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.
Internal Design
Taking a look inside the case, we see the foundation for a solid performing system: AMD Athlon 64, Athlon FX and Sempron support (socket 939, including dual core support). The north bridge is ATI RS482, and the south bridge is IXPSB450. On-board video is provided by an ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset with DirectX 9 support. Although we did not have an opportunity to try it, the specs indicated that this takes advantage of ATI's SurroundView, which allows users to add an ATIC graphics card and have quad display management.
There are four SATA ports, two DDR 333/400 sockets, on-board SATA, and PCI and PCI-Express x16 slots. While we are not ready to play 'Taps' for the PCI slot, any computer that seeks the higher end market needs the PCI-E slot. On the other hand, while PCI-E x1 cards finally seem to be entering the marketplace, we still believe that PCI slots are here for a while, and so we are glad to see that manufacturers are willing to put to the two slots on the same board.
Audio is provided by ALC880 codec. Commonly thought of as the successor to the AC'97 codec, this is the "high-definition" version, which gives support for newer audio formats, 7.1 channels, high bandwidths, etc. Sporting an overly styled Realtek interface, to our ears, it sounded full and clear.
The XC Cube touts its multi TV-out. This includes a S-Video, plus component video, and composite options. All the necessary cables are provided. This allows for out-of-the-box HDTV output.
Installation, while not toolless, was easy. Cables are generally well run, providing sufficient cooling, although this computer is ATA challenged. If you do not use a SATA drive, you will have to run your own ATA cable for the hard drive. This is not a problem that only AOpen faces. The hard drive hangs below the optical and floppy. Want two hard drives? Be prepared to give up either the floppy or the optical and get ready for cable origami.
