Dell Ultra Small Form Factor PC's or SFF

[Kyle]

Is anyone using the Dell USF or USFF PCs. One of the primaries i go to needs space saving PCs I have seen a few types about and have visited a nearby secondary school who have a couple of different manufacturers small form PCs in for evaluation at the moment.

The primary school want to use Dell again as they have been very happy with the after sales service they have had. Can some one tell me the big difference between a USFF (Ultra Small Form Factor) and a SFF (Small Form Factor) as i am a little confused.

Also are any of you using them?

[paul]

Use both throughout school, USFF advantage is that the base unit can be physically mounted on back of monitor to effectively create an all in one, there draw back is that they use an external power supply, similar to a laptop but bigger.

[Kyle]

So how do the SFF fit together then, do they not fit on the stand and how much extra room do they take up compared to a USFF

[tosca925]

Do the USFF pc's come witha external power pack?

Do the SFF come with a internal power supply ?

[Dos_Box]

I use almost all the case sizes. USFF have external power supplies (bricks). SFF have internal.

[tosca925]

Is ther much size different in the two Dos?

Ie how dee p is the USFF compared to the SFF?

[Busybub]

So how do the SFF fit together then, do they not fit on the stand and how much extra room do they take up compared to a USFF

The AIO monitors that I have will only fit the USFF models as there is a retaining hook at the top of the stand in addition to the two screws from the bottom which stop the unit from falling off the back.

I have seen pictures of the SFF unit mounted on an AIO stand but presumably it would require some sort of modification (which I have never seen in reality) as the SFF unit is taller:

SFF Dimensions
H: 12.45" W: 3.65" D: 13.4
H: 31.63cm W: 9.26cm D: 34cm

USFF Dimensions
H: 10.3" W: 3.5" D: 9.95"
H: 26.3cm W: 8.9cm D: 25.2cm

The "brick" for the USFF is about 8*4*2 inches.

Main difference other than size is that the SFF has two low profile expansion slots: 1*PCIe graphics, 1*PCI. Useful if you move to Vista (for Aero) or for eSATA.

The USFF uses one drive-bay slot which is interchangeable. You can use CD/DVD including re/writers, floppy, and hard drives. These are identical to the ones used in many of Dell's D series Latitude laptop range.

[miller9]

One thing to consider is that the SFF & USFF do not contain any PCI slots for upgrades etc.. and upgrading can be a pain a few years down the line if you choose to do so.. Also i've noticed that the USFF generate a lot more heat so if lots are used in a small space it can get hot

Just a few thoughts..

[tosca925]

I'll havea closer look at the SFF i think.

[nicholab]

What about the HP dc 7700 Ultra-slim Desktop PC you can get a Integrated Work centre Stand. Get the dell price 1st and HP will try and beat it. Best of all it takes a PCI Express x16 card so you can stick in a better graphics card.

[Halfmad]

Had 20 USFF Dells, neat package with the exception of the "brick" external power supply which always seemed to get in the way of students.

It does make for a much cleaner and tidied desk though and if you don't anticipate upgrading them then they're fine.