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FIC ICE Cube VG61 Review April 15, 2003 Brandon Bell |
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Summary: Based on the 845GE chipset, the FIC ICE Cube VG61 was built from the ground up to compete with Shuttle's latest line of barebones PCs. Not only does this case boast a more powerful 220W power supply, its aluminum chassis also sports case windows on both sides! Read all about the VG61's features and see how it stacks up against a conventional desktop PC in this review!
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 15 ) |
Life in the motherboard industry has always been competitive. With dozens of manufacturers offering products from only a handful of chipset providers, motherboard companies have had a difficult time differentiating their products from the competition -- others quickly replicate what is a unique feature one month; the rapid adoption of external Serial ATA controllers is a recent example of this.
While this is great for consumers, the end result is that motherboards have become one of the most cutthroat markets in the PC sector. Price sensitivity has never been greater, the days of paying nearly $200 for a consumer level board are largely over.
As a result, motherboard manufacturers have been entering new markets for the past several years. Many, including FIC, have moved into video cards and optical storage, while others have moved into networking and other communication devices (or all of the above). In late 2001 Shuttle entered the relatively unknown barebones PC market with its SV24, which was based on the VIA PL133 chipset. While it had its drawbacks (the most notable being the outdated chipset and integrated graphics), the SV24 showed the potential for this burgeoning sector of the PC market. Over time Shuttle refined its products into the highly regarded XPCs of today. What was once a tiny segment has blossomed into one of the fastest growing segments, a significant portion of Shuttle’s revenues now comes from its barebones PC line.
All this has not been lost on Shuttle’s competitors. Today practically every motherboard manufacturer either has their own barebones PC product in production or they’re in the final stages of research and development. FIC is one of the first to get their barebones product out on the market, it is known as the ICE-Cube VG61.
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Some of you may be surprised to see FIC producing its own line of barebones PCs, but it actually has a rich history of producing complete micro-ATX systems, notebooks, Pocket PCs, and Tablet PCs. A lot of these products are produced by FIC and then sold by their OEM customers for use in government offices and in hospitals, we’ve shown you a few of these products in Comdex reports dating all the way back to November 2000. This time however, FIC plans to sell its barebones products directly to consumers, just like its motherboards and VGA cards.
Before we get into the details, we did want to discuss the roots of FIC’s ICE Cube VG61. Like the AU11 Chameleon, FIC has a production partner for the ICE Cube VG61. In this case, FIC has partnered with a Taiwanese company known as Chyang Fun. Chyang Fun has been manufacturing custom cases for servers and PCs since 1987, so they’re by no means new to their field.
Just as they did with the AU11 Chameleon we loved so much, FIC has partnered with a manufacturer that is an elite, yet smaller player in their field. FIC hopes to leverage their existing manufacturing and distribution channels to bring a product to market that will compete with Shuttle’s best XPCs in as short an amount of time as possible. But have they accomplished this? Read on to find out!
SIDEBAR: FIC ICE Cube VG61 Product Webpage
| Features | Page:: ( 2 / 15 ) |
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At the heart of the ICE-Cube VG61 is Intel’s 845GE chipset. Released late last year, the 845GE is essentially a variant of Intel’s highly regarded 845PE chipset, only the 845GE adds Intel’s “Extreme Graphics” integrated on the North Bridge of the 845GE chipset. This means you get complete support for Intel’s latest 533MHz front-side bus processors, including Intel’s top-of-the-line Pentium 4 3.06GHz with Hyper-Threading technology. In addition, 845GE supports DDR333 SDRAM, AGP 4X external graphics, six-channel audio, up to six USB 2.0 ports, integrated 10/100 Ethernet, and up to four ATA/100 storage devices.
By using Intel’s 845GE chipset, FIC has given the ICE-Cube VG61 the potential to perform just as well as any Pentium 4 PC based on a single-channel memory platform. And as you’ll see in our test results, FIC’s implementation was executed flawlessly from a performance perspective.
Another important factor in choosing the right small form factor (SFF), barebones PC is case design. In this area, FIC excels. Not only does the ICE Cube VG61 sport a lightweight aluminum chassis (just like Shuttle), the case also has an integrated handle at the top of the case. This makes the ICE Cube an excellent solution for the LAN party gamer; you can easily transport the ICE Cube from table to table by simply grabbing the handle. And with the lightweight nature of the aluminum chassis, getting around the largest of event venues is a snap.
FIC goes an additional step further than Shuttle with the VG61 by implementing plastic windows on the left and right sides of the system case. This gives the ICE Cube VG61 an additional level of flair that isn’t available anywhere else. The side panels can easily be removed thanks to the thumbscrews that FIC has implemented, no tools are required to disassemble the chassis (although you will need a screwdriver to install an external graphics card as thumbscrews are not used there). Rounding out the case’s decorative design is a blue power LED. Make no mistake about it, FIC’s designers didn’t miss a thing with the ICE Cube’s case design.
