SFF Roundup, Part I: Socket 478 and 754 Systems
by Jarred Walton on February 15, 2005 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Benchmark Setup
Before we get to the benchmark scores, let us reiterate that the total performance level of the systems as configured is not a major factor in our reviews of these systems. The CPUs used are not the fastest models available, and we're really just verifying that none of the units have any major performance issues. While we only have a single socket 754 unit in this roundup, it is there as a baseline measurement, so if we receive any additional units based on that platform in the future, they will be compared with each other.Our test configuration is as follows:
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.0GHz 1MB cache) Socket 754 Intel Pentium 4 3.0C/ES (3.0GHz 512KB cache) Socket 478 |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev. 2 |
| Hard Drive(s): | Seagate 120GB 7200 RPM IDE (8MB Buffer) Seagate 80GB 7200 RPM SATA (8MB Buffer) |
| Video AGP & IDE Bus Master Drivers: | nVidia nForce 5.10 WHQL Intel 6.3.0 SiS AGP 1.19a; IDE 2.04a |
| Video Card(s): | Sapphire (ATI) X800 Pro AGP VIVO |
| Video Drivers: | ATI Catalyst 5.1 without CCC Intel 865G 14.10 SiS UniVGA 3.60 (from Foxconn) |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| SFF Systems: | Aopen XC Cube AV EA65-II ASUS Terminator T2-P Deluxe Commercial Biostar iDEQ 210P (AMD Socket 754) Foxconn e-bot Shuttle XPC SB61G2 V3.0 |
All systems used DIMMS with Samsung TCCD chips running 2-2-2-5 timings, except for the iDEQ, which ran with 2-2-2-10 timings. The X800 Pro graphics card was used as a system stress component to verify the ability of the various units to support a reasonably high-end GPU. For the noise tests, either the integrated graphics were used or else a fanless GeForce MX440 AGP card was installed. Performance testing without the X800 Pro was not performed on all systems, but a quick test with a couple of units showed that the performance in standard business applications was close enough to the performance with the X800 Pro, so we did not rerun all tests.
As we have stated, we feel that the primary use will be office, HTPC, or perhaps portable gaming, so we haven't looked at running any workstation benchmarks on the systems. True workstations generally require a professional level graphics card, and our SFF lab is currently lacking such a part. Since we are running a reduced set of benchmarks for our SFF reviews, if you have any strong feelings about additional tests you would like to see run, please let us know. This is the first such article, and if there is sufficient demand for other benchmarks, we will do our best to go back and include them.
For the graphs, all of the Intel systems will use blue-colored bars and the sole AMD system will be colored green. This is not meant as a comparison between AMD and Intel, but the AMD socket 754 3200+ is priced similarly to the Intel socket 478 3.0C. While most of the systems will support faster processors, check the features pages to make sure; not all systems can officially support the Intel 3.4E Prescott chips.
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CrystalBay - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
Hi, How about the dual Opteron Iwill, that keeps flashing on the right.skunklet - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
there is an ideq with an embedded c3 proc that i would love to see a review of.gerf - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
I'd been looking at that Biostar SFF, as its specs are better than the equivalent Shuttle version, and is much cheaper. And now you drop a great review for it! I think that both I and my brother are going to use it for our new systems. Thank you for the kickarse review!JarredWalton - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
#6 - fixed, along with a few other things I noticed. If anyone sees anything else, feel free to drop me a line.#7/#8 - both of those are on the list of S939 systems we have coming for review. (We haven't received the PCIe one yet, but it should arrive sometime soon.) Unfortunately, most of the "high end" SFFs that we currently have are S775 for whatever reason. I think we have eight 775 units and only three 939 right now. I'd really like to see additional S754 units as well, since Sempron is moving in that direction.
I think one of the reasons that we're seeing more Intel SFFs is due to the chipset support. 865G is really almost the same price as 865PE, so the integrated graphics are "free". They're not good for gaming, but for most other tasks they work well. The only AMD platform chipsets with IGP are currently the outdated VIA K8M800 and the SiS stuff, although there are some newer offerings.
In case any of you aren't aware of this, we really can't afford to simply go out and purchase every item that we want to review. Since the reviews are basically "free" advertising (although if a unit has serious problems, it may not be good), the manufacturers have to send us the parts. In case any manufacturers are reading this, get in touch with us and we'll be happy to review any of your SFFs that you send our way! There are quite a few manufacturers that aren't currently represented.
Phantronius - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
Im hoping the SN25P turns out to be reliable unlike the SN95G.That and the way the PCI-E cards are facing the opposite direction makes me wonder about heat with both slots taken up. Hrmm....
REMF - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
AT - don't even consider doing your high-end round up until you have the new nForce4 P-series Shuttle due to be released at the end of the month.i would also like to see the nForce3 G5-Series Shuttle compared against it, and other high-end SFF chassis'. :D
AtaStrumf - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
WAU, that is one massive review! Good work guys.Just one typo to point out on page 8:
The iDEQ doesn't include any notable extras **included**, but it does have all of the high quality standard features that we like.
There was one more "it" that shoud have been "if", but I forgot where it was. Sorry :-)
I thought this article would include a MAC mini, but I guess that will be a separate article altogether.
If I may, I would suggest you only focus on SFF systems which stand out in a positive way and stay clear of the ones that don't. Just seems like a lot of pointless work.
MIDIman - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
Been waiting for anand's SFF reviews. Looking forward to the A64-939 / Intel 775 review that I'm sure will be next.arswihart - Note that the SB61G2V3 is Shuttle's latest socket 478, Intel-based system. All of their newer products are socket 775 which will be in a later review. However, I think there are plenty on the AMD side that could've been covered instead that are socket 754...the SN85G4V3 ain't too shabby.
quidpro - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
Absolutely no way that 7 bright blue leds in the Aopen (which only get brighter) should be considered acceptable or "minor" for an entertainment system, in my opinion. My shuttle has only two lights and I've had to cover them up with electrical tape with a small pinhole in order to cut down on the extremely distracting glare coming from it while watching a movie...the orange HD led flashes (as it should) which is even more distracting...arswihart - Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - link
what the hell were they thinking when they chose to review this obsolete Shuttle system?