Nowadays. owing to heat. energy and space conŽstraints. consumers are opting for small form facŽtor (SFF) PCs rather than full size ones. This is the reason why more and more vendors are venturing into SFF. AMD DTX is one such sma II form factor PC. The small form factor is usually because of the motherboard inside the machine. DTX doesn't have a revolutionary design. but it can easily fit onto any ATX chassis. It looks similar to the micro-ATX motherboard, but is smaller.

It features two add-in slots. and is interestingly open to all i e. it supports AMD64 processors as well as other comŽpetitive solutions. AMD has also included two expansion slots: PCI and PCI-E along with the Xpress card slot. In adŽdition to the normal VGA port for video output. DTX also has a DVI output. But, what will make DTX popular amongst consumers is the fact that it consumes less power. There are two versions of DTX: one that runs at 65W CPUs. and the other dissipates 45W of heat while running at 45W CPUs.

Configuration and Test Results

The system is build upon the AMD diamond2 motherboard and ATI Racleon X1200 graphŽics chipset. The package conŽtains a keyboard. mouse and Windows Vista Home PreŽmium DVD. It doesn't
have WIFi, which we have seen in the Acer SSP based on Intel platform. ProbaŽbly. that would have been a plus point for DTX also.

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The tool less chassis makes it easier for you to open it when required, though one HDD slot restricts you from expanding your storage. Nevertheless, it is quite neatly designed and the cables are well hidden beneath the casing.

The system we got came with AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core (BE23 50) processor running at 2.10 GHz with 1 GB RAM and 120 GB HDD (7200 rpm). Its performance was not extraordinary. but it managed to get decent scores in all tests. In PCMark05 it scored 3462 PCMarks, which is very close to what we got from Acer L31 0 SSF (3538 PC Marks. reviewed July07 issue). The ATI Radeon X1200 graphics is not meant for high-end I graphics. so a low score in 3D Mark06 (349 3DMarks) is acceptable. In Cine Bench 10 it scored 1985 CB for single CPU and 4345 for multiple CPU. which is good for a CPU running at 2.1 GHz. With less er power conŽsumption, lesser space requirements and being an open standard design. AMD DTX is an interesting option for both vendors and consumers to be excited about.