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Small Is Beautiful [Roundup, PCWorld]
Tired of banging your knees on the monster tower lurking under your desk? Thinking about adding a second computer at your workstation, but put off by the bulk and noise of two systems? Contrary to conventional thinking, a PC doesn't have to be big or noisy, as we found when we looked at ten small-footprint units. Modestly priced, moderately powerful, and often stylishly designed, these machines can be a great choice wherever space is at a premium--from the shrinking cubicles in corporate offices to the family living room to the kitchen counter. Wed, 03 Aug, 2005 | 71 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Shuttle XPC K6200h [Review, Cnet]
The $999 Shuttle XPC K6200h is pleasing to the eye with its clean, compact shape (it's even smaller than the Shuttle XPC i8600b), but its lackluster internal components deliver performance that can't keep pace with the other sub-$1,000 systems in our budget PC roundup. The K6200h's small size and quiet operation make it well suited for people who need an unobtrusive PC--just don't expect to be able to use it for more than the most basic applications. Tue, 02 Aug, 2005 | 23 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Shuttle XPC i8600b [Review, PCWorld]
Resembling an oversize toaster, the Shuttle XPC i8600b is one of the largest of the small systems we looked at, but the extra size has a payoff: greater expandability. Though the case is only 8 inches high and just under 15 inches long, it includes a sample of pretty much everything a full-size PC offers, including a PCI Express X16 slot, a PCI slot, two hard drive bays, and a plethora of expansion ports. It's the only system in our ten-model roundup that comes with support for surround-sound audio: the built-in sound chip can drive up to eight channels of analog surround sound, while the other small systems we tested are limited to two channels. The $1611 XPC is also the only one with an S/PDIF digital audio-in and -out port--very useful if you want to use the system as a home theater PC. There's also an eight-in-one media card reader built into the case. Mon, 01 Aug, 2005 | 25 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Computex 2005: Shuttle SLI [Article, Hexus]
Running custom gear from the cards means that the SN26P comes ready
fitted with twin Leadtek PX6800GT TDH 256 MiB DDR3 PCI-e graphics
cards, so this baby is going to cost a bit more than the average
barebones system you’d normally be able to pick up from Shuttle. I
suppose you’d call it skinny rather than barebones? Wed, 29 Jun, 2005 | 42 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
World Exclusive - Dual CPU/GPU SFF PC - IWill ZMAXd2 [Preview, Hexus]
Packing support for NVIDIA's SLI technology via nForce4 SLI core
logic, along with support for dual-core Opteron, the ZMAXd2 crams
even more into the same space, doubling the CPU and graphics power
with help from a new 400W power supply, specially developed by IWILL
for the unit. Thu, 23 Jun, 2005 | 148 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE System [Review, Hexus]
The ISOTOPE chassis is much like Marmite; you will either love
it or loathe it. I must confess, having first seen it on display at
the recent CTS show, I was set against it. Too many hard edges and
too much internal activity. However, it's the kind of chassis that
grows on you ... it becomes a talking point as much as anything else,
and if you're the kind of enthusiast that likes to have something look
a little different, the chassis, with its pre-distressed look and
colour choice, is a real alternative to regular SFF PCs. Thu, 19 May, 2005 | 91 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Super White 7654-47CW Barebones Kit Review [Review, mikhailtech]
The inside of the case is, big surprise, nothing special. The front uses a single cage for mounting all the drives using good 'ol screws. There's a stamped grill with holes for an 80mm intake, but as is the problem with many cases even to this day, it's pretty much useless since there's no opening in front of it to take in air. Around back we have the PSU, 80mm fan, non-removable I/O shield, and the expansion slots. If you look closely you'll notice the protrusion mentioned earlier which holds the expansion cards in place. Finally, the motherboard tray isn't removable either. You'll find raised mounts where typical motherboard holes can be found; for the rest you'll need to install the somewhat awkward provided plastic stand-offs. Mon, 18 Apr, 2005 | 74 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
BTX AMD System? [Article, Hexus]
Biostar's nForce4-based iDEQ 330P has something very close to picoBTX in terms of board layout. Being a small PC that doesn't support upgrade of the mainboard, the mainboard can have any layout that Biostar want. With their i915-based iDEQ a full picoBTX implementation, it seems they've designed the nForce4 version in much the same way. The CPU and core logic are lined up to take advantage of the iDEQ's cooling system, with the expansion slots and memory slots either side. Wed, 30 Mar, 2005 | 172 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
ASUS S-presso SFF System Review [Review, rojakpot]
Like coffee as well as small form factor PCs? Then you will be interested in the new SFF system from ASUS.
Christened the ASUS S-presso, is this new SFF system really your cup of coffee? Read on and find out! Sun, 13 Feb, 2005 | 333 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
TriGem KLOSS KL-I915A [Review, Hexus]
It's not as cheap as Shuttle's SB77G5 XPC but for the extra £50 it'll
take to snag a KLOSS, you get more than £50 worth of extra value in this
reviewer's opinion.
