Soltek QBIC EQ3801: nForce3 250Gb goes SFF
by Evan Lieb on July 4, 2004 10:35 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Soltek EQ3801: B9A-FGR Motherboard
| Motherboard Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 754 Athlon 64 |
| Chipset | NVIDIA nForce3-250Gb |
| CPU Ratios | 4X to default (and higher) in 1X increments |
| Bus Speeds | 200MHz to 250MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| PCI/AGP Speeds | Auto, 66MHz to 100MHz (in 1MHz increments) |
| HyperTransport | 1x-5x (200MHz to 1GHz) |
| Core Voltage | up to 1.55V in 0.0250V increments |
| DRAM Voltage | 2.5V to 2.8V in 0.1V increments |
| AGP Voltage | 1.5V to 1.8V in 0.1V increments |
| Chipset Voltage | 1.6V to 1.9V in 0.1V increments |
| Memory Slots | Two 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots |
| Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X Slot 1 PCI Slot |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | NVIDIA 4-Drive SATA by nF3-250Gb (SFF dimensions cut HDD quantity in half). SATA can be combined in RAID 0, 1, JBOD. |
| Onboard IDE | Two Standard NVIDIA ATA133/100/66 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 6 USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear) Two FireWire ports (one front, one rear) |
| Onboard LAN | 10/100/1000 GbE (native nForce3 250Gb) |
| Onboard Audio | C-Media CM8768 6-Channel AC'97 with SPDIF |
C-Media's CMI 8768 chip is a 6-channel PCI-based solution that will serve the needs of users who need good quality sound for basic music and Windows needs.
Obviously, the most significant feature that the EQ3801 carries is the chipset itself, the nForce3 250Gb. The nForce3 250Gb's most intriguing features are its native Firewall, GbE, AGP/PCI lock, and 4-drive Serial ATA/IDE functionality. The GbE and Serial ATA/IDE are no longer strapped to the bandwidth-limited PCI bus (approximately 133MB/s), as these two features have access to the HT (HyperTransport) bus, which (on the nForce3 250Gb chipset) allows significantly more data to be processed. Theoretically, this increases performance, and in practice, actually does increase performance, mostly for GbE home networking users. In fact, NVIDIA's implementation of GbE on a separate bus is similar to what Intel did with GbE on their CSA bus last summer.
Probably the most intriguing feature made available to enthusiasts by the nForce3 250Gb is its AGP/PCI lock. This feature is most attractive to FSB/HT overclockers who desire their AGP and PCI devices to run in spec. As AnandTech's very own Wesley Fink independently confirmed in his recent Socket 754 roundup, all nForce3 250Gb motherboards come with the same functional AGP/PCI lock. Thankfully, the Soltek EQ3801's motherboard (the B9A-FGR) also has a working AGP/PCI lock.
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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."