generation. A limitation is the maximum heat dissipation of the processor of max. 65 TDP, because the cooling within a small box is at a lower level than a large case with more fan space. The recommended Intel processors have an internal graphics controller. If extra graphical processing power is required, there is a wide choice. The slots can also be used for other applications

Memory
There are two 260-pin SO-DIMM memory slots where it is recommended to use both slots, for example 2x 8 GB. This allows the processor to access the memory via 2 channels and is therefore effectively faster. The slots are suitable for DDR4 memory with a maximum speed of 3200 MHz, maximum memory is 2x 32 GB.

The storage memory is suitable for SSDs with a fast PCIe3 bus, the form factor is M.2-2280. There is a second M.2-2280 slot for a slower SATA SSD.

Optionally, WiFi and/or Bluetooth can be added. This must be ordered as a kit WLN-M when purchasing the barebone. The kit supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.

A fun construction concept with a reliable basis. Alternatively, other models and fully configured systems are available.

Product: Shuttle XPC Slim XH510G2

4 stars

MSRP: € 379,-

Pros:
* reliable base
* expansion option with PCI-E controllers

Negatives:
* configuration options are limited