mCubed HFX Micro M2 Bundle - White/Lime

mCubed are fast becoming one of the most innovative manufacturers of fanless Media Centre systems around. With products like the HFX Mini Metal, HFX Classic and now the HFX Micro you can certainly see why!

Just like the Mini and the Classic, the Micro uses heatpipes to cool the processor and graphics chips and therefore fans are not needed. This is an ideal situation when you consider that more and more people are now using PCs as their main source of media in their homes. The last thing you need is a noisy media PC when you are trying to watch a film or listen to music in a quiet environment.

Bundle Contents

The HFX Micro M2 is supplied as a bundle system. It includes the essential components needed to build an virtually silent media centre PC. The information below describes each component supplied with the HFX Micro in more detail.

HFX Micro M2 Heatsink Case

The Micro case is very small. It measures only 240mm wide, 86mm high and 230mm deep, which must make it one of the smallest fully functional media centre chassis available. At the front of the case there are two slots. The larger slot is for CDs or DVDs and the other is to allow access to the SD (Secure Digital) card reader. Also on the front of the case is the HFX logo, DVD eject button, USB port, headphone and microphone ports and a window for the IR remote control sensor.

The outer casing of the Micro is made from high gloss acrylic. The sides of the HFX Micro look like heatsinks which is because that is what they are! Each heatsink is designed to naturally dissipate the heat from the CPU and VGA chips without the need of fans (more info on this below).

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Aopen i965GMt-LA Motherboard

The Aopen i945GMT-FSA motherboard is an ideal mini-ITX solution for the HFX Micro. It features everything you would expect from a media centre motherboard, which is amazing when you consider its size. The motherboard’s most important features are listed below.

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• Supports Intel Core 2 Duo/Core Duo/Core Solo CPU
• Intel 946GN + ICH7M Chipset
• 2 x Serial ATA ports
• On board VGA with DVI and S-Video outputs
• Supports up to 4GB of SO-DIMM DDR2 667/533/400 RAM
• Integrated Intel High Definition Audio
• PCIe port for TV card
• Supplied with an external fanless 90W PSU

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BorgFX Micro Heatpipe Cooler

This heatpipe set is designed to connect the CPU and GPU to the side of the case. The heatpipes transfer the heat generated by the CPU and GPU to the side heatsinks where they are cooled passively. This is how the HFX Micro noise reduction features come into their own. Due to the fact the system does not use any fans the only noise you will hear from the system is the hard drive, which will be extremely quiet.

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Plextor PX-608AL IDE DVD Writer

The DVD drive supplied with the HFX Micro is manufactured by Plextor. It is an very quiet optical drive that also supports Labelflash! The DVD drive connects to the motherboard using the supplied IDE cable.

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Vista Remote Control and Receiver

Controlling any media application from the comfort of your chair is a must! This is why the HFX Micro includes a handy IR receiver and remote control. As its name suggests it is fully compatible with Windows Vista but also works flawlessly with Media Center 2005 or Vista.

The receiver attaches inside the HFX Micro with its sensor visible through the small window at the front of the case. This ensures a very tidy installation with no unsightly external cables or boxes. The item is also supplied with an IR blaster cable to allow it to control another set-top box.

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Remaining Required Components for a Full System

The remaining products which are needed to complete the system are as follows. We have also included our own specific recommendations.

CPU

The Aopen motherboard is Socket M and is compatible with Intel Core 2 Duo Txxxx (Merom) / Core Duo / Core Solo (Yonah) / Celeron M 4xx CPU with a FSB of 533/667.

Hard Drive

The HFX Micro can accommodate any 2½” (i.e. laptop-sized) hard drive. At present the largest capacity 2½” hard drive available is 250GB. One of the best drives is the Samsung HM250JI. Alternatively you can opt for a Solid State Drive (SSD).

Memory

As already mentioned, the Aopen motherboard accommodates SO-DIMM memory. An optimal configuration would be 2GB SO-DIMM DD2 PC5300 (667MHz) for a 32bit OS or 4GB for a 64bit OS. This type of memory is generally found in laptops.