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As this is a prototype build from MSI (to guide system builders) there is no fancy box or packaging. We do love Silverstone Sugo cases however, the brushed aluminum is beautiful.
The front of the chassis houses dual USB 2.0 connectors and underneath is a headphone and microphone port. At the bottom is a power switch which is flush with the surface.
MSI have installed a low profile dual layer DVD burner at the top, fully colour coordinated.
The bundle contains the MSI E350IA-E45 motherboard box, with literature and a software and a driver disc. There is also a power cable and SATA cables (some of which are used in this build).
The Silverstone chassis is diminutive, but still capable of high levels of airflow. All the panels are vented to allow for maximum airflow. It does need cleaned out fairly regularly however as there are no dust filters on any of the vented areas.
At the back we have VGA, HDMI ports next to a single PS/2 socket. There are six USB 2.0 ports and two additional USB 3.0 ports (via the Realtek NEC 720200 chipset). Optical/coaxial audio are offered alongside a 3.5mm audio in/out socket based around the Realtek chipset. Finally there is a 10/100/1000 LAN port for fast networking.
The outer chassis is easily removed from the rear, exposing the internals.
From the top, we can see the 80 Plus certified power supply and the slim profile DVD drive.
The motherboard is a traditional blue and black scheme, similar to other models in the MSI range which we have reviewed in the past. It is a mini ITX design and makes a perfect partner for this Silverstone design. The E350 APU is actively cooled and resides underneath an aluminium heatsink. The motherboard also supports a discrete graphics card, although it this is only a 4x PCIe capable slot.
The Hudson M1 chipset is passively cooled, although there will be decent levels of airflow in this chassis thanks to the large rear fan. The motherboard also has four sata connectors which are 6GB/s. The board supports up to 8GB of DDR3, although this configuration has 2x2GB Kingston HyperX installed … more than enough for the mainstream audience.
MSI have designed the board incorporating quality solid capacitors which are said to have a lifespan of over 10 years. They have also utilised protection circuitry across the USB components.
bravo Zardon, this is extremely impressive, look forward to seeing new laptops with this technology. it should help battery life, especially as the power drain figures will be much lower than this in a desktop environment.
Very nice, shame about the 4x port. it would give people another option to upgrade, although I suppose it defeats the purpose.
I love the silverstone case and its a good idea for MSI to push system builders into this, any ideas on the pricing of this system? although I guess MSI arent selling it, so its pretty hard to price. Wonder if mass market builders like Dell will market them.
I will be building a media center around this, for the living room. its basically going to be passively cooled, so no noise. ive a desktop pc handling this and I get worried about the electric bill as I never turn things off.
Wow, I didnt even see mention of this online, its been out for a week now? why arent they selling this in stores? I dont even see it mentioned on scan etc in UK.
Intel wont be surpassed by this, not because it isnt as good, but because where is it? can you get it in systems yet in pcworld? I never saw it today when I was out. I havent seen it being promoted online? very weird…..
Not sure it deserves much hype. sure its like an intel atom, but a bit better and probably takes less power, but as a desktop system, I have had ATOM before and they were frigging crap. we need laptop reviews of this to see how battery life is affected.
if it can give me 10 hour battery life id buy one, as a desktop system? Core i3 for me im afraid, dont like things running so tight to the wire.
Great article, its basically what I expected and im not impressed or disappointed, just waiting to see how it works inside the mobile environment. This is the market I think it will sell well.
I do agree with the coverage today, are AMD even promoting this? I see it nowhere, apart from a few review sites.
A lot of work in this, good reading. thanks.
Interesting to see this new platform, its a little underwhelming for me to be honest, although I do appreciate the power figures are low. Still, AMD dont seem to be focusing on it at all, so clearly they arent that bothered either.
Good job AMD on the hardware. they need to really promote this. Id like to try it to see if its more responsive real world than Intel ATOM, which I never could deal with.
REally nice figures considering. would love to see a quad core version for desktop. seems weird they never released it and the dual core for laptops
im stunned this was out 22nd? but glad you covered it with this excellent system from MSI. I love the silverstone case, and I think the overall design idea is fab. Just a bit disappointed about the 4x slot. I am sure most people wont touch it, but still…..
I like this low power technology. Its all great seeing 580s in SLI etc, but this is where the real systems are imo.
This is going to be my next system. Will Yoyotech make something similar?
I like this build, although id probably use an external networked storage drive and put an SSD in this. it can really help transform a low powered system as it isnt hanging around on platters
System’s good but the case is all wrong mate. Who’s got that much clearence under the telly? Needs to be in a slimline case or not at all. Aalso need to see how cooling stuff works when there’s no airflow. Does it handle it or blow?
Forgot to say agree with ravi about SSD and sticking the big drives on nas.
I’ve been reading this site for a long time, but never commented (captcha never excepts my input, useless, and no I’m bloody well not a bot).
Now calling the review WORLD EXCLUSIVE and etc etc got really high but you’d have done something really exclusive if you’d have COMPARED:
Bobcat 2 cores @ 1.6GHz
v/s
ATOM 2 core @ 1.6GHz
v/s
Athlon II X2 2 core @ 1.6GHz
that with undervolting for Athlon II and power consumption check and benchmarks would have made for a killer review. Well, I can dream on cant I.