SHUTTLE ESSENTIALLY CREATED the market for small form factor barebones systems, but lately, the company has become more of a system builder. That shift in focus has slowed Shuttle's once-constant stream of new XPC designs with the latest and greatest chipsets to a trickle, and other manufacturers have failed to pick up the slack. In fact, most manufacturers seem to have slowed their own pace of small form factor development. Some have even dropped out of the market completely.

The dearth of new small form factor barebones designs nicely sets the stage for a Shuttle comeback, and although the company may never match the frenetic pace of barebones development it achieved a few years ago, it does have a couple of all-new small form factor systems for the enthusiast market. First out of the gate is the XPC SN27P2, a tweaked successor to Shuttle's P series chassis with Socket AM2, an nForce 570 Ultra chipset, and a beefy 400W power supply under the hood.

Can the SN27P2 recapture Shuttle's former glory and make the small form factor world exciting again? Read on to find out.