BIOS

The XH97V exploits a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) BIOS named Aptio Setup Utility, which, however, uses the old interface and doesn't support mouse input. Its available options are also fairly limited, and there are obviously no overclocking options since the cooling system can only handle up a CPU with a TDP of up to 65 W.


As has already been mentioned, there aren't any voltage-control options or overclocking features.


You can control each fan's operational profile through several presets. You had better leave it in smart-fan mode, though, as it will adjust fan speed according to the CPU's temperature, which will make both fans as quiet and effective as possible since their RPM is only ramped up to cool the unit after temperatures reach a certain point.


Strangely enough, enabling this option also meant that our keyboard and mouse wouldn't be recognized after the system booted into Windows, regardless of which USB port was used.


The BIOS' other option pages.

Performance

Using an Intel Pentium G3258 CPU and two Kingston 8 GB SO-DIMM modules, we installed mainstream components into our sample. We also used an OCZ Vertex 450 128 GB SSD.

PC Mark 07

The unit didn't perform quite as well as a similarly configured DS81 in these tests. The main reason behind such a performance is the low system-storage score. It is 1617 performance points lower than that of the DS81. We don't have any explanation as to why since we used exactly the same SSD with both barebones. That said, the XH97V's overall PCMark 07 performance is the second-best among all Shuttle barebones we have tested so far.

3D Mark 06

Second place here, it overtakes the DS81 by only a few points.

Power Consumption

Its increased power consumption is mainly the CPU's fault since, as we saw in our review of the DS81, the G3258 isn't all that energy efficient. Yet these power-consumption numbers are all lower than with the DS81; that is, except for in standby. Please remember that we used the exact same CPU for both units.

CPU Utilization

Temperatures

The better cooling system lead to an 11°C difference as compared to the DS81 with the same configuration, which is quite a difference!

Noise Output

We used a Class 1 Bruel & Kjaer 2250-L G4 Sound Analyzer, which we equipped with a type 4189 microphone that features a 16.6-140 dBA-weighted dynamic range, and placed it one meter away from the XH97V for these measurements. Ambient noise was below 20 dBA while we took these noise measurements and ambient temperatures hovered at around the 25°C mark. We took measurements in idle mode and while the 3DMark06 benchmark was running.



The XH97V features a very silent operation, although we used a CPU with a higher TDP, and it definitely consumed a considerable amount of energy, especially under load. The unit's own heatpipe-cooling system obviously works incredibly well, which has the fans spin at low speeds so long as the CPU's and VGA's utilization is low.