Looking for a low power SFF system you don't have to build yourself? Try Lenovo's ThinkCentre M91p

Subject: Systems | April 24, 2012 - 06:51 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: silent, SFF, Lenovo, ThinkCentre M91p

Most people who want a small form factor PC at home are those who will build it themselves, but not everyone has the time or inclination to do so.  That is where systems like the Lenovo ThinkCentre M91p come in handy.   Powered by a 2.7GHz Core 5-2500S, a single 4GB DIMM of DDR3-1333 and a 500GB HDD it is not overwhelming in its abilities but certainly qualifies as a low heat and low noise machine.  Silent PC Review thought that this machine would be better for an office PC than an HTPC as the Intel HD3000 struggles with playback in some cases but are very glad to see the rare 2500S in a system as it is hard to purchase as a seperate item but is quite nice with a turbo speed of 3.7GHz.

"The USFF version of Lenovo's ThinkCentre M91p packs a significant punch in a small package. Utilizing an Intel "S" low power processor and a 150W external AC power adapter, it's also incredibly energy efficient."

Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:

Systems

• Dell Alienware X51 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Dell Precision T3600 Review: Dell's New Enterprise @ AnandTech
• QuietPC Nofan Icepipe A40-Z68 Silent PC @ OC3D
• ZOTAC ZBOX Nano XS AD11 Plus Mini PC Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Ars Technica system guide: Bargain Box April 2012

Little machines need little PSUs; Seasonic's new TFX PSU

Subject: Cases and Cooling | April 16, 2012 - 06:40 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: seasonic, SS-350TGM, PSU, TFX, SFF

The PSU that you have come to know in your desktop is an ATX PSU but that is not the only choice, as server techs and SFF builders are well aware.  One of the alternative standards is the TFX which retains the ATX electrical and connection specs but fits it into a 5.75" × 3.25" × 2.5" (146 x 83 x 64mm) casing.  The 350W Seasonic SS-350TGM is not designed for SLI/CrossFire systems, indeed it does not have a single PCIe connector of any type which is not a problem for the type of machine this is intended for.  If you are planning on building an ITX box with an internal PSU, or even a small custom built case, you really should drop by [H]ard|OCP to check this little PSU out.

"Today we tackle something a bit off the beaten path for us; a low power non-ATX specification power supply from Seasonic. We do know that many of our readers build systems that are not like all the others especially when it comes to crafting smaller purpose driven boxes. The 300TGM may be just what you are looking for."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000 W @ techPowerUp
• Antec Earthwatts Platinum 650W @ Kitguru
• OCZ FATAL1TY Series 1000 W @ techPowerUp
• Kingwin Lazer Platinum 850 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid 1300-watt @ Tweaktown
• OCZ Fatal1ty 1000W Modular @ Funky Kit
• FSP Aurum Pro Gold 1200-watt @ Tweaktown
• PC Power Silencer Mk III @ HardwareBistro
• OCZ Fatal1ty Series 1000-watt @ Tweaktown
• Super Flower Golden King 500 W @ techPowerUp
• Silent Power: Fanless PSU Roundup @ X-bit Labs

Logic Supply has an interesting way of sizing their smaller HTPCs

Subject: Systems | April 13, 2012 - 04:15 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: SFF, mini-itx, Logic Supply, LGX AG150 Fanless Mini PC, htpc, Atom N2800

Defining the size of the Logic Supply LGX AG150 Fanless Mini PC as being 1.2 litres is a unique way of describing just how small this machine is.  You can see from the picture below that a pair of serial ports takes up a significant portion of the front panel.  Part of the reason for this is the completely fanless design, the heatsink obscuring the Atom N2800 has TIM on it to allow the entire top of the case to distribute the heat.  The SSD drive also helps slim the machine down and also adds snappy performance as well.  The Intel DN2800MT mini-ITX board powers the SSD and can fit up to 4GB of RAM in its two slots and the Intel GMA 3650 powers the HDMI and VGA ports with enough processing power for you to watch HD video.  As it is a totally silent HTPC, it should come as no surprise that it was Silent PC Review who received this box for testing.

