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After the release of the AK31 series Shuttle followed up with the AK35GT(R) featuring improved voltage regulation as well as on-board RAID and the abandonment of the AC-97 sound in favor of the 6-channel CMedia hardware sound controller. With the arrival of the VIA KT333 chipset, Shuttle is releasing the next revision named AK35GT2 with or without /R as in RAID. Featuring a redesigned PCB, a passive heatsink and the new chipset, the AK35GT2 shows blazing performance at the 166 MHz memory bus setting but falls surprisingly short when the memory is running in synchronous 1:1 mode. A very aggressively tuned BIOS prevents excessive overclocking mostly because of issues with the PCI / IDE interface, courtesy of the missing 1/5 PCI divider. Regardless of these issues that will hopefully be remedied with future BIOS updates, the AK35GT2, targeted at about US$ 80-90 for the standard and RAID version, respectively, offers a lot of bang for the buck.

A few days ago, we were looking at the VIA KT333-based ASUS A7V333 and sort of concluded that there is not much of a benefit moving to the KT333 platform, at least not as an upgrade from an already present KT266A-based mainboard. Moreover, even running the memory bus only at 166 MHz, which involves the necessary fifos and synchronizers may not even reach the performance of the 133 MHz memory bus speed, partially also because the 266 MHz FSB constitutes a built-in bottleneck. There are several ways to skin a cat, though, and as mentioned above, a different BIOS implementation can change the picture dramatically.

Distinguishing component of the new PC2700 enabled platform is the VIA KT333 NorthBridge (the passive heatsink was removed for photo purposes).

When looking at some quality boards, if we have the ASUS A7V333 on one end of the scale, the other end of the scale would probably show the Shuttle AK35GT2/R. With the ASUS A7V333, we have a board stuffed to the gills with features that one may or may not need and all of those come at a relatively high price. With the Shuttle AK35GT2/R, we still have quite a list of features that are relevant for the standard user but we don't see all the extras we may or may not like in the A7V333. What we do like about the AK35GT2/R, though, is the price which will be in the low $80's for the non-RAID version and around $85-90 for the RAID version.

We have been reviewing Shuttle / Spacewalker boards for the past 5 years and there have been ups and downs as with every other company. A few months ago we were talking to some Shuttle executives about the future of the company and some of their roadmaps and what they promised us was that the next generation of board would consistently be amongst the top ranking within their class. With the AV40 and the AK31 series, Shuttle has already taken a huge step in that direction. The AK35 has added features like integrated RAID and 6 channel sound and the AK37 will bring official support for DDR 400 (PC3200) in the near future. For those who are impatient, Shuttle has just released the KT333-version of their successful AK35GTR. With respect to the naming convention, Shuttle might have been a bit more creative but AK35GT2(/R) is certainly clear enough to designate a new revision. Is it just the new chipset or is there more behind the new name?

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