Modular Computing

 

Xi3 has design a new architecture in the world of personal computers. The idea is to build a computer with the primary components and no moving parts. Things such as your hard drive and optical drive would be connected externally via eSata or USB. The key advantage to this design is easy upgrades as technology advances. It’s also a very small design and the enclosure serves as a heatsink allowing greater flexibility in cooling. The current model which is about the size of a GameCube comes with a AMD CPU, one of the three options. For the purpose of this article I will discuss the top end parts. The Athlon 64 X2 4200+ will be the brains with 2GB 667MHz ram integrated, an external PCI Express, The M72 Graphics Engine which supports Direct X 10, is HDCP compliant and supports Dual monitors. We get a standard 10/100/1000 Network adapter, two eSata ports, six USB 2.0 ports, standard audio.

These modular computer are a great concept and will be a good system for most home and business user, but the question is will they catch on. Much like the Mac Mini I see these as niche market. Maybe once we get some quad core models in this size range, but even with Moore’s Law that could be awhile.