A Closer Look - Inside

We fully dismantled the DS81 to provide you with a look at its internal components. We didn't find any "void warranty" stickers on even the mainboard's screws, which left quite an impression on us. Not that we would hesitate to rip them apart had there been any, but most users would probably refrain from doing so.


Two screws hold the panel on top in place, so its removal was a piece of cake.


A look at the unit's internals with and without the SSD.


The mainboard is pretty small and densely populated on its component side. Its solder side also holds several crucial components.


A general scheme of the mainboard.


You only have to remove one screw to get to the enclosure for the 2.5'' drive cage. Two screws attach the drive to the cage.


To install the RAM, you first have to remove the HDD cage.


You must first remove the heatpipe-cooling assembly (called ICE module) to install the CPU, which is easily done as you only have to deal with four screws and a single power connector for the fans. The fans are by Apistek, and their model number is SA61O2U. We couldn't find any details on them online.


We installed a G3258 into the vacant CPU socket. The last photograph is of the socket's backplate.


Three voltage regulators provide power to the CPU.


The H81 chipset is passively cooled.


There are two SATA ports, and although painted blue, only the left port pictured above is compatible with the SATA III standard. There is only one proprietary power connector, the white socket above the CapXon polymer cap. Below the SATA ports are the full and half-sized mini PCIe slots.


Two MAX3243C handle both RS232 ports.


Both serial ports are connected to the corresponding mainboard header.


The SD-card reader is controlled by a GL827L IC.


A Realtek ALC892 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio Codec is responsible for the unit's audio capabilities.


The Gigabit Ethernet ports.


Two GST5009 magnetic modules isolate the Ethernet ports.


Hardware monitoring duties are handled by an ITE IT8728F IC.


Most of the polymer caps on the mainboard are by Capxon. Not our favorite brand, their polymer caps will last for quite a while and should not cause any problems.