Fujitsu Esprimo E5645 business PC review

This business desktop combines six-core performance with a compact chassis

Sales of desktop PC systems may be on the decline, but there are still companies that want desk-bound computers rather than laptops for many work roles, and Fujitsu is one company that is continuing to meet this need with business systems such as the Esprimo E5645.

Announced in June and available now, the Esprimo E5645 is a compact system that packs in enough compute power to leave headroom for future requirements, all in a sturdy chassis that is easy to access for maintenance. The same system is also available in a tower format chassis as the P5645.

Although styled by Fujitsu as a small form factor PC, the E5645 is much larger than the Esprimo Q9000 mini PC, at 10cm high and with a footprint of 34 x 38cm.

However, this does leave room for internal expansion, and makes it easy to stand a monitor on in the traditional desktop PC configuration, although it can just as easily stand in a vertical position if required.

We found the E5645 quiet and unobtrusive in use. The system has a virtually silent fan, and the only noticeable sound came from the hard disk when the computer was operating. Fujitsu also claims that the system is power efficient, consuming a maximum 94W in operation.

The sole configuration available to UK customers is based on an AMD Phenom II X6 1035T processor, which features six cores clocked at 2.6GHz. Our review unit also had 4GB of DDR3 memory, expandable up to 16GB, and a 1TB hard drive running the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Professional.

This specification should be expected to deliver good performance, and it does. The E5645 scores 7.7 for processing speed under the Windows Experience Index measurements in Windows 7, which is close to the maximum.

However, the overall score is pegged back to 4.4 by the performance of the integrated ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics, but this is still ample for business applications.

Some potential customers may be discouraged by an AMD business desktop, especially those that have invested in Intel's vPro management technology.

However, AMD's platform also has integrated management capabilities in the form of support for the DMTF's Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware standard, and Fujitsu also offers its own DeskView management software for IT administrators to provision, manage and upgrade the PCs remotely.

The E5645 chassis has room for a single 5.25in drive and a 3.5in drive accessible from the front panel. On our review system, the former was occupied by a DVD Super Multi drive, with Blu-ray or a plain DVD-Rom optional, while the 3.5in bay was vacant, there being little call for floppy drives these days.

Two USB ports and headphone and microphone jack sockets adorn the front panel, along with the power switch. The rest of the system I/O is at the rear of the case and consists of an odd mix of legacy and up-to-date interfaces.

For example, it has two PS/2 ports for connecting the supplied keyboard and mouse, plus an old-fashioned nine-pin serial port, but no VGA output for a monitor. Instead, our review system had a DisplayPort and a DVI connector. An additional six USB ports, audio line in and out, plus Gigabit Ethernet complete the set.

The E5645 has been designed for tool-free access; two catches on either side of the case release the metal cover, which then be pulled forward and lifted off.

Inside, a support bar that runs lengthwise down the middle of the case simply clicks free, after which the power supply can be unclipped and lifted free to access the hard drive.

To the right, the system has four expansion connectors for add-in cards to extend the hardware. Two are legacy PCI slots, while the other two are PCI Express 2.0; one x4 slot and a high-bandwidth x16 slot suitable for a plug-in graphics card such as Nvidia's Quadro NVS 290. However, all four slots are restricted to low-profile adapter cards because of the relatively low case.

As the Esprimo E5645 is a business machine, very little extra software is preinstalled on the hard drive, other than trial versions of Office 2007 and Norton Internet Security. However, Fujitsu has included its own Launch Center application, which is basically a menu providing links to various support tools and information.

These include system manuals, online support, security tips, a tool to create a computer profile for helpdesk operation, the DeskUpdate tool which looks online for updated drivers, and DataBackup which simply links to the Windows Backup application.

There is also a System Diagnostics tool that tests various system components and generates a report.