FIC Condor Review

[dang]

Checkout our latest review of the FIC Condor (http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review1778.html)Priced at around $260 retail, the FIC Condor is being targeted towards gamers because of its radical design concept and support for high-end components.

[questionlp]

The design, to me anyway and IMNSHO, looks like a cheapo knock-off of SGI's O2 workstation case :)

I still think Shuttle has some of the better designed SFF systems out there for those who want to build a compact system themselves. For me, although it is old, my Compaq iPaq desktop is fairly small and does it's job as a web/mail server.

Hopefully someone takes on the Micro-BTX form factor and produces something closer to the Mini-ITX stuff. That would be really nice, though it won't be easy when using Prescott-based processors :P

[Ioman]

The design, to me anyway and IMNSHO, looks like a cheapo knock-off of SGI's O2 workstation case :)

I still think Shuttle has some of the better designed SFF systems out there for those who want to build a compact system themselves. For me, although it is old, my Compaq iPaq desktop is fairly small and does it's job as a web/mail server.

Hopefully someone takes on the Micro-BTX form factor and produces something closer to the Mini-ITX stuff. That would be really nice, though it won't be easy when using Prescott-based processors :P


Yeah, I like the shuttle designs better too. This design was not bad, I am just not a huge fan of the dull silver plastic, it just doesn't look very high quality.

[ECA]

Agree..
If they cant stay current with whats in the hardware arena, they should have dropped in long ago.
For this price, I would expect better. I still see, mini systems with 70 watt PS...And thats VERY stupid.

[chuck]

I like how the system looks myself... but I think you guys are worrying about the PSU a bit too much. I've done a lot of research and found that the lower wattages of the SFF cases work just fine with newer cards. I've heard it from a lot of people who have actually built the SFF systems with 200 and 250 watt psu's and high-end graphic cards. On the other hand, one thing you might have missed with this SFF is that (AFAIK), there is NO way to monitor CPU or motherboard temps. Appearently, they didn't leave anyway to monitor the temps... it's not in bios and I've heard motherboard monitor gives no readings. Also, the bios is extremely barebones. I don't own the Condor, I'm just very interested and I've read up. Overall, you guys wrote a good review.

[Ioman]

I like how the system looks myself... but I think you guys are worrying about the PSU a bit too much. I've done a lot of research and found that the lower wattages of the SFF cases work just fine with newer cards. I've heard it from a lot of people who have actually built the SFF systems with 200 and 250 watt psu's and high-end graphic cards. On the other hand, one thing you might have missed with this SFF is that (AFAIK), there is NO way to monitor CPU or motherboard temps. Appearently, they didn't leave anyway to monitor the temps... it's not in bios and I've heard motherboard monitor gives no readings. Also, the bios is extremely barebones. I don't own the Condor, I'm just very interested and I've read up. Overall, you guys wrote a good review.

Hi Chuck,

Thank you for the comments. My biggest concern with the power supply is support for the new Nvidia 6800 and ATI X800 video cards. The regular 6800 says it requires a 350 watt minimum power supply while the 6800 ultra requires a 480 watt minimum power supply. Even with the low voltage, I think the condor would struggle with these new cards. For the casual gamer, I think the Condor would be fine.

Thanks for pointing out the lack of BIOS and monitor temp readings. Certainly in a SFF system, cooling needs to be watched carefully. Do the MSI or Shuttle systems have monitoring in their BIOS? Seems careless of FIC to forget to add it to this system.

[ECA]

Very,
Im a dedicated Fan person..
and small spaces, cables, and restricted air flow are things I look out for.
Just had a friend jump on the same band wagon.
The current chipsets are getting hotter and hotter. Soon we will have to go to Water cooling and freezer units, just to cool things off.

[chuck]

I'm pretty sure all the other SFF's do have temp monitoring. Atleast the Condor should be criticized for no monitoring of temps because it's supposed to be the ultimate gaming machine, and what hardcore gamer doesn't like to overclock from time to time?

[jfila]

The thing about the PSU and the Condor Chuck and all is that FIC specifically markets the Condor as a high-end gaming platform. Since the latest ATI and NVIDIA cards suggest 300+W PSUs, this really won't cut it as a "high end" gaming rig.

[ECA]

we should ASK them how they come to that conclusion.

[chuck]

I definitely see everyone's point about the PSU's... I'm curious myself. I've read testimonials from owners who are running with 6800's and etc. Has anyone seen testing on the issue?