2008 Woodie Awards
Does Size Matter? The What and Why of Small Form Factor PC's
Dylan Kurlansky
Issue date: 12/6/04 Section: Science & Technology
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Smaller, cheaper, faster-this is the holy trinity of high-tech hardware products.
In the beginning there was Shuttle, a company that made motherboards. They were the first to come up with the idea of taking a large, bulky desktop PC and making it smaller, while at the same time using normal desktop parts so that new hardware won't have to be designed. By using existing technology, Shuttle was able to maintain relatively low prices unlike laptops which require special chips and cards. After much research and prototype testing the Cube PC was born. At 12 by 7 by 8 inches it exemplified the idea behind Small Form Factor PCs: a full fledged desktop that can go anywhere.
In the beginning there was a relatively small market for the Small Form Factor PC. It was primarily the domain of SysAdmins who wanted to do a little PC building while upgrading their workplace computers. Real PC enthusiasts were generally turned off by the Small Form Factor (SFF) PC's limitations of having to buy a Shuttle's motherboard, power supply, and CPU cooling system with the cube case. These are important aspects of a PC, and initially Shuttle motherboards did not support Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) slots, meaning that one could not install high end GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit or Graphics Card). In addition, shuttle motherboards used half height expansion cards which severely crippled the Graphics and Audio Card options.
SFF PC developers realized that if this new venue were to succeed they needed to tap into the computer enthusiast demographic. Hence, attempts were made to bring gamers into the Small Form Factor fold. Boutique computer designer Falcon Northwest (a well respected company) released their Frag Box. The idea was a SFF PC for LAN boys. A LAN boy is someone who goes to LAN parties which is a gathering of gamers who connect their computers together via a Local Area Network (LAN). A frag is the term used for a kill when playing a First Person Shooter video game against other people, hence the name Frag Box. The Frag Box still left what to be desired although it was successful enough that other companies such as Voodoo PC and Cyber Power released their own SFF PCs marketed for gamers. As was the case with all early iterations of the cube PC, the Frag Box lacked the power and upgradeability needed to cater to the more demanding needs of its target demographic.
In the beginning there was Shuttle, a company that made motherboards. They were the first to come up with the idea of taking a large, bulky desktop PC and making it smaller, while at the same time using normal desktop parts so that new hardware won't have to be designed. By using existing technology, Shuttle was able to maintain relatively low prices unlike laptops which require special chips and cards. After much research and prototype testing the Cube PC was born. At 12 by 7 by 8 inches it exemplified the idea behind Small Form Factor PCs: a full fledged desktop that can go anywhere.
In the beginning there was a relatively small market for the Small Form Factor PC. It was primarily the domain of SysAdmins who wanted to do a little PC building while upgrading their workplace computers. Real PC enthusiasts were generally turned off by the Small Form Factor (SFF) PC's limitations of having to buy a Shuttle's motherboard, power supply, and CPU cooling system with the cube case. These are important aspects of a PC, and initially Shuttle motherboards did not support Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) slots, meaning that one could not install high end GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit or Graphics Card). In addition, shuttle motherboards used half height expansion cards which severely crippled the Graphics and Audio Card options.
SFF PC developers realized that if this new venue were to succeed they needed to tap into the computer enthusiast demographic. Hence, attempts were made to bring gamers into the Small Form Factor fold. Boutique computer designer Falcon Northwest (a well respected company) released their Frag Box. The idea was a SFF PC for LAN boys. A LAN boy is someone who goes to LAN parties which is a gathering of gamers who connect their computers together via a Local Area Network (LAN). A frag is the term used for a kill when playing a First Person Shooter video game against other people, hence the name Frag Box. The Frag Box still left what to be desired although it was successful enough that other companies such as Voodoo PC and Cyber Power released their own SFF PCs marketed for gamers. As was the case with all early iterations of the cube PC, the Frag Box lacked the power and upgradeability needed to cater to the more demanding needs of its target demographic.