Shuttle XPC Cube SZ270R9 Barebones PC Review

Peter Donnell / 6 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

Right now, you can pick up the rather fantastic Shuttle Sz270R9 XPC Cube from Amazon for around £380. Keeping in mind that your investment gets you the chassis, motherboard, power supply and the CPU cooler. Oh, and I guess those funky RGB front panel lights too. Of course, remember you’ll need your own CPU, GPU, memory and storage.

Overview

The barebones market is an interesting one, and while it’s typically something more explored by the B2B and professional market, consumers are wising up to their options. While you could buy a cheap pre-built system from the like of ACER, HP, and a few others, they’re limited in the customisation. By opting for the barebones option, you know what CPUs and GPUs are compatible, can tailor something to your own budget and requirements. Best of all, they’re super easy to build and deploy. You can have your parts installed and get installing windows within a few minutes of you’re feeling eager.

Gaming

This is obviously a system more tailored towards the gaming and consumer market. I mean, it had RGB on it, not something they’ll typically want in an office or most retail environments. Perhaps even gaming cafes and social venues would benefit from these too. It’s clear it can handle high-performance hardware, and if you want to build a 4K gaming rig in this you can. Of course, if you want to drop a lot less money into it, you could do that too and it would still work great.

Home and Office

The aesthetics of this system are superb, and the black brushed aluminium provides a pretty timeless look. The front panel is pretty aggressive, and the RGB is bright, making it appealing to younger gamers. However, turn the RGB off, and I think it looks pretty stylish and wouldn’t look out of place on your desktop, or tucked behind a monitor somewhere. Then again, it’s not like Shuttle doesn’t make other sleeker looking products for the professional in you.

Should I Buy One

Barebones aren’t for everyone, but then again, not everyone wants to start from complete ground level with their build. It’s pretty compact, all the tricky hardware is pre-installed, and the price is pretty fair too. Overall, what’s not to love? Drop in the CPU and GPU of your choice, build a rig to your performance requirements and budget, and with minimal fuss.