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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gerf - Thursday, March 24, 2005 - link
I noticed! :Dbut i doubt that you will notice back anyway. Heh
JarredWalton - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Touche! And only 9 months late. LOLJarredWalton - Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - link
UPDATE! I screwed up in comment 28 above and neglected to mention this in the article. The iDEQ 210P actually *CAN* use a two slot graphics card. That makes high-end cards like the 6800 Ultra an option, as well as quieter solutions like the Silencer GPU HSF. I'm not sure how many will actually notice this post, but it's one more point in favor of the 210P.JarredWalton - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Update: I inadvertently stated that the ASUS quick-boot mode supports MP3 CDs. It does not. Sorry for any confusion. The Aopen and Foxconn do support this feature, but my brain got a little scambled in the process of reviewing all five units.JarredWalton - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
27 - at least for the units in this roundup, none of them could take a large two-slot graphics card. The AGP slots are all on the outside, so the HSF would end up outside the case. Clearance even with the X800 Pro used was tight on several of the cases and it required a bit of finagling to install. Any of the cards that use a large cooler like the Silencer would also not fit in the cases. I'll be sure to make note of any SFFs that could actually accept a two-slot GPU, though.benjin - Friday, February 18, 2005 - link
Excellent reviews, I appreciate all the hard work.Since noise is a big issue, it'd be nice to see how well some of the new, larger and passively cooled video cards fit, if at all.
I could see that as being difficult since they'll all be different, but maybe future reviews could offer an idea of how much clearance would be available to work with.
JarredWalton - Thursday, February 17, 2005 - link
The Kloss is amoung the systems in the 775 roundup I'm working on. Do they have a 939 version as well?Noli - Thursday, February 17, 2005 - link
can you include the Trigem Kloss as well pls? Sounds and looks pretty cool.. (esp if they have an A64 version - anyone know?)http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/200502161/index....
JarredWalton - Thursday, February 17, 2005 - link
23 - I've sent a request to Biostar for any additional units, particularly Athlon 64 units. The same goes for several other companies.REMF - Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - link
Biostar are are about to release an nForce4 SFF in their 300 series chassis. :D