An innovative take on SFF chassis partitioning and the cooler for the processor
are the final big highlights on a well presented and desirable mini barebones
computer system. Sun, 13 Feb, 2005 | 148 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Tranquil PC T2.e/MCE2005 EPIA-SP [Preview, Hexus]
EPIA-SP gives Tranquil's MCE2005 product in the T2 chassis the
performance boost that it needed, to remove some of the sticking points I found
in operation. The chassis' evolution gives you a bit more interior space in the
right places, the PCI retention hardware is improved and the blissful silence
remains. Wed, 09 Feb, 2005 | 88 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Shuttle XPC SB77G5 [Review, Hexus]
Shuttle are aiming the SB77G5 at the gamer, giving them recent P4
processor support in a small form factor, while letting them use
existing AGP graphics and good DDR400 memory. The performance relative
to DFI's excellent 875P-T shows they've succeeded in the performance
endeavour, using that processor. But if you're a gamer, with the money
to spend on SB77G5, why are you using Pentium 4? Shuttle's alternate
SN95G5 is more suited to you. Thu, 27 Jan, 2005 | 93 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
VIA Epia MII [Review, Bjorn3d]
From our looks at VIA's Mini-ITX systems previously, it stands
out that the biggest leap in progress for the Epia range has been the
increase in clock speeds over time - While the CLE266 north bridge has
always handled DVD/MPEG-2 playback and handled it well, low clock speeds
for the VIA C3 processor hampered DiVX and other MPEG-4 codec playback
in the past. Now the MII sees an Epia system sat at the 1.2GHz mark,
this performance issue has been eased considerably... Fri, 07 Jan, 2005 | 64 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Giga-Byte G-Max Cube [Review, nextgenelectronics]
These small PCs are gaining popularity for a reason ... small, lightweight, and still as powerful as you pretty much want them to be. The performance of the G-Max CA2 is up to the user ... but the groundwork has been done masterfully by Giga-Byte with what the consumer is buying with this unit. Overall, a great product. Sun, 12 Dec, 2004 | 92 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Socket-775 Cubed - Shuttle’s SB83G5 and SB81P XPC Systems [Review, GamePC]
Now it's time to see how Shuttle has altered their systems to support Intel's new Socket-775 Pentium 4 processor. Not content to simply offer a carbon copy of their other systems with a new motherboard, Shuttle has introduced two new XPC systems, one which follows their traditional but modern G5 design (SB83G5), and one which caters to the high-end user with their new P-series design (SB81P). Both new systems include Intel 915-series chipsets, PCI Express x16 graphics expansion slots, and new Serial ATA/150 RAID abilities, just to name a few of the new features. Sat, 30 Oct, 2004 | 235 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Shuttle XPC SN95G5 [Review, Hexus]
On the surface, it's all sweetness and light in the world of the SN95G5. It supports the best CPUs AMD have ever made, it has good features, the performance is great, and the G5 chassis restyle is Shuttle's best yet. But there's always a catch, and in this case it's price. At £315 in the U.K. just now, in very limited numbers, the SN95G5, despite all its good points, is very hard to recommend. While you can argue that the cost of entry to Socket 939 means that any CPU customer is arguably well-heeled enough to snag an SN95G5 too, the wrong side of £300 has never appealed in the world of small form factor. Mon, 25 Oct, 2004 | 175 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
AOpen EZ18-120 SFF System [Review, Hexus]
We've yet to see a perfect SFF system. AOpen does a lot of things
right with the EZ18 - it also does a few things, subjectively speaking, wrong.
Worth a look, surely. Sat, 16 Oct, 2004 | 223 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
IWill's ZMAXdp - Dual Opterons in a Mini PC [Review, Hexus]
Dual Opteron in small form factor works, and it works well. I've left off talking about the noise the system made while under heavy load until this conclusion, since it's the noise I maybe was most impressed with. With low-power Opterons, CPU temperature never rose over 48C under load, and with a BIOS SmartFan threshold of 58C, the fans never made more than a half-hearted whisper. The ZMAXdp, with those CPUs, is nearly silent. Sat, 16 Oct, 2004 | 247 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Back In Black : Shuttle’s SN95G5 nForce3 Ultra Socket-939 XPC [Review, GamePC]
Shuttle recently launched their 5th generation designs with two new models, one for Intel's Socket-775 Pentium 4 (SB85G5) and one for AMD's Socket-939 Athlon64 / Athlon64-FX, which is the SN95G5 system we're looking at today. The launch of the SN95G5 is especially sweet, as it is the first retail product to bring AMD's high-end Socket-939 processor architecture to a small form factor environment. In a recent poll here at GamePC, a whopping 60% of readers voted that a Socket-939 Athlon64/FX processor would be the most desirable CPU in a small form factor environment. Tue, 05 Oct, 2004 | 103 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Monarch Hornet Pro: "SFF" meets PCI Express, DDR2 [Review, AnandTEch]
Anyway, as you can probably guess by reading the title of this review, we are indeed reviewing one of the first SFFs available that supports Intel's LGA775 Prescott platform based on the 925X chipset, and PCI Express and DDR2 functionality as a result. This system obviously supports PCI-e 16X graphics cards and PCI-e 1X cards (1X cards are intended as the replacement for PCI cards). It also supports DDR2 speeds up to 533MHz. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this system is that Monarch worked so closely with Intel on the Hornet Pro that they are currently the only manufacturer that supports Intel's mATX D925XBC motherboard, which at the moment is the only mATX 925X-based motherboard available on the entire market. Quite frankly, we couldn't think of a better use for a mATX motherboard than to put it in an "SFF" case. Though, if you'll notice, the Hornet Pro really isn't quite an "SFF" because of it's significantly larger dimensions. That's why we put quote marks around SFF in the title of this review. Still, the same general concept (big performance in a small package) applies to Monarch's system here. Thu, 05 Aug, 2004 | 180 Click(s) | Related: Reviews or Talks | Detail
Make Home
Wed, 03 Aug, 2005 | 71 Click(s) | Related: 
