Soltek QBIC EQ3801: nForce3 250Gb goes SFF
by Evan Lieb on July 4, 2004 10:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Final Words
After thorough stress testing and general usage, we have come to several conclusions. The first conclusion is that the vast majority of users who have any interest at all in a fast 64-bit system should seriously consider the Soltek EQ3801. Users interested in a quiet system will be delighted to hear that the EQ3801 is quite silent, while using all the stock settings and hardware that comes with this SFF. Normally, you'd have to sacrifice performance and/or low temperatures for a silent SFF; yet the EQ3801 is both a high performance and low temperature system. Soltek's patented STF (System Tunnel Fan) does an excellent job of pushing hot air over the CPU HSF and out of the side of the case. And when tuning the BIOS properly, the EQ3801 is only a step behind the fastest equivalent Athlon 64 desktop systems on the market.The EQ3801 literally contains the whole package: quiet, cool, small, and fast. At its current price of just $270 shipped online, it's also a bargain too. In fact, the Soltek EQ3801 is significantly cheaper than Athlon 64 SFFs from most other manufacturers, including the industry leader, Shuttle. All in all, the EQ3801 is an impressive feat of smart engineering and we see no reason why you shouldn't be seriously exploring this satisfying barebones system.
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Inferno - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
I was using clockgen not SoftFSBInferno - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
I have tested the system to 275 max HTT with SoftFSB. This unit also supports the Athlon 64 Mobile CPU's which is rare in a nForce 250GB system.Here is my post of some of my tests @ 275 with a X800 running stock speeds and overdrive off.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=10262635...
P.S. I would have just posted in Anandtech forums but for some reason my screen name is banned since the new forums when into place and no one will help me get it fixed.
Wesley Fink - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
I have corrected what I can in the graphs, but the problem appears to be our graphing engine, and not Evan's data. All of the information is there and has been reentered, bu the update that is going onto our website appears to be scrambling the graph generation.We apologize for the confusion. It will be fixed as soon as possible.
psiu - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
Pics of the case interior are all showing pic4, instead of 7,8,9 (I think).CrystalBay - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
Nice, Please keep the SFF reviews coming.DrumBum - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
is it possible to buy just the motherboard?artifex - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for doing a SFF review!I haven't even read past page 1 yet. But I have to stop and tell you how glad I am you're doing one. I really hope in the future this form factor might see increased coverage (say, for example, in the budget/midrange buyer's guides), but this is a good start. Now I don't have to rely solely on mini-itx.com and sfftech.com :)
p.s. I know this may not be the first one you've done, either. But I'm encouraging you now :)
jcromano - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
Hi,I enjoyed your article very much, but I'm a little confused about exactly what you get for the $270.
Am I to understand that for the $270, you get a case plus STF case fan, a motherboard, a power supply (with fan), assorted cables, and a carrying pack?
Am I also to understand that you get a CPU fan but no CPU?
And am I to understand there is space for a floppy drive, but that the floppy drive itself is not included?
Also, could you say a few words about the power supply that comes with it? That is, if a power supply is, in fact, included.
Thanks much,
Jim
jcromano - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
Pollock - Sunday, July 4, 2004 - link
"In general, system temperatures were low and no one component was too hot to the touch. This is an impressive feat, as SFFs are notoriously difficult to keep warm."I suspect you meant "as SFFs are notoriously difficult to keep cool."