14 DAY TRIAL // Even though most PC enthusiasts like their desktop chassis large and colorful, with as many silent fans and LEDs as possible, there are those who prefer more compact cases, as long as no impact is made on performance. Such consumers may even consider buying a PC with a smaller form factor that would go unnoticed, especially when its performance is on par with or greater than that of many mainstream and, perhaps, even high-end systems. To address this small niche, Shuttle is actually preparing a small box that crams the most powerful CPU and single-GPU graphics card currently on the market.
Normally, when thinking of mini PCs, consumers' thoughts drift to small nettops that are only good for basic web browsing and document viewing. However there are also those small systems that are meant for gaming, perhaps even LAN parties, because they are much smaller and more easy to carry than full-sized desktops. Shuttle's J3 can be said to be of the latter type, even though it lacks a handle for transportation.
Not all details on the specifications have been revealed, but Shuttle's press release did mention that the J3 was based on the Intel Core i7-980X CPU, otherwise known as the six-core Gulftown chip, the most powerful processor on the market today. This, in itself, is quite a feat, but the PC maker went ahead and added the other performance king, in terms of single-GPU graphics this time, known as the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480. Basically, the small box has all it needs to play even the latest games based on DirectX 11 graphics.
In addition to the J3, Shuttle will also showcase the J1 and G2, as well as a number of notebook and netbook concepts and prototypes. The Computex exhibition will also include a one-liter, slim PC with next-generation NVIDIA ION 2 graphics and a slim drive bay for internal DVD drives.