A Look Inside

It's time now time to strip this NAS down to discover which components it hides inside its casing.


Taking apart the TS-470 was a little harder than previous TS-x69 units because of the new heatsink that cools down the upgraded CPU. The additional Network Expansion card also had to be removed first in order to dislodge some screws that held the SATA expansion card in place. We were left with a plethora of screws after fully taking apart the TS-470, and you should also take into account that you will void the warranty if you remove the mainboard or the plastic cover that protects its rear side, though you will luckily only have to remove the trays to install a SO-DIMM into the free SO-DIMM slot, making the RAM upgrading procedure significantly simpler than in TS-x69 models since you don't have to remove any screws.


The NAS uses a normal, socketed CPU, so you can easily swap it out if you want, though you should first figure out whether the heatsink will be able to handle a stronger processor.


The heatsink that cools down the PSU is passive and quite large. As you can see from the photos above, it also utilizes two heatpipes. Our test sessions verified that it does a great job at keeping the CPU at low enough temperatures. That said, the G550 CPU doesn't have significant cooling requirements.


The chipset, Intel H61, is passively cooled to contribute to the unit's overall silent operation.


ARealtek ALC662 5.1 Channel High Audio Codec handles audio. It is a basic IC that will, however, cover the needs of a professional-grade NAS acting as a multimedia center from time to time.


An Asmedia ASM1442 controls the HDMI port HD Station fully exploits.


The USB 3.0 ports are controlled by an Etrontech EJ188H since the H61 chipset only supports the older and slower USB 2.0 protocol.


The hardware monitor IC is a Fintek F71869AD.


We found an Intel WG82574L Gigabit Ethernet controller next to a mini-PCIE slot.


The dual Gigabit card has been installed into the mainboard's 16x PCIe slot.


Like for most QNAP units, the flash memory is provided by Apacer.


Probably the same mainboard as for the TS-670 Pro.


The system's buzzer is installed right next to the BIOS battery.


One 2 GB SO-DIMM is installed into one of two free RAM slots.


The functions of the LCD screen are handled by a Microchip PIC16F73 8-bit microcontroller.


We found a PEX 8603, a PCI Express Gen 2 switch with three lanes and three ports, on the Ethernet card. Two Intel WGI210ATs act as Ethernet controllers.


The PCIe expansion card holding all SATA ports is directly powered by the PSU through a 12-pin connector. One Marvell 88SE9235 controller, compatible with the SATA 6 GB/s protocol, is installed on this card. We also spotted two SANYO (OS-CON) polymer caps on the obverse side of this card, along with a reference to the TS-470 Pro. The latter unit obviously uses exactly the same expansion card.


The 1U PSU is provided by FSP, and its model number is FSP250-50LC. Its maximum capacity is 250 W, and it is 80 Plus Bronze certified. It can provide up to 18 A on the +12V rail and 14 A maximum on 5V, which will easily cover the needs of the TS-470.


The 92 mm cooling fan is provided by Y.S. Tech. Its model number is FD129225LB (12 V, 0.15 A, 1900 RPM, 40.2 CFM, 25 dBA, and 80000 MTBF). It uses ball-bearings and will, as such, last fairly long.