If there is one thing that can be said about the Small Form Factor market, it is that there has been a proliferation of manufacturers who have had varying success. Some have built a reputation on SFF’s. Others have transitioned from their success in other areas of computers into Small Form Factors. AOpen is just such a manufacturer. A trip to their website reveals that they have Small Form Factors, towers, video cards, notebooks, and motherboards.
We can recognize that, as we proceed through the first quarter of 2006, Small Form Factors have created a niche following that, if the models continue to be developed, could find their way into the homes of "regular" computer buyers and not just integrators. This was demonstrated throughout our recent trip to CES, where we saw small computers by a variety of manufacturers, including major players such as Hewlett Packard.
Today we review AOpen’s XC Cube EZ482. For those that are not familiar with the XC Cube, as of the date this article is published, it comes in three sizes ? a mini size (comparable to AOpen’s Mini and the Mac Mini), a traditionally sized Small Form Factor, and a self-described "Cube Tower". As we will discuss in this review, this is a great example of a Small Form Factor that, if presented to the public, would find broad acceptance. It has sleek lines, a finish that rivals pianos (no exaggeration ? it literally reflects the world around it), and solid performance. Through a reasonable price and quality components, this proves to be a formidable competitor to other Small Form Factor machines. The tale of the tape is as follows:
Processor
AMD Athlon FX and Athlon 64 939 Pin Hypertransport 1000
Chipset
ATI RS483 + IXPSB450
Memory
2 x DDR SDRAM Dual channel DDR support up to 2GB
Audio
AC97 HD-Audio with 7.1 channel support
LAN
Gigabit LAN Network Controller 10/100/1000Gbps
PSU
275W
Dimensions:
320mm(L) x 200mm(W) x 190mm(H)
Parallel ATA
Two
Serial ATA
Four
On-Board Video
ATI X300
PCI-E
1 x16
PCI
1 (max length 220mm)
AGP
None
Front Panel Connections
2 x USB 2.0 2 x Firewire 1394a (4- pin & 6-Pin) 1 x Mic In 1 x Headphone Out 1 x Power Button/Power LED 1 x IDE Activity LED
Rear Panel Connections
2 x USB 1 x PS/2 Mouse 1 x PS/2 Keyboard 1 x Firewire 1394a (6-Pin) 1 x Audio Front Out 1 x Audio Rear Out 1 x Audio Center/Bass Out 1 x Audio Line In 1 x SPDIF In 1 x RJ45 Gigabit LAN 2 x PCI 1 x VGA connector 1 x COmposite video out
Onto the External Design.
Cooling
The cooling, like all small form factors, is custom to the computer. A large copper heat sink meets the chip. Above it, are a series of copper fins surrounded by a metal shroud that extends nearly to the sidewall of the chassis. This allows the fan on the other side of the heatsink to push the heat out the side of the chassis. Although we expected this to be effective for cooling purposes, we think this unit ran a little warm. We are not sure if this is an improper reading from the computer or if this is the result of insufficient thermal dissipation.
