Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This review is written for MODDERS.General users may find this information useful, but I am writing for the intermediate to advanced power user who intends to open up the case.
First Impressions: I was looking for a Quad-Core Athlon processor that would be inexpensive to modify for server/*nix use (with occasional WIN7 use).The number one attraction was the price. And it still is!I am very happy with what I have done, and the flexibility gained.I had some previous experience with a fantastic gaming machine using a PHENOM processor with 4 cores, and I was looking to carry over much of that experience into a working machine, without doing the level of effort I put into building the gaming machine.My apologies to those of you who are INTEL platform fans: there are many games which run better on INTEL platforms with WIN7, and you should definitely go that way if you play those games.
About the Processor Core: if you need a gaming machine, this is not for you.There are several differences between the Phenom sold in expensive gaming systems, and the Athlon II X4 620 quad-processor core used here: including the complete lack of an L3 cache.Like the INTEL Core 2 Quad Q8200, there is no L3 cache at all.See magazine articles or reference materials on the differences.That being said, the architecture is great for a plain-jane workhorse or a media center to play DVD video.I have had not tried heavy HD video use, nor done the modifications for Blue-Ray movies on this machine.If you have data on doing a Blu Ray player upgrade for this machine, please leave a comment on this review.
About the Case:This machine is easy to open up.The two rear screws hold on the access panel quickly remove with a phillips, and have standard case threads - easily replaced with your favorite knurled-knob screws.The front fascia pops off the top edge with three exposed clips (plastic), and is retained on the other edge by three curved hooks (also plastic), and is wired to the motherboard by an easily disconnected micro-plug (for power switch and fascia/ bezel LED light).The DVD drive and HDD attach to a minimal sheet metal cage/ box, which is cleverly attached with two phillips screws on the front case sheet metal. To remove the drives, undo the SATA wires (L-type) and power plugs (flat type, not molex), undo the front screws, and then slowly lift up.The cage will act as if hinged at front, but it is just clever bending of the sheet metal cage.There is a sheet-metal box around the very-small, custom power supply (looks like 240 watts).The airflow, like most of the latest small form-factor PCs, is minimal; fans are limited to the CPU fan/heat-sink combo and a teeny-tiny power supply fan that I can't really see well.
About the MOBO layout.This is a compact set up with lots of money saving choices.It presents some limitations for MODDERS.There are 4 memory slots (came with 4GB on 2 SAMSUNG DDR3 cards) positioned immediately behind the bottom of the HDD, and in front of the fan/heat-sink combo on the CPU. The close proximity of the CPU fan/heat-sink to the rear-projecting cables of the full-sized DVD-drive box means limited options.The wire routing includes only the necessary; flat, red, sata cables tucked against the corners of the case... very clean and good for airflow. I did not like the look of the SAMSUNG memory: just bare chips on fibre-glass without a heat-spreader.The SAMSUNG performed perfectly on my burn-in testing, but I popped in 8 GB of Kingston Hyper-X as a long term preventative measure.The 8GB was recognized perfectly by the system, and tested very well too.No blue-tooth or WIFI on board, so use the USB plugs for a cheapo add-on.
About the I/O layout: there are normal front and rear input output sockets, in a pretty clean layout.The front panel sports a hinged plastic door to cover up the break-out sockets.Under the door you will see: audio 3.5mm in/out, 4-wire ieee1394 plug (aka mini-firewire400), 5 USB sockets, a CF card slot, and a flash combo-slot (SD, XD, MS multi-slot). In the back there are: 2 PS/2 sockets (?), HDMI and VGA out, e-SATA, ehternet, 4 more USB sockets, and the usual color-coded 3.5mm audio sound plugs.There are a variety of internal SATA sockets available on the motherboard (HDD, DVD, plus three more) but you won't get much use from them until you pull the DVD-HDD box/cage out of the case... everything is just crammed in with no room.Cables are mostly blocked by the DVD drive or the fan/heat-sink.
About the WIN7 compatibility with Athlon x64:Run your windows update and look carefully at the Optional installs (after you have installed the Important updates).There are several updates specific to the WIN7 behaviors with Athlon processors, and the combination of Athlon and NVIDIA products with +4GB RAM (see the official site for Microsoft (Start with a look at KB976972).To the credit of AMD, ACER and Microsoft, the patches are available and install easily (all updates installed successfully without any repeated tries or manual intervention).There are additional patches that may apply to your specific use as a corporate box or a media-center PC, so make the effort to do a good install-update to the system.
About the power loading:I was very concerned about the "el-cheapo" power supply that usually gets stuffed into a tiny budget box (in my opinion, all manufacturers view small-form-factor PCs as budget boxes).To open up the airflow, and offload some power demands, I moved the HDD and DVD off the MOBO.The old SATA internal (L-plug with flat red wiring) connection to the HDD is now modded to a internal (L-plug) to external eSATA (flat) on a round blue cable.The HDD now lives in an external eSATA drive toaster (use the brand of your choice, or an external RAID with eSATA plug).The DVD is now a USB connected external.This was easy for me since I already had all the parts, and the math says that this will reduce the load on the power supply in the ACER case.Theoretically, this may extend the life of the Acer power supply.Since all this stuff sits on a rack, out of sight, the looks are no big deal.Not recommended for the executive director's fancy desk top though.
About the performance:Five-stars!This is far better than the laptop which used to do this duty.I will run some benchmarks later to compare.The processor and OS combo have not hit any heat problems for any situation I have put them in during burn-in or anything so far.For the low cost, this fanken-customized rig now does multiple duties as a work machine in a home network.I keep the WIN7 disc for grins, but I am not a true believer in WIN7 for servers.Plus, this machine has no gaming use (except minesweeper and pin-ball).The *nix install was trivial... but that is beyond the scope of this review.
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Acer AX3300-U1322 Desktop PC (Black)Product Description: Acer Aspire X3300 Desktop: Sleek Powerhouse PC
Small enough to fit just about anywhere, the Aspire X3300 desktop PC (model AX3300-U1322) is ready to satisfy your home computing expectations. But don't let its compact size fool you! The full-featured Aspire X3300 packs a SuperMulti drive, easy-access ports and extra slots for expansion, bringing you a complete desktop experience at just a fraction of the size of traditional desktops.
The sleek Acer Aspire X3300 is 1/3 the size of a normal PC, but is a powerful performer with ample room for upgrades and a wealth of ports at your fingertips.
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