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For convenient front panel access, two USB ports are provided, as is a FireWire port. FIC also includes an optical SPDIF output in addition to line and mic inputs as well as your audio outputs. The rear panel has two additional USB ports, as well as all the audio, networking, and FireWire goodies you’ll need, the only port missing is the parallel port but by now you probably own a USB printer anyway.
SIDEBAR: FIC also has a SiS-based Socket A variant of the VG61, named the AI61.
| Features (cont’d) | Page:: ( 3 / 15 ) |
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As you can see in the pictures, the ICE Cube VG61 supports one 5.25” drive and with the handy drive cage, two 3.5” drives. The upper drive bay is exposed, so you can install an external storage device such as a 3.5” floppy disk drive or one of those handy media readers. If you’re really big on flexibility you could install a combo DVD/CD-RW in the 5.25” drive bay and a 7-in-1 floppy, Compact Flash, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, Microdrive, etc in the exposed 3.5” bay. Then have your 200GB hard drive for storage duties mounted in the internal 3.5” bay.
The ICE Cube’s motherboard sports an aqua blue PCB. For expansion, one AGP slot is provided, as is a PCI slot. Fortunately, the 845GE chipset offers everything you need built-in, so the omission of additional slots would only be a setback to the real hardcore users. The AGP slot gives you an additional graphics option if you decide that the integrated 845GE graphics are unsuitable for your tastes, not to mention room to grow as your computing needs increase. Two 184-pin DIMM sockets are provided for support of up to 2GB of memory.
The Realtek ALC650 provides onboard audio. This is a very popular 6-channel CODEC that is also used on many nForce2 motherboards. For networking, Realtek’s RTL8100B 10/100Base-T Ethernet controller is used. Finally, since the 845GE chipset doesn’t natively offer IEEE-1394 support, an NEC uPD72873GC 1394a Host controller drives the FireWire ports. This controller supports data transfer rates of 100/200/400MB/second.
Power and cooling
We were initially pretty concerned about the ICE Cube’s power subsystem, as the FIC USA website lists it as a 150W model. Apparently, the spec must have changed as the model we were shipped came with a 220W PSU, matching the spec listed on FIC’s Taiwanese website.
In light of Alan’s power supply guide, we checked the rails on the PSU. On this 220W model, we have 17A on +3.3V, 20A on +5A, and 12A on +12V. While this sounds a little weak on the +12V rail, we were able to run all of our tests with the 3.06GHz Pentium 4/ATI RADEON 9700 PRO combination with complete stability. We ran a few quick tests with the 9800 PRO successfully, although we didn’t run it overnight like we did for the 9700 PRO.
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For cooling, FIC has gone with a standard aluminum Orb-style heatsink unit. Personally, we were a bit uncomfortable using the provided cooler, as it didn’t fit quite as tight as the reference cooling units that ship with Intel processors. Therefore, we chose to stick with our reference units for all our tests, which fits just fine in the ICE Cube.
SIDEBAR: The name of Chyang Fun’s equivalent to the ICE Cube VG61 is the CF-S968L
| Installation/BIOS | Page:: ( 4 / 15 ) |
Component installation
With the small form factor chassis, naturally the components fit a bit tight, but installation is hassle free nonetheless. As we mentioned previously, FIC uses thumbscrews, so getting into the chassis doesn’t require any tools. Once you’ve got the case opened up (a process which involves removing two thumbscrews), you’ll next want to remove the drive cage for the 3.5” disks. This task is also accomplished with thumbscrews.
Once the drive cage is removed, you’ll have plenty of room to install the CPU and its cooler. We used Intel’s reference cooler even though it’s a bit taller than FIC’s unit, but it fit inside the case just fine.
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Next, drop your optical storage device in the 5.25” drive bay and populate the 3.5” bays with any drives that you desire. You can also take this time to install any AGP or PCI cards if you want a little more horsepower than the integrated devices provide.
Since space is at a premium, FIC also bundles two short rounded IDE cables as well as one rounded floppy cable that is also shorter than normal. You also get other goodies such as a bag full of zip ties -- perfect for neatly bundling your cables together for improved airflow within the case.
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Once you’ve got everything in place, simply plug the 3.5” drive cage back in the ICE Cube VG61 chassis, attach the windowed side panels, and you’re ready to go! Total installation time shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes thanks to the efficient design that has been implemented, you won’t find your any real tight fits for your fingers nor should you have to worry about getting cut. Even inexperienced users shouldn’t have any problems snapping the components into place, and all the ports on the back of the case are color-coded for the ultra newbies.