"This new PC from specialist Logic Systems is based around the recently released Intel DN2800MT "Marshalltown" mini-ITX Atom board, a long-awaited follow-up to the original "Thin ITX" board, the Intel D945GSEJT. Super low energy consumption, 1080P video capability and a tiny 1.2 liter form factor should be compelling for Mini PC enthusiasts."

Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:

Systems

• ZOTAC ZBOX Blu-Ray AD05 Plus Mini PC Review @ HardwareHeaven
• RaidSonic ICY BOX IB-MP3011Plus Network Media Player Review @ NikKTech
• Zotac ZBOX Nano XS AD11 Plus: Redefining the Small Form Factor PC @ AnandTech
• SilverStone GD06 Home Theater PC Case @ Computing on Demand
• Arctic MC001-BD Blu-Ray Entertainment Center Review @ eTeknix
• nMedia HTPC 7000B SFF Case Review @ Hardware Canucks
• USB 3.0 to HDMI & VGA External Video Card @ CoD

ECS trims the fat off and presents two new mini-ITX boards

Subject: Motherboards, Systems | March 29, 2012 - 11:59 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ECS, elitegroup, mini ITX, CDC-TI Thin, H61H2-TI Thin, SFF

The CDC-TI Thin Mini-ITX may not interest many readers as it is designed for an Atom processor which have never been terribly popular here at PC Perspective, even for HTPC builds.  The CDC-TI Thin Mini-ITX is a totally different story as it can handle LGA1155 chips and has an HDMI out, making it a beautiful choice for an HTPC or even a SFF portable gaming machine although you might be disappointed by the orientation of the full and half length PCIe slots.  Consider it a challenge and see if you can get a decent half height GPU in there!

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world’s leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, notebook and mobile device manufacturer announces a variety of options of Thin Mini-ITX for users to meet their different demands with AIO (All-In-One) and motherboards. To target different segments, ECS Thin Mini-ITX motherboards are not only compatible with AIO but also with small form factor PCs, offering a wide range of solutions including H61H2-TI, H61H2-G11 and CDC-TI. With the growth in popularity of AIO, acceptance of the Thin Mini-ITX platform proves to be leading standard of this new trend, allowing for future-proof upgradeability.

The brand new CDC-TI Thin Mini-ITX motherboard supports Intel® Atom™ D2700/D2550/D2500 Dual-core processors. The CPU and Memory are supported 100% by Solid Capacitors in order to provide better conductivity and longevity. CDC-TI features 2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM socket supporting up to 4GB, 2 x SATA 3Gb/s, 2 x USB 2.0, 2 Mini-PCIe (1 Full/ 1 Half), VGA, HDMI and LVDS support. It is distinguished by its fan-less design because of the lowest CPU power consumption of <10W TDP. ECS CDC-TI not only works well for Thin Mini-ITX AIOs but also for other form factors that can take advantage of a low-profile board.

The other H61H2-TI Thin Mini-ITX motherboard can support socket LGA1155 Intel® 2nd and 3rd Generation Core processors. It features Intel® H61 Express chipset with SATA 3Gb/s, 2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM socket up to 16GB, 2 x USB 3.0, 2 Mini-PCIe (1 Full/ 1 Half), 1 x mSATA, and HDMI input/output that deliver you an excellent performance and amazing experience. ECS H61H2-TI provides you a multi-functional solution within a limited space. Small but versatile.

Asetek Demonstrates Liquid Cooling For Laptop And All-In-One PCs

Subject: Mobile | March 20, 2012 - 03:09 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: SFF, liquid cooling, gaming laptop, asetek, alienware

The rise of mATX boards designed for high powered gaming machines, laptops with serious mobile GPU power and All-In-One Systems have increased the problem of heat generation in small systems.  A SFF system used to be a moderately powerful system good for use as a workstation or HTPC but now it could well be a multi-GPU gaming beast and the same goes for laptops.  

