Gadgetory

on hand today is an awesome little computer from well-known motherboard maker MSI called the q2 plus the small form-factor PC is based on the new Intel mini STX form factor which sees the motherboard measure a tiny 5 inches by 5 inches this typically means mini STX computers are slightly larger than the NUC counterparts but without added size comes a number of worthwhile advantages PC enthusiasts will no doubt take notice of the QV 2 pluses upgrade ability for things like the CPU memory and storage that's right inside this tiny package you'll find an LGA 1151 socket 2x o DIMM slots and a pair of em 2 slots for taking a peek under the hood let's get a closer look at the q2 + design and check out the connectivity from the front we have quite a busy looking device that looks a bit like 2 separate small form-factor pcs sandwich together I assume they'll be models without the attached bottom section which includes a pair of USB 2 port and an SD card reader for good measure above that we have the storage device LED indicator and an infrared receiver while to the left of that are two more USB ports this time we're lucky enough to get a USB 3.1 type CD port though oddly enough next to it lies another USB 2 port where's the type a USB 3 port MSI up top we find a snazzy looking power button that blends into its triangle ish square surroundings then to the right we find an interesting looking rubberized strip that's hiding yet another freaking USB 2 port but hey at least this one supports msi supercharger technology which allows users to charge the devices even when the system is powered off well I do appreciate the single USB 3.1 type C port up front my external USB 3 storage devices certainly would have appreciated single USB 3 type-a port I mean a standards only 8 years old now spinning the cube u 2 + around we find what I've been looking so desperately for a pair of USB 3 ports why these USB 3 ports hiding around the back when we have 4 USB 2 ports up from there must be a good reason I just can't think what it would be around the back we also find a gigabit network port along with HDMI and DisplayPort outputs these worth pointing out that there's an alternate configuration which includes two HDMI ports along with the display for output but this might not be particularly useful as the h 110 chipset only supports dual monitors it's also the DC power jack which connects to the included 90 watt power brick apart from all the ports just mentioned a large section of the rear i/o has been dedicated to cooling the rear grille has been made from a series of triangles which do look quite restrictive so it'll be interesting to see how much this impacts cooling performance underneath there are four rubber feet each of which includes a Philips head screw in the middle removing these screws allows the base cover to be removed and after a little more work it's possible to gain access to the motherboard inside we find the MSI MSB one two three a tiny little mini STX motherboard that's been custom built for the qb2 plus at the heart of this motherboard is the H 110 chipset enticements basic desktop offering having said that this chipset offers more than enough features for this tiny PC onboard we find a pair of s o DIMM slots supporting up to 32 gigabytes of ddr4 memory assuming you can find 16 gigabyte modules given this little PC specs we feel a gigabytes of memory will be plenty while 16 gigabytes could have been considered overkill that being the case I went with overkill using a pair of Kingston 8 gigabyte ddr4 2133 modules I suggest getting 2 modules to take advantage of the sky processes dual channel memory controller along with the dual DIMM slots we find 2 m2 slot one for a Wi-Fi module and the other for a higher speed storage device for testing I went with my samsung SM 951 512 gigabyte SSD since my 950 Pro was otherwise engaged those wanting to take advantage of larger storage devices will like the fact that a two and a half inch serial ata hard drive or SSD can also be installed in the bottom of the device now because the QB 2 plus is classified as a barebone PC as we've just seen you have to bring your own memory and storage however the CPU comes pre-installed it is part of the upfront cost the q2 plus supports of 6 generation Intel skylake s power saving processes and you can choose between the core i3 6100 T Core i5 6500 T or cry 7 6700 T because I'm cheap I went with the 6100 T which features just to cause operating a 3.2 gigahertz it does support hyper threading so there's four threads on offer making the solution plenty of snappy for general computing still if you require more power the 6500 T boasts four cords operating with two-and-a-half years turbo frequency of up to three point one gigahertz then there's the 6700 T which also features four cores the hyper threading support means there are eight turns to work with and they operate it between 2.8 and 3.6 gigahertz MSI's going the laptops are CPU cooler complete with the brushless blower from power logic the heat sink features a copper base the maximizing cooling efficiency is a pair of copper heat pipes which help transfer heat to a small bank of aluminium fins also included as standard is an Intel dual band wireless AC 3165 Wi-Fi adapter which like the processor comes pre-installed all out the QB 2 plus weighs 1.2 kilograms and measures 148 millimeters wide 155 millimetres deep and just 62 millimetres tall the all-black design looks sleek and I can see this tiny PC fitting in nicely to just about any setting finally for those buying the QV 2 pluses of barebone be aware the msi doesn't include any software in the package so is this a little STX you'll be considering let me know in the comments have a great day and I'll see you guys next time you