IFA Small form-factor PC specialist Shuttle showed off its first system designed for Intel's Atom processor: the X27.

Measuring just 25 x 18.5 x 7cm, the X27 nonetheless has room for a 2.5in hard drive and a slimline optical drive in addition to its mini-ITX motherboard built around Intel's 945GC chipset.

Shuttle's X27: Atom on board

Onto the board goes a 1.6GHz desktop-centric Atom 230 and up to 2GB of 533MHz or 667MHz DDR 2 memory in the board's single DIMM slot.

That's it as far as internal slots go - there are no PCI or PCIe connectors; the graphics come courtesy of the chipset. There are two 3Gb/s SATA connectors and a single parallel ATA port.

Ideal for a DIY nettop project?

The X27 has 5.1-channel HD audio and both DVI and VGA video output. It has Gigabit Ethernet and six USB 2.0 ports - two at the front and the rest round the back.

All in all, the ideal foundation for a DIY net desktop project.

Unfortunately, Shuttle didn't say when it'll be able to sell you one, or how much it will charge you for the hardware.

IFA 2008 complete coverage

Related Reviews
Intel Atom 230 ultra-low power CPU
VIA Nano ultra-low power CPU

Related stories

• AMD Atom alternative arrives in BenQ nettop (28 March 2009)
• VIA spins mini-mobo disk array (13 February 2009)
• Dual-core Atom to be released by month's end (8 September 2008)
• IFA Hands on with Fujtisu Siemens' Amilo netbook (29 August 2008)
• Dell turns to Linux, Atom for budget biz boxes (27 August 2008)
• Updated Asus Eee Box UK desktop debut delayed? (22 July 2008)
• Asus blames lack of Linux Eee PCs on Atom hold-ups (14 July 2008)
• Shuttle lands one-of-a-kind Alone in the Dark PC (13 June 2008)
• Shuttle launches Intel X38-equipped gaming SFF PC (25 January 2008)