BIOS interface
Functionally, the ICE Cube’s BIOS is what we’ve come to expect from a motherboard based on the 845PE/845GE chipset. Settings for adjusting memory timings are available in the advanced chipset features menu, even down to CAS latency 1.5. The BIOS also features the standard settings for hardware monitoring (and shutdown) as well as controlling integrated peripherals and external drives.
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What will catch the eyes of enthusiasts however, are parameters for overclocking the processor. For this, there isn’t a single setting for adjusting voltages; this includes the CPU, AGP, and memory bus. In terms of bus speed adjustments, there are only eight options: 133MHz, 136MHz, 140MHz, 144MHz, 147MHz, 152MHz, 156MHz, and 160MHz.
Clearly the ICE Cube VG61 was not built for overclocking. Keep in mind that we’re dealing with a pretty cramped case once everything is installed, so it’s arguably a smart safety measure for the components within the system. Overclocking requires adequate ventilation and that’s something you really need a mid-tower case for.
SIDEBAR: Chyang Fun CF-S968L Product Webpage
| System Setup | Page:: ( 5 / 15 ) |
System Setup
Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz (Hyper-Threading enabled)
FIC ICE Cube VG61 (845GE)
MSI 845PE Max2-FISR (845PE)
256MB Corsair PC3200 CAS2 Memory
ATI RADEON 9700 Pro 128MB
Catalyst 3.1
30GB IBM Deskstar DTLA 307030 ATA-100 Hard Drive
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1
DirectX 8.1
Desktop resolution 1024x768, 32-bit color, 75Hz refresh
All power saving options were turned off, as were the Automatic Update and System Restore services. Graphics options under the ‘Performance’ tab were all disabled for maximum performance.
Benchmarks
Unreal Tournament 2003
3DMark 03
Quake III: Arena version 1.17 ‘Demo001’ demo
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter – 32-bit color, Elephant Atrium demo
Comanche 4
SiSoft Sandra 2003 Memory Bandwidth Benchmark
Content Creation Winstone 2002
Business Winstone 2002
SIDEBAR: At one point, FIC was going to unveil an even smaller barebones PC, the ICE Brick. We’re unsure if this product will still be coming to market.
| Integrated Graphics | Page:: ( 6 / 15 ) |
Unreal Tournament 2003 - Flyby
Notes
As you can see, the integrated graphics offered by the 845GE are by no means extreme. The integrated graphics controller is outperformed in all cases by an external GeForce2 MX 400 card running in the same system.
SIDEBAR: FIC is the only manufacturer we’re aware of with both ATI IGP and NVIDIA nForce products.
| 3DMark 03 | Page:: ( 7 / 15 ) |
3DMark 03
SIDEBAR: FIC was actually one of the first manufacturers to adopt ATI’s graphics cards.
| 3DMark 03 | Page:: ( 8 / 15 ) |
3DMark 03 – Frame rates
SIDEBAR: What do you think of the new 3DMark benchmark? Drop your thoughts in the news comments!
| Serious Sam SE | Page:: ( 9 / 15 ) |
Serious Sam SE (Elephant Atrium) – OpenGL
SIDEBAR: FIC also has its own line of Centrino notebooks and Tablet PCs.
| Quake III: Arena | Page:: ( 10 / 15 ) |
Quake III v.1.17 Demo001 – OpenGL
SIDEBAR: FIC is actually one of the Taiwan’s oldest motherboard manufacturers.
| Comanche 4 | Page:: ( 11 / 15 ) |
Comanche 4 – DirectX 8
SIDEBAR: FIC motherboards are found in lots of OEM systems.
| Unreal Tournament 2003 | Page:: ( 12 / 15 ) |
Unreal Tournament 2003 Flyby – DirectX 8
Unreal Tournament 2003 Botmatch – DirectX 8
SIDEBAR: Wouldn’t you love to see an ICE Cube system based on nForce2?
| SiSoft Sandra 2003/Content Creation Tests | Page:: ( 13 / 15 ) |
SiSoft Sandra 2003 Memory Bandwidth
Business Winstone 2002
Content Creation Winstone 2002
SIDEBAR: Our ICE Cube system actually came with Chyang Fun’s documentation and drivers.
| Ballistics Report | Page:: ( 14 / 15 ) |
Pros:
Performance: Despite its minuscule size, the ICE Cube VG61 packs quite a punch. As you saw in our test results, the VG61 ran toe-to-toe with a fully-fledged system powered by MSI’s 845PE Max2-FISR and came out on top in some tests! This can partially be attributed to the performance of Intel’s 845GE chipset. Just because it has an integrated graphics controller doesn’t mean it can’t keep up with 845PE. This is also made possible by the ICE Cube’s powerful motherboard.
