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15.05.2010
14:28

Tiny "fit-PC 2" Replacing Old Desktop PC

Recently I bought a "fit-PC 2" from CompuLab to replace my desktop PC at the WeltcafĂ© reception. The predecessor was a Fujitsu Siemens computer from 2003 which replaced itself for a short time my VIA Epia EN1200.

 

I made a photo of these three computers and I measured approximatley the power consumption. And it's really estonishing: the tiny "fit-PC 2" is the fastest of it all and consumes only about 10 W even during watching youtube-videos.

 

Inside the metal box is working a single core Intel Atom Z530 with Hyper Threading at 1.6 GHz. It's equipped with 1 GB DDR2-RAM, a Samsung 250GB hard disk and even a RaLink RT3090 wireless card. There is only a HDMI-output but CompuLab includes a HDMI-DVI connector. With my DVI-VGA adaptors I cannot see any analog output but I don't need it at all.

 

The "fit-PC 2" comes preinstalled with Ubuntu 9.10. Of course, I tried to upgrade immediately to current Ubuntu 10.04 but afterwards the graphic output was slow and my special resolution (1440x900) failed :-(

Reason for this is the Intel Graphics inside: a GMA 500. For this you need the Intel Embedded Graphics Driver (iegd) for X.org. But this driver is closed source and it's not available yet for xorg-server 1.7 which is used in Ubuntu 10.04.

 

So, I had to reinstall Ubuntu 9.10 which was quite easy: download desktop ISO-image, write it with unetbootin on a USB-memory stick, boot and install. And now I'm waiting for Intel and follow the "fit-PC 2" forum for a release of Ubuntu 10.04 for "fit-PC 2".

 

I like this tiny device. It's sufficiant fast for my needs, it's silent (you only here the hard disk a little bit), has low power consumption and it's perfect small.

 

I bought my device from in Germany from SH EDV Vertrieb for 406 EUR including VAT and shipping to Germany.

 

 

Here is a /proc/cpuinfo for people like me googleing for it:

ab@ab-fit:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo 
processor	: 0
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 28
model name	: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU Z530   @ 1.60GHz
stepping	: 2
cpu MHz		: 800.000
cache size	: 512 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 2
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 1
apicid		: 0
initial apicid	: 0
fdiv_bug	: no
hlt_bug		: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat 
                  clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx constant_tsc 
                  arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 
                  xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
bogomips	: 3191.90
clflush size	: 64
power management:

processor	: 1
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 28
model name	: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU Z530   @ 1.60GHz
stepping	: 2
cpu MHz		: 800.000
cache size	: 512 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 2
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 1
apicid		: 1
initial apicid	: 1
fdiv_bug	: no
hlt_bug		: no
f00f_bug	: no
coma_bug	: no
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat 
                  clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx constant_tsc 
                  arch_perfmon pebs bts pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 
                  ssse3 xtpr pdcm movbe lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
bogomips	: 3191.94
clflush size	: 64
power management:
08.03.2010
18:31

Via Epia EN1200 cpuinfo

processor       : 0
vendor_id       : CentaurHauls
cpu family      : 6
model           : 10
model name      : VIA Esther processor 1200MHz
stepping        : 9
cpu MHz         : 1196.946
cache size      : 128 KB
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge cmov
pat clflush acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 tm pni est tm2 rng rng_en ace ace_en ace2
ace2_en phe phe_en pmm pmm_en
bogomips        : 2393.89
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 36 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:

[ 22.07.2010 ]