Can the Pentium-M Make SFF PCs Cool and Quiet?
AOpen’s latest offering, the XC Cube Ey855-II, proves that all small form factor (SFF) PCs do not need to be noisy. AOpen is largely able to accomplish this feat by combining the low power and heat capabilities of Intel’s Pentium-M notebook CPU with a specialized ventilation design. Additionally, AOpen also takes advantage of the Pentium-M’s features, normally reserved for notebooks, to add value to the XC Cube that competing SFF PCs or desktop PCs do not offer. These features include the Pentium-M’s built-in Speedstep Function, which was originally designed to conserve the battery life for notebook computers. Specifically, the Speedstep function lowers the CPU’s clock speed when the PC runs idle or for light workloads. At lower speeds, of course, the CPU consumes significantly less power. The EY855’s software manages to use the Speedstep Function, so as to turn itself down to a low simmer when in idle mode. This means not only does that the unit conserve power, but also produces the p
