PC Pro (UK) have pushed out the world’s first independent review of a desktop PC, powered by the Intel Atom CPU.
Generally liking the unit, indicating it’s great for general purpose use, just don’t expect it to work well with ‘demanding’ appns - ie Photshop. See below for choice comments, or read the full review here.
After all the pre-announcements and all the hype, we didn’t expect the first Atom processor to arrive in the PC Pro Labs to be found in a desktop PC. Nonetheless, silent PC expert Tranquil is first past the post with its T2e Atom PC - and it’s a wonderful blend of cutting-edge parts and intelligent design that really showcases the Atom’s strengths.
Tranquil’s familiar T2 chassis remains menacing to behold, with its array of cooling fins and glass-plated, glowing front panel. As befitting the name, there’s no whir of fans here; in fact nary a squeak can be heard from it when it’s on. Unsurprising given the almost complete lack of noise-producing parts inside.
All the hot parts are cooled by the case itself, with heat pipes discreetly protruding in the right places for chips, and fins around the drive bays to give away the fact there’s any cooling going on at all. There’s a little audible hard disk noise, true, but even that’s one of Western Digital’s Caviar GreenPower models, which allegedly gives a 4-5W power saving over most standard hard disks.
Verdict: Wonderful design and the efficiency of the Atom, but it’s rather limited in how hard you can push it.
See the screen shot here, showing 2x CPUs - no not really - this is HT in action.
Want an Atom PC ? (you can order on line now)
Check out the T2 Atom, or the tiny T7 Atom PCs - both capable of running Vista Media Centre !
