It's a sign of how far SFF (Small Form Factor) PCs have come when some of the major system builders start using them as a base for their product lines. Evesham's e-style range is based around an SFF PC and the latest version of the A64 proves that small doesn't have to mean under-powered.

Based around a Biostar iDEQ 210P SFF barebones system, the A64 comes with a fast AMD Athlon 64 processor, 512MB of RAM, a large, fast hard drive and - last but not least - a top-end graphics card. Its small size (210 x 323 x 187mm) means it won't take up too much desktop space and its stylish black finish means that it's not a box you'll want to hide.

At its heart is a 3700+ AMD Athlon64, Socket 754 processor which runs at 2.5GHz. This sits in one of Biostar's own K8NBP motherboards using nVidia's nForce3 250Gb chipset. Evesham supplies the A64 with 512MB of DDR400 memory in the form of two 256MB modules, but the motherboard can take up to a maximum of 2GB through two DIMM slots.

Despite its small size there are two hard drive bays so if you fill up the supplied 7,200rpm 200GB Western Digital drive you can always add other - not something you can do with a lot of SFF PCs.

As with all SFF PCs, though, most of the extra features you may require are integrated onto the motherboard: just as well, as the small size of the motherboard limits it to supporting just single AGP and PCI slots. The K8NBP comes with two SATA and two ATA ports, 5.1-channel onboard audio, support for four USB 2.0 ports and also Gigabit Ethernet.

If you are one of those people who must have LEDs adorning their case, then the A64 won't disappoint. The front of the case is dominated by a strip light that slowly cycles through six colours. Above this is a panel which slides down to reveal a Sony Dual Format, Dual Layer DVD burner and a 7-in-1 card reader that reads all the current Flash cards with the exception of XD-Picture cards. Sitting behind a drop down door at the base of the front panel are two USB 2.0 ports, two audio ports, a single FireWire port and a S/PDIF input port.

The 256MB ATI Radeon X800 Pro graphics card installed in the A64 will please all but the most hardened gamer; for most people its default 3DMark03 score of 10,160 will more than suffice. The output from this is fed to a 17-inch Viewsonic VX715 TFT monitor.

Evesham supplies a set of Creative Inspire P5800, 5.1-channel speakers with the A64, along with a Microsoft Cordless keyboard and mouse. Windows XP Home is installed as the OS along with a copy of Microsoft Works v8 as the bundled software package.

Proof, if any more proof be needed, that you can make a really fast performing system out of today's small form factor PCs. The A64 offers the performance found in normal-sized PCs in a compact, space-saving box.