Shuttle XPC Nano NC03U3 Core i3 PC Review

Shuttle XPC Nano Tired of the limitations of a desktop computer? Sure, there are obvious advantages to a full-sized system, but they're far from suitable for all occasions. The same is true of a laptop, sure you get the portability, but they're often still too big for some scenarios. With that in mind, it's time to go Nano, with the Shuttle XPC Nano to be exact. This compact system is going to take up a tiny amount of desktop space. Of course, for those seeking a clean and tidy workspace, this is a big win. It can be mounted horizontally, on its own vertical mount so it takes up even less space, or even on a VESA mount. By using the VESA, it'll sit behind your monitor, up and out of the way completely. Of course, that last one could also be handy for digital signage usage, where the system will be securely and discretely mounted. Why Nano? That tiny desktop space you have, that HTPC you always wanted, or some slick portable solution for business applications. There's a lot of reasons to invest in a system like this. As you can see below, it's compact, yet still packs an Intel Core i3-700U, room for M.2 and SATA SSDs, integrated graphics, DDR4 memory support, and much more. It may be small, but it's not lacking in features. Chassis Dimensions: 142 x 142 x 42 mm (LWH) = 847 ml Processor Model: Intel Core i3-7100U (ULV) System-on-a-chip architecture (SoC): no chipset required BGA1356 package - directly soldered onto the mainboard Code name: Kaby Lake-U (7th Generation Intel Core) Cores / Threads: 2 / 4 Clock rate: 2.4 GHz Integrated Graphics Intel HD graphics 620 GPU clock frequency: 300~1000 MHz Execution Units (EUs): 24 Two digital audio/video ports support two independent screens (dual monitoring): Supports Ultra HD / 4K resolution at 3840 x 2160 Pixels Memory support 2x SO-DIMM slots with 260 pins Supports DDR4-2133 (PC4-17000) SDRAM at 1.2 V Dual Channel mode Supports a maximum of 16 GB per DIMM, maximum total size: 32 GB Supports two unbuffered DIMM modules (no ECC or registered) 2.5" Drive Bay Supports one Serial ATA hard disk or one SATA SSD drive in 6.35 cm / 2.5" format Device height: 15 mm (max.) Supports Serial-ATA III, 6 Gb/s (600 MB/s) bandwidth M.2 Slot for SSDs The M.2 2280 BM slot provides the following interfaces: - PCI-Express Gen. 2.0 X4 with up to 32 Gbps Data Transfer Speed - SATA v3.0 (max. 6 Gbps) It supports M.2 cards with a width of 22 mm and a length of 42, 60 or 80 mm (type 2242, 2260, 2280). Supports M.2 SATA SSDs (with B+M key) and M.2 PCIe SSDs (with M key) Shuttle's XPC nano Series gets a performance boost "The NC03U series is powered by Intel's power-saving ULV (ultra-low-voltage) processors of the Kaby Lake generation. Compared with the NC02U series, it brings higher clock frequencies, improved graphics performance and support of faster DDR4 memory up to 2x 16 GB. Furthermore, one 2.5" drive up to 15 mm in height as well as one M.2-2280 NVMe SSD card can be installed. The DisplayPort connector delivers video resolutions of up to 4K at 60 frames per second while a second display can be connected via HDMI. USB peripherals use either the type A or type C ports. Professional users will appreciate Intel Gigabit-LAN and one serial port which indicates what purposes the NC03U series is mainly intended for: Digital Signage, POS, control, office or even multimedia." - Shuttle A Closer Look First impressions of the Nano are very positive. The system is very compact and easily small enough to pick up with just one hand. It's not the smallest system in the world, not even close. However, with room for a more powerful CPU and more storage than most, I think that's a fair compromise. Down the front edge, you'll find a single USB 3.0 port, USB 3.1 port, SD card reader, and the power controls. For moving files and connection a few peripherals, this is more than enough for a compact system. There's a little bit of ventilation, as well as a Kensington lock on the side. Security is important with something that could otherwise be easily grabbed and stolen. Connectivity Around the back, you'll find the DC-In for the external power block. This helps keep the size down, but don't worry, the power cable is no bigger than a standard laptop adaptor. Connectivity gets a welcome boost from both HDMI and DP, which supports up to 4K resolutions, making them ideal for digital signage and desktop work environments. There is a single GbE LAN port and two more USB ports that are perfect for a keyboard and mouse. Finally, there's a single 3.5mm audio jack. Com? There's a COM port on the side too, not much use for home users, but there are many industrial and business accessories that still rely on this technology. Those screw holes are there for the vertical mount too, ensuring it stays locked firmly in place. The underside is pretty straightforward too, with two more screw mounts. Here you can remove two screws (marked "S") to open up the unit. Getting Vertical Once mounted in the vertical stand, I think it looks even better. It's a shame the "Shuttle" logo is now on its side though, but that's hardly a deal breaker. What you do get though is vertical ventilation which is better to shift the heat. Of course, you also get a smaller desktop footprint. Testing & Methodology To test each system or notebook, we want to stress every component of the system to check stability and performance, giving us an idea as to why those particular components were picked for this particular system. We use a wide variety of applications to gain a broad spectrum of results for comparing diverse aspects of system performance. Games Used This is not a gaming system, therefore, we will be omitting the gaming tests for the purpose of this review. However, we will still run the usual synthetic benchmarks to test the iGPU performance. Software Used 3DMark Fire Strike (download) FireStrike (1080p) Benchmark Unigine Superposition (download) 1080p Extreme Benchmark PCMark 10 Professional (download) Express Benchmark WPrime (download) 32M and 1024M CineBench