Customer Reviews

Asus Computer BB W/VIA C3 CPU FDD-52X CDROM 2XSATA ( TERMINATOR C3 )

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, it is really much smaller than I thought it was going to be. :-)

CPU:
VIA C3 Samuel 2.

Fans:
There are two fans: one to cool the C3 processor and another is a 90 or 92 mm exhaust fan. The fans are very noisy! Luckily, both fans are connected with a standard 3-pin connector right to the motherboard, so I used a Zalman MC-1 (with 5V connector) for the exhaust fan, and Zalman Fan Mate 2 for the CPU-fan. BIOS had only one option for fan controls: "Q-FAN Function: [Enable/Disable]", and I didn't find it quiet enough, although it was controlling both fans.

The barebone came with a thick printed documentation, although the docs do not mention much about the specifications of the case, specifically, of what is the size of the exhaust fan is (read "how could I know for sure if I need to buy a 90 or 92 mm exhaust fan replacement to improve acoustics/air circulation?"). Moreover, they seem to have supplied a different BIOS that does not have any additional Q-FAN controls that are outlined in the documentation (I'd love to have those advertised controls!).

I was disappointed, although not surprised, that the system didn't came with a spare IDE cable for the hard-drive. I had to install the HDD on the same cable as the CD-ROM, so the HDD interface speed appears to be limited, according to OpenBSD (it is still on an 80-wire cable, though).

The system seemed to be very fast in the console, but as soon as I've written "startkde" in the terminal, I realised that the system is terribly slow! Processor idle was around 5% and it was starting very slowly (first start was more than a minute). Anyhow, what was I expecting? :-)

Overall, the system appears to be all right and rather quiet (after my modifications). Certainly, if they have had packaged the interface cables for the hard-drive, it would have been very nice. In addition, I'd prefer the possibility of installing an 80mm fan instead of the supplied fan of both unpopular and unknown size (90 or 92mm, the supplied exhaust fan that is).



I am amazed of how much value you get with Terminator C3, comparing with the prices of the VIA EPIA motherboards! Terminator C3 barebone is literally thrice less expensive than the VIA EPIA motherboards alone!

Overall, I would recommend this system as a home firewall or fileserver as having an extremely good value/cost ratio.

I gave this product 4/5 stars because the processor included is not VIA C3 Nehemiah, but only Samuel 2, i.e. there are no integrated crypto-engines in this barebone.
I think that Asus ought to release a VIC C3 Nehemiah or VIA C7 Esther version of this barebone, which would have integrated support for cryptographic functions.

P.S. This review is provided "as is" and the author disclaims all warranties with regard to this review. In no event shall the author be liable for any use or misuse of the information provided.