Soltek Qbic EQ3401M: More Expansion & A New Standard in Quietness
by Wesley Fink on October 6, 2003 12:12 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Content Creation and General Usage Performance
The Soltek is the third Small Form Factor system that proves you give up little or nothing by choosing an SFF computer system. Our benchmarks here compare the Qbic EQ3401M to the fastest 865 and 875 motherboards that we have tested. Despite that and despite the fact that all the other systems use PAT, the Soltek is competitive with the best 865/875 motherboards we have tested.
The Soltek is generally outperformed at default settings by the speedy Biostar unit we recently tested, at least until we get to Content Creation. Here the Soltek sets a new high score for Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2003.
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Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
hey wesley, great review...one thing tho...would u be able to post some temperature readings...especially the case temp...and compare that to a regular tower..doesn't really matter which...i just want to see if the inside of the case is hot. especially with the 9800pro in there...i know the case is very quiet...but my concern is that if the case is the quietest, would that compromises the temp of the system?Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
#6, show us proof that Apple released an SFF before Shuttle. I don't believe it.Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
Found the EQ3401A here in the UK (www.pcnextday.co.uk) - no idea if they ship to the US though.Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
Hey where are you located and where did you get the EQ3401A? I'm in the USA, but I haven't found any site in the USA that carries the EQ3401A or any site outside the USA that carries the EQ3401 and ships to the USA. Thanks for any help.Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
I don't want to spark a horrible war here... but Shuttle didn't pioneer the SFF machines. Apple did. While I'll admit that Apple's machine had problems (mostly cosmetic), they did debut before the Shuttle boxes did.<flame away>
Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
At last 2x DVD! But lacking ICH5R, shocking!!!Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
I notice you didn't use a serial ATA drive. On my EQ3401A (aluminium finish), the supplied ATA cable sticks out from the side of the case, preventing the lid from being replaced. A right-angled S-ATA cable would have solved this, but wasn't included. Can you confirm this is the same as yours?To answer Shalmanese - the shiny finish is extremely intolerant of fingerprints unfortunately.
Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
I was wondering how the noise levels of the SFF systems compare to regular systems.Anybody?
Shalmanese - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
Is the shiny finish tolerant of strany finger marks and the like?It seems that many shiny computer things look very good out of the box but quickly become grungy after everyday use.
Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
Thank you for the nice article. A nitpick: I guess you installed 1 GB of DDR400 memory, not 1 Mb DDR400 (page 8)...