"Small" is the word for PC makers

MUMBAI: SFF (Small Form Factor) PCs are the new rage for PC makers around the world. Visit any international IT exhibition and one will find hordes of PC manufacturers displaying their SFF PCs with the best of technologies.




But in India, this 'small wonder' is yet to catch up. Usually referred to as the cube, SFF systems have gained in popularity from the gaming enthusiast and style-conscious users worldwide. SFF PCs are much smaller than the regular PCs and yet accommodate most of the regular components in it.




The usual dimension of any such SFF PC is 20cm x 33cm x 20cm (width x depth x height). Those companies in the SFF 'bandwagon' have mostly come out with barebone PCs that comprise the case, power supply, cables and motherboard. Most MNC PC vendors have also come out with their own SFF PCs, but these are not marketed aggressively in India.




There are just a handful of companies selling SFF barebones in the country--Taiwan-based Shuttle under its brand Xpc, Jetway with its MiniCube and MSI with its brand Mega. According to market feedback, all SFF barebones available in the market are very expensive and hence these are not popular.




Besides, these barebones use proprietary motherboards with limited slots for expansion. "Why would anybody buy a PC with limited upgradability after paying Rs 6,000 more?" queried Sampat Iyengar of Sam7 Computers and Networks. However, Ganshyam Soni of Mediatech, a distributor for Shuttle's Xpc brand said, "These PCs are positioned as a premium product targeted at the corporate and enthusiasts who find great value in having it."




Market sources feels that the biggest disadvantage of such PCs is the lack of expansion. In order to save space, many internal expansion slots and memory slots are removed. Generally a system will only have two or sometimes even a single memory slot compared to three or four on a normal desktop system. The expansion slots are limited to one or two cards into a single SFF computer.




Initially, the cooling of such systems was also a problem but now this is taken care with smart fans and cooling technologies. All SFF systems can hold only one optical disk drive. However, these PCs are designed to handle many external drives with supporting interfaces made available on the motherboard.




While, major PC vendors and systems integrators still find limited market for the SFF PC in the Indian market, most systems integrators agree that this will soon change as the enthusiast market grows and the prices come down.




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