R15 (download) CPU Multi CPU Single Handbrake (download) Custom MP4 to MKV 4K conversion (details below) AIDA64 Engineer (download) CPU-Z (download) HWMonitor (download) Handbrake To stress processors to their absolute limit and accurately judge their performance in video editing workloads, we transcode a 7.7GB compilation of gaming footage; this particular file is freely available from here. The captured footage is 22 minutes and 12 seconds long, it has a bit rate of 50.1 Mbps and it uses the Advanced Video Codec. Additionally, the video runs at a constant 30 frames-per-second and opts for a 3820 x 2140 (4K) resolution. Once loaded into Handbrake, we then transcode the 4K MP4 to an MKV file using the "normal" profile. Synthetic Benchmarks 3DMark Firestrike Given it uses a dual-core design with hyper-threading and an iGPU, the fact that the Shuttle system was even able to complete this test is a bit of a marvel. 819 is a very low score, but for a device with no dedicated GPU, it's a fantastic score. Unigine Superposition 1080p Extreme The same is true of the Unigine test, which is predominantly a GPU bound task. While the CPU and iGPU won't be playing HD games anytime soon, it'll pick though casual indie games well enough. Of course, any GPU processing it does have will take the strain off of image and video editing application, video transcoding while watching an HD movie, or displaying digital signage applications, to name but a few examples. PCMark 10 The Shuttle did superbly in the PCMark 10 Express benchmark. It scored about 3/4 of the Samurai Ultra Slim, which features the Intel Core i7-7700HQ. When it comes to day to day browsing the web, and multitasking with Skype, some Photoshop, and a few documents, the Shuttle system has more than enough power for a productive workflow. WPrime 32M and 1024M It comes as no surprise that the CPU didn't deliver a fast result in Wprime, although it's about where we expected it to be. A workstation number cruncher this is not, but it still got the demanding job done eventually without the system having any heat or power issues. Cinebench R15 I wouldn't be using this system to render a 3D scene anytime soon, but in a pinch, it'll get the job done. You just may have to go put a pot of coffee on, or two. Handbrake MP4 to MKV Conversion 4K The same is true while transcoding video. This isn't the fastest CPU in the world, but for a passive cooled tiny system like this, it's honestly a lot quicker than the charts would imply. Storage Write Not the fastest read and write times in the world, but given we used a standard OCZ 512GB SSD, it's right on the money for what that drive can deliver. USB performance was a little lower, but again, this CPU can only do so much. Read Power Consumption and Temperatures Temperatures Easily one of the most impressive aspects of this system is how efficient it is. At idle it sat at around 38c and only 56c under full load. CPU Acoustics The low temperatures are impressive when you consider this system cools passively and completely silently. Not so much as a whisper can be heard from it, making it perfect for those who want a peaceful workspace. Power Consumption It uses more power at load than some electronic devices use in standby, it sips at just 31.9w under load, making it very cost effective to operate. Final Thoughts Pricing The Shuttle NC03U3 is very reasonably priced at just £273 ex VAT, and £327 inc VAT. Keep in mind that it's compact, passively cooled, comes with a motherboard, CPU and PSU built-in or included, and a few other bits like a card reader. You can buy them pre-built or as a barebones, where you simply add your own hard drive, OS, and memory, giving you great flexibility on how you would like to deploy them. Overview For your day-to-day PC gamer, this obviously isn't a product that's tailored to that market. However, a system like this still has a place in the consumers home, as I myself use something similar for my spare office. A compact on-the-desktop system is great for those tighter work spaces. It's going to be more than powerful enough to run Google Docs, a bit of music, and other day-to-day processing tasks. Of course, at home is one thing, as these are great for the bigger office too. If you need something that can easily be deployed over 20 desks in your office, they're super easy to install. Of course, they're also very compact, they're completely silent, don't run hot, and efficient. I can think of a few office managers that would be ticking things off his requirements list with the NC03U3. Oh, and it's reasonably priced, that's always a bonus. Performance This system may not seem that fast to some of our regular readers, especially if you're here looking for "can it play Crysis" as it's not what it was ever meant to do. If you need a lightweight and "powerful enough" system for work, this is ideal. Storage performance is great, and you can easily upgrade the drive as well as the RAM too. Style I think it's a great looking system as it is, but the inclusion of a vertical stand helps a lot as the whole thing takes up even less desktop space that way. Of course, if you need it to take up less space, the included VESA mount will allow you to wall mount it, or mount it to the rear of a compatible display. That last one is going to be handy for those using this as digital signage. Applications In the home office or any office, it's perfect for the job for anyone not doing heavy-duty video rendering. Digital signage systems tend to be run 24/7, so the compact and efficient design is a huge benefit. It may not be a media box, you using something like Plex (in combination with a separate server), it'll be a decent HTPC box, and you could easily use it for Steam in-home streaming... just remember you'll need another "gaming PC" to do the rendering for that one. Pros Compact design Incredible efficiency Completely silent Stylish aesthetics Upgradable storage and memory Good connectivity Vertical and VESA stands included Cons None Neutral Only has iGPU, but still performs great