Introduction

Updated 6/3/2009 Corrected SODIMM slot info.

QNAP's TS-439 Pro is a four bay version of its six-bay TS-639 Pro. I have told the QNAP story many times now, so I'll just do a quick review of the 439's physical features then go right to Performance.

The 439 Pro looks like a slimmer 639 due to two fewer drive bays. Otherwise, as the opening photo shows, the two products are essentially the same. Figure 1 shows the front and rear panel details. The 439 has one large[r] case fan vs. the 639's two smaller. Both have the same power supply fan. Port complement is the same, right down to the VGA connector for an attached root console.

Figure 1: Front and Rear Panels

Internal Details

Figure 2 shows a view of the 439 from the top with the cover removed. The layout is a bit tighter than the 639's due to the reduced case width. The power supply is easily accessible and, contrary to my observation in the 639 review, the single case fan can be replaced without dropping the back panel. The four screws thread into the fan frame and there is enough space to slide the fan out (after disconnecting the cable) without having to drop the rear panel.

Figure 2: TS-439 Pro top inside view

Updated 6/3/2009 Corrected SODIMM slot info.

I started to remove the board, but halfway through realized that it's the same board as in the 639 based on the Intel N270 Atom clocked at 1.6 GHz, with one SODIMM socket holding 1 GB of DDRII 667 RAM. This single board does double duty since the single Marvell 88SX7042 PCI-e 4-port SATA-II interface is mounted directly on the backplane.

With four Samsung HE103UJ 1 TB drives provided by QNAP with the review unit spun up, the 439's power consumption measured 55 W. With the drives spun down for power saving, wattage dropped to 27W. Like the 639, the 439 was surprisingly quiet in operation, although drive noise was definitely noticeable during performance testing.