In an effort to stop baking laps and shortening the life of components in SFF systems Asetek has been working on liquid cooling systems for these types of systems.  You can see an example of a watercooling Alienware laptop on the YouTube video they produced and be sure to check out the links on this page if you are looking for more information.

Asetek Inc., the world leading supplier of liquid cooling for the computer industry announced today a new and groundbreaking slim form factor liquid cooling technology for extreme performance and workstation grade laptops and All-In-One PCs. Slim form factor liquid cooling enables laptop and AIO PC manufacturers to deliver mobility and sleek industrial designs without sacrificing performance.

“We see a growing need for higher performance personal computers, driven by ever more powerful modeling software for engineering, scientific and financial work, and for content creation and gaming,” said André S. Eriksen, Founder and CEO of Asetek. ”We also see high performance hardware expanding to more portable, sleeker devices like the highly successful M-series of notebooks from Alienware.”

“For laptops and AIOs to deliver workstation and gaming PC performance, these machines must be able to take full advantage of desktop grade performance hardware. We have identified this need and designed our cooling solution to target these thinner machines,” continued Eriksen.

The fundamental challenge in cooling desktop replacement laptops and All-In-One PCs is the lack of space for a proper thermal solution. Consequently, previous attempts at liquid cooling laptops have offered no performance improvement over traditional heat-pipe based heat sinks.

“Asetek successfully cracked the code of improving acoustic and thermal performance in a notebook without increasing the form factor,” said Ole Madsen, VP of Engineering. “Our patent protected technology allows better utilization of the thermal modules used to cool the CPU and GPUs. That, along with our optimized coldplate technology enables the use of much more powerful hardware than air cooling could ever allow”.

Asetek is showcasing its new technology in an Alienware M18x notebook with the CPU overclocked from 3.5GHz to 4.4Ghz and the GPUs overclocked from 680Mhz to 800Mhz. In addition, the M18x achieved a 23% improvement in Futuremark’s 3D Mark Vantage benchmark while reducing the noise output of the stock air-cooled laptop. A video demonstration can be found at Asetek.com.

So you want to build an octocore mATX beast?

Subject: Systems | March 15, 2012 - 06:50 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ASUS ROG Rampage IV GENE X79, SFF, mATX, hd7970, Intel Xeon E5-2690

The mATX ASUS ROG Rampage IV GENE X79 motherboard can hold more power than you might assume from its size, as you can see at VR-Zone.  Even though the board looks tiny compared to the heatsink needed to cool the Xeon E5-2690 and the triple slot HD7970 seems to barely fit beside the OZC Revodrive 3 X2 480GB, the components do work at full speed making this beast a real power house.  As Yoda said, "Size matters not."

"What if I have about US$5000 to spend - Could I have a true 8-core/16-thread CPU in a small form factor setup without compromising on storage, thermals or online gaming prowess?" Well, we show that we can!"

Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:

Systems

• PC Specialist Vortex XT-270FB @ Kitguru
• iBUYPOWER Erebus GT: Custom Cooling for Less @ AnandTech
• HP Omni 27 Quad Review @ TechReviewSource
• HP Phoenix h9se: The Pavilion Goes Beyond Thunderdome @ AnandTech

Zotac Launches Three New ZBOX Mini PCs At CeBIT 2012

Subject: Systems | March 10, 2012 - 02:15 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: zotac, zbox, SFF, PC, hardware

In a recent press release, Zotac unveiled three new ZBox small form factor computers, including one PC that features a blu-ray optical drive. Specifically, the new models include the ZBOX ID82, ZBOX Nano ID61, and the ZBOX Blu-ray AD05. In addition, the company offers "plus" versions of the three ZBOX computers that add 2GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive to the hardware package. Carsten Berger, marketing director for ZOTAC stated that the company is constantly pushing the small form factor envelope and the latest Intel Core i3 Sandy Bridge processors "enables us to give demanding users the performance edge they need."

