AOpen XC Cube EX915

Pretty Packages

The EX915 is solid black with the exception of a silver colored aluminum screen that acts as the front bezel.  The screen definitely adds quite a bit of character to the unit.  The oversized button you see centrally located, is your power switch.  Under power, a clear acrylic ring lights up blue with a smaller half crescent underneath indicating hard drive activity.  No reset button was present which isn’t a big loss but noteworthy all the same.  Beneath the power button is a connector panel sporting a SPDIF port, mic in, speaker out, two USB 2.0 ports as well as a six and four pin IEEE1394 port. 

     

Covering the 5 ¼” bay and any drive in it, is a color coordinated black door.  I'm big on these stealth doors as they keep a case's lines clean.  Just below this is a 3 ½" bay cover that can be filled with a small card reader or floppy drive if you like.  Here we also get a better look at the silver bezel and how it is set so that a small gap between it and the case exists.  This gap is for aesthetics and serves no real functional purpose. 

  

Along the left side of the EX915 we see an exceptionally large venting area.  With the new Prescotts running as hot as they do, ventilation is an absolute must.  The downside is that with the increased air there is a corresponding amount of increased dust.

The rear of the unit helps give you scale of how small the AOpen XC-Cube actually is mainly from the back of the power supply taking up a good deal of real estate.  We also see two expansion slot covers; one for PCI and the other for PCI-E.  A small metal plate hinges up and down to lock in any add in cards you may wish to install.  The back I/O plate has a PS/2 mouse and keyboard port, VGA out, COM port, Coaxial Out RCA port, six pin IEEE1394 port, two USB 2.0 ports, SPDIF in, NIC, line in jack, line out jack and a mic jack.  A parallel printer port is placed just above the I/O plate.

Moving to the right side panel we see a square grate that sits just in front of the heatsink so that it acts as an exhaust. 

  

Beauty that isn't skin deep

The outer cover of the EX915 is held in place by three thumb screws.  Once removed, the cover over both side panels and the top is easily taken off.  Here we find AOpen’s UX915G mainboard.  The two shots below are of the XC-Cube with all the components installed to give you an idea of how efficient your components are packed inside.  Plenty of space is here to allow good ventilation which is a direct result of smart component placement.  Let’s take a closer look.

  

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Pg 1 - Introduction
Pg 2 - The EX915's outsides
Pg 3 - The EX915's insides
Pg 4 - BIOS
Pg 5 - Testing ~ Office Productivity
Pg 6 - Testing ~ Office Productivity and Gaming
Pg 7 - Testing ~ Gaming  /  Conclusion