Design: FIC and Chyang Fun have pulled off a brilliantly executed package with the ICE Cube VG61. Not only is the chassis made of aluminum (for lighter weight), FIC has also thrown in additional goodies such as case windows on both sides of the chassis, a handle for easy transportation, and an eye-catching blue power LED. Besides all the features, the case itself is still easy to work within, even when we decided to skip the provided heatsink/fan unit in preference for Intel’s taller stock cooler.
Price: We only found two vendors on Pricewatch with the ICE Cube VG61 listed. The lowest chassis we found was priced at $288.04 at the time of this writing. That’s $7 more than the lowest listing for Shuttle’s equivalent SB51G, and the ICE Cube VG61 supports more basic features than the SB51G. From what we can tell FIC is pricing these systems very aggressively in light of the competition. Which, brings us to our biggest con – availability.
Cons:
Availability: Unfortunately, FIC doesn’t seem to have the distribution channels of some of its competitors, finding a local retailer with an FIC product in stock can be a daunting challenge. This also seems to be the case online as well. Even today, there are less than five retailers on Pricewatch that list the FIC AU11 Chameleon!
Limited overclocking: Since the ICE Cube lacks 1MHz bus adjustments, there are only a handful of feasible bus speeds to choose from. Overclocking is held back even further by the omission of CPU voltage settings. Because of this, we were limited to a pretty mild CPU overclock in our testing.
Limited headroom: With only a 220W power supply, we’ve got to wonder how well the ICE Cube will fare with 3.0GHz+ Pentium 4 CPUs and the next generation of graphics cards from NVIDIA and ATI. At some point, 220W just isn’t going to be enough juice to support the latest and greatest technologies. And although this is 20W more than what Shuttle offers with its XPCs, end users should still keep this in mind before plunging nearly $300 on one of these barebones PCs.
SIDEBAR: We should’ve taken some pictures with the blue LED on. It looks pretty slick with the VG61’s aluminum chassis.
| Final Verdict | Page:: ( 15 / 15 ) |
FiringSquad says:
With nearly two years of experience building barebones PCs, Shuttle has set the bar for the pinnacle of excellence in this segment. With the ICE Cube VG61, FIC and Chyang Fun have just surpassed it.
For starters, the ICE Cube’s chassis is one step beyond Shuttle’s latest XPC designs. While the ICE Cube VG61 doesn’t possess the innovative heat pipe cooling solution of Shuttle’s products, the VG61’s chassis design appears to be flexible enough to work with a wide range of CPU cooling products. This is a positive in our book. For convenience and simple transportation, the VG61 chassis is constructed of aluminum and sports a handle at the top of the case. FIC also goes one step further than Shuttle by implementing case windows on both sides of the VG61 chassis.
The ICE Cube’s drive cage can easily be removed from the system with the use of thumbscrews. Once it’s removed you have plenty of space to install external components as well as the CPU and accompanying cooler. There’s even just enough space to install a GeForce4 Ti 4600 card (GeForce FX 5800 however won’t fit due to the size of its FX Flow cooler).
From a performance perspective, the ICE Cube VG61 won’t disappoint. Sure, it isn’t as fast as an 800MHz Canterwood Pentium 4 system, nor will it compete with a system based on Intel’s Granite Bay chipset, but the VG61 will run just as fast as any other single-channel DDR solution on the market. Overclockers will want to look elsewhere however. Bus speed options are extremely limited and voltage settings aren’t even offered, but this is a limitation that applies to all of the barebones setups currently available on the market.
Another caveat with barebones systems are their power supplies. At 220W, the ICE Cube VG61 PSU is actually better than most, but we’d still love to see someone squeeze a 300W power supply unit in one of these diminutive cases. Which brings us to our next point -- all of the barebones manufacturers use proprietary motherboard designs. It’s unclear if the closed nature of these designs will be compatible with upcoming barebones motherboards and power supplies. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just swap out the VG61 motherboard and power supply a year from now for something newer?
Other than those gripes, there’s nothing we would change in the FIC ICE Cube VG61. Sure, it would be great if the board offered more BIOS settings for overclocking, but do you really want to risk damaging your system’s components? The overclocking hassles Shuttle is going through now with its SN41G2 is proof that these barebones PCs just aren’t large enough to allow for adequate ventilation. But if you make the chassis larger, you take away one of its prime selling points – its miniscule size.
FIC has tackled these issues brilliantly with the ICE Cube VG61, and one ups Shuttle’s XPC line in several areas. Look out Shuttle, FIC has got your number in the ICE Cube VG61, the barebones PC market is no longer a one-horse race. We’re crossing our fingers that FIC and Chyang Fun can get together on an nForce2 setup, and with Athlon 64 right around the corner, we see a huge amount of potential for the barebones PC market.
SIDEBAR: Is the ICE Cube VG61 the new king of barebones PCs for the Pentium 4 platform or is Shuttle still king? Voice your thoughts in the comments!