Lately, the small form factor market has gotten to be a little stale. For the most part, the "enthusiast" labelled SFFs are still small cubes. Sure, there have been improvements, notably the addition of AGP slots, and improvements to motherboard hardware, but not much has been changed to the basic model.

MSI, long time motherboard and video card manufacturer, has upped the ante somewhat with their MSI Entertainment and Gaming (MEGA 651) PC. Like other popular SFFs, the MEGA 651 is still "cube" in appearance, and offers support for fast CPUs and an AGP slot, but it has some unique ideas that target those specifically looking into building a Home Theater PC (HTPC).

Specifications

CPU	• Intel® Pentium® 4 • Socket 478 • FSB 533/400MHz
Chipset	• SiS® 651 • SiS® 962
Memory	• DDR333/266/200 x 2 • Max. 2GB
Expansion Slots	• PCI Slot x1 • AGP 4X
On-board USB	• USB2.0 x4
On-board IEEE1394	• Integrated SiS 1394 Controller • UPD72852 PHY • Front Panel con. x2
On-board Modem	• MDC module
On-board Sound	• Integrated Realtek ALC650 AC'97 Codec • 6 Channel
On-board VGA	• Integrated VGA Engine in NB chipset
LAN	• RealTek RTL8101L Fast Ethernet Controller • 10Mb/s and 100Mb/s auto-negotiation operation
On-board Connectors	Rear Panel:   Parallel port x1 Serial port x1 VGAx1 PS/2 x2 Mic-In/Line-In/Line-Out x1 USB x2 LAN (RJ45) x1 SPDIF x1 Modem (RJ11) x1 Front Panel:   Mic-In/Headphone x1 USB x2 SPDIF x1 1394 x1 (4 pin) 1394 x1(6 pin)
Card Reader Function	6-in-1 Flash Card Reader
TV Tuner Function	MS-8606 TV Tuner Card (Optional)
Power off Function	Playback for MP3, Audio CD, AM/FM Radio Tuner (Remote Controller)
Power Supply	200W (PFC)
Chassis	202(W) x 320(D) x 151(H) mm
Packing Dimension	279(W) x 435(D) x 360(H) mm
MEGA PC Warranty Policy	15 Months Parts and Labor from the Manufacturing Date
Note	Due to proprietary mechanical design, MSI only guarantees the compatibility of the MEGA PC with MSI's own Optical Storage Devices: DVD-ROM: MSI 16x DVD-ROM (MS-8216) CD-RW: MSI 52x24x52 CD-RW (MS-CR52-A2)

Note that the MEGA 651 only supports up to an Intel Pentium 2.8GHz, 533FSB processors. There is no support for 800MHz CPUs, Hyper-Threading, AGP8x and SATA. This is due to the limitations of the motherboard used. There are AMD versions planned, but I do not have an ETA to pass on to you.

Packaging and Contents

The MSI MEGA 651 PC ships in a large black box. Having previously worked with the Shuttle XPC, I was a little surprised by the size of the packaging. I suppose for those of you who worry about stuff bouncing around in transport, the packaging should ease your concerns a little.

Out of the box, you have the MEGA 651, manual, driver CD, PowerDVD, a remote, some faceplates, screws, heatsink and an antennae.

MEGA M3122 2.0 Speakers

Not a standard part of the package, but something MSI tossed our way anyways are a pair of MEGA M3122 2.0 speakers. They are the same height as the MEGA 651, and are designed to match. The speakers are housed in wood, and are painted silver with to match the PC.

Installation is a painless affair, where the left speaker connects to the right speaker via a cable. The right speaker's controls for balance, bass and volume reside in the rear. For desktop use, this is a bit of an annoyance as you have to reach into the back to adjust the volume, but I suppose for aesthetics it keeps unsightly knobs out of sight.

Sound quality is average at best. The speakers are each rated for 3W RMS, which is isn't enough to shake the house down. Sound was clear, though somewhat muffled. Without a subwoofer, there simply isn't enough bass to make music listening, let alone gaming, sound convincing.

One thing to be aware of if you decide to pick these speakers up is that should you align it as above, you'll end up blocking the air vents on the sides of the cases. As we'll see later on, the MEGA 651 needs all the cooling it can get, and this wouldn't be a good thing in the thick of summer.

The Case

The MEGA 651's case is constructed from aluminum. Though not as strong as a steel case, it is also not nearly as heavy. Dimensions are 202(W) x 320(D) x 151(H) mm, which slightly wider, but a bit shorter than the Shuttle XPC.

The front of the MEGA 651 is where the real beauty lies. As you can see, the HTPC market is where MSI's initial thinking lay. Aesthetics, as well as functionality are key for a nice HTPC setup. I'll get into the HiFi setup shortly, but let's look at some other areas first.

Rather than having the user stealth their drives, MSI uses a spring-loaded tray panel. When a CD or DVD is ejected, the drive's door pushes the panel down automatically, and it snaps back up as the drive's door is shut.

There are a couple of potential issues here though. For one thing, a slot type DVD drive will obviously use a CD/DVD to push the door open. There is a potential to end up with scratched discs over time, as the panel will constantly scrape up against the bottom of the disc. The other potential problem is MSI only guarantees compatibility with their own drives. Now, I was able to use a couple different Plextor drives with the MEA 651, and encountered no issues, so I'm not exactly sure what compatibility were they referring to. It is a tight squeeze inside, so if your optical drive is unusually long, then you may have a problem. I suppose on the flip side, since MSI does not manufacture slot type drives, this will eliminate the scratched disc possibility.

The other area MSI chose to stealth is the various USB, sound and FireWire connections. The benefit of this panel is that it just looks nicer than having these connections exposed. Obviously, plugging in a device into these connections will negate the benefits of the stealth panel.

Just above is the front connections is the optional card(s) reader. Let's face it, floppy drives are useless (unless you got a RAID array, and are installing Windows NT/2000/XP where you still need a freaking drive A), and this card reader is quite useful. The MEGA 651 supports memory sticks, and CF/SD/MMC memory cards. Upon a fresh Windows install, each drive is assigned a unique drive letter as well.

Should you still want to live pre-2000, MSI includes an extra floppy faceplate if you don't need the card reader. They also throw in a plain faceplate should you want to put an extra hard drive in there instead.

The sides of the MEGA 651 have some ventilation holes to allow some airflow in certain areas. A good idea, albeit flawed somewhat in design, which we will cover more in the cooling section of this review.

The rear of the case is standard fare, with a couple of interesting choices. We have the usual power connection, NIC, PS/2 ports, USB, sound, parallel and serial connections, plus a VGA connection should you choose to use it. One odd item is the 56k modem connection. Yes, it sounds unbelievable, but there are a lot of people without broadband, so just in case it's needed, you have an analogue connection without the need to install a PCI modem.

Another unique choice is the AM/FM connection for radio listening. Simply plug the included antennae up and listen to Rick D's weekly Top 40 to your heart's content.

Despite marketed as an entertainment console, I was a little disappointed that there was no TV-Out. It would have also been nice had a TV-Tuner of some kind was also integrated. Oh well, guess that's why you can always buy a PCI tuner.

For those of you hoping to put the MEGA 651 with your home theater setup, the metal trim around the feet of the PC will keep it from looking out of place.