| AOpen XC Cube EZ65 |
|---|
| |
|
| Size WDH(mm) | 300(W)x200(D)x185(H)mm |
| Chip | Intel865G/ICH5 |
| Memory Type | DDRx2 (DUAL CH) 266/333/400 |
| CPU Type | 478 |
| FSB | 400/533/800 |
| Video Chip | On Die(8x AGP) |
| Video Ports | x1 |
| S-Video | No |
| PCI | x1 |
| AGP | x1 |
| Sound Chip | AC97 5.1CH |
| Lan Speed | 10/100/1000 |
| ATA Connector | ATA100x2 |
| SATA Connector | SATAx2 |
| USB 2.0 | 2(Rear) / 2(Front) |
| IEEE1394 | 1(Rear) / 2(Front) (6/4pins) |
| 5.25" Bays | 1 |
| 3.5" Bays | 1 |
| HDD Bay | 1 |
| SPS | 220W(w/ 8cmFAN) |
For starters the XC Cube EZ65 is based around the well known Intel I865G chipset and uses the incorporated ICH5 for controlling your USB, SATA, audio, LAN and other south bridge functions within a native Intel environment. Intel's now famous Hyper-Threading technology is supported, as is Dual-Channel memory. The system can utilize up to 2GB of DDR 266/333/400 and the chipset offers a flexible 400/533/800MHz FSB so a variety of different Socket 478 CPU's from the entry level Celeron to the advanced P4 3.2GHz Extreme Edition/Prescott can be used in the XC Cubes configuration as the system offers the ZIF 478B CPU interface.
Intel's Extreme Graphics2 is offered as an onboard option and works okay in older Direct-X 7 games but lags stupendously when trying to play later Direct-X games and Open-GL just plain bites. The 9100 IGP from ATI is a much more viable on-board graphics engine for anyone who is seriously considering using their built-in graphics for gaming as the 9100 IGP has true Direct-X 9 and Open-GL support. On-board sound is provided by the AC97 codec and supports 5.1 Channel surround sound, there is both a SPDIF and optical connector for hooking up to digital speakers for optimal clarity. There are three available IEEE1394 ports (2X Fr 1X Re) 2 of the ports are of the 6-pin type and the other is a 4-pin port for better flexibility.
In total there are four USB ports (2X FR 2X RE), one 2.2 PCI slot and the 8X AGP port for adding your own sound card and/or 3D VGA solution. There are two Legacy ATA100 controllers and two SATA150 controllers. Intel RAID is available via the ICH5 and offers RAID ZERO (Striping) functionality, along with very easy drive detection and RAID setup features. The ICH5 also features Gigabit LAN and there is one RJ45 connector located on the back of the unit. The LAN functions in the 10/100/1000 environments and will work at the default speed of the hub it is ran through. Lastly there is a parallel port for any older external peripherals that you old school users may still be hanging on to.
Overall the features of the EZ65 are about on par with most of the SFF systems on the market today with a few really nice stand-outs that I was impressed with as I will speak more of in the setup section of the review, but with the price of around $325.00 U.S it falls into the higher priced arena of top of the line units. A lower price tag would make the appeal of the unit more intriguing, but with their products still a basic unknown to the end-user this goes against them as price could just be the factor that drives the would be purchaser in their direction. Performance, stability and ergonomics are also major players when considering a system, follow along and see how the EZ65 did in our labs tests.