The ZBOX Nano ID61

The ZBOX ID61 is the smallest of the three PCs and is the latest in their Nano form factor. It is powered by a dual core Intel Celeron 867 processor, a single DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, and an integrated multimedia card reader. Connections include HDMI, Displayport, 2 USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, 1 eSATA port, Bluetooth 3.0, and a built in IR receiver. The ID61 plus further features 2 GB of DDR3 1333 MHz laptop RAM and a 320 GB SATA III (6Gbps) hard drive.

The ZBOX ID82

The ID82 represents the latest ZBOX PC, and while it is a big bulkier than the Nano series, it packs a lot more punch with an Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3-2330. The new Intel CPU is a dual core 2.2 GHz processor which further includes Hyper-Threading tech for a total of four virtual cores. Further, the PC has two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, DVI-I, and Bluetooth 3.0. The ZBOX ID82 Plus includes 2 GB of DDR3 RAM and a 320 GB laptop hard drive.

The ZBOX Blu-ray AD05

Finally, the ZBOX Blu-ray AD05 is a small form factor PC that moves to AMD for their processor and GPU with the AMD E-450 APU with integrated Radeon 6320 GPU. The extra hardware horsepower provides the "oomph" needed to support smooth blu-ray playback. The mini PC holds a 4x Blu-ray reader that doubles as a 8x DVD +/- writer. It includes support for two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots and an 2.5" SATA II hard drive. Connections include HDMI, DVI, two USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, and one combo USB 2.0/eSATA port. The ZBOX Blu-ray AD05 Plus version further includes 2 GB of memory and a 320 GB hard drive.

All three of the mini ZOTAC ZBOX PCs (wow, that's a lot of caps) also feature Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and a bundled Media Center remote and USB IR receiver. No matter the model, the user is still responsible for providing an OS as one does not come bundled. Unfortunately, there is no word on pricing or availability.

Xigmatek thinks big with their new mATX Gigas enclosure

Subject: Cases and Cooling | March 2, 2012 - 03:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: xigmatek gigas, xigmatek, SFF, mATX

When you build a machine based on an mATX board, you tend to be aiming for a compact system that can be hidden away or is at least small enough that it is unobtrusive.  Xigmatek decided to toss that style away when they designed the Gigas, quite possibly the only mATX enclosure which weighs more than 20lbs.  At 10.94" x 12.68" x 15.59" you have a lot of space to work with and will find space for a lot more drives than you might expect even with a full size GPU and 1kg+ heatsink.   This is a perfect enclosure for some of the high end mATX board for sale currently, but as TechPowerUp points out in their review there are no grommets for watercooling if you wanted to upgrade your cooling solution.

"Is it a mATX chassis? No! Is it a mid-tower case? No! What is it? It is the Xigmatek Gigas! Too big to be a compact mATX cube, but too compact to be considered a mid-tower. Will the Gigas end up being the Frankenstein of cases, or manage to impress with this new approach?"

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• Corsair Carbide 300R @ OC3D
• NZXT Switch 810 Hybrid Full Tower @ Pro-Clockers
• Cooler Master Elite 431 Plus Mid Tower Case Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• Corsair Carbide 300R Case Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced Chassis @ Kitguru
• Cooler Master 690 II Advanced Black and White Mid-Tower Chassis Review @ eTeknix
• Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition Review @ circuitREMIX
• SilenX EFZ-120HA5 Heatsink Review @ Ninjalane
• NZXT Havik 120 CPU Cooler Review @Hi Tech Legion
• SilenX EFZ-120HA5 Cooler @ HardwareBistro
• Be Quiet! Shadow Rock Pro SR1 CPU Cooler @ Kitguru