Armari Iwill ZMAXdp review

You won't need to add much else either, as the nForce3 chipset includes most of the peripheral devices you need, built in. Aside from providing audio, it also supplies FireWire and a gigabit Ethernet controller. However, the latter isn't the only pre-installed networking option. The natty fin on the top at the back is actually an aerial for an InProComm wireless networking chipset. It's only 802.11b, though.

There are plenty of options for external devices. An impressive eight USB 2 ports are provided - four at the front and four at the rear. The front ones are blue and change to red when a device is plugged in and operational. There's a rear SATA port for attaching an external device, and a FireWire port plus microphone and headphone sockets hiding either side of the floppy bay underneath a flap. Armari has also provided a Mitsumi 7-in-1 floppy and media card reader.

As this was a preview sample, the price hasn't yet been confirmed. However, it's already clear that there's no compromise on processing power, despite the low wattage Opterons and SFF chassis. The full production model, with its 246 CPUs, will be even faster; Iwill is even reportedly working on support for dual-core Opterons, which will be yet another incredible leap in processing power. With the Opteron's AMD64 instruction set, you've got 64-bit computing as a future option as well. Overall, the Iwill is a groundbreaking device, with the potential to change the shape - and size - of PC workstations.

Author: James Morris