We've come to expect a lot from BOXX Technologies - their systems epitomize peak performance. Desktop Engineering reviewed the 3DBOXX 4860- and 8550-series workstations and they proved to be the fastest single and dual-CPU systems to date.
So they were quite excited when they received the latest BOXX workstation, the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME - particularly because it incorporated several novel new technologies.
Like the other BOXX workstations before it, the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME came housed in a beautiful, custom-designed aluminum chassis sporting a brushed aluminum front panel with the BOXX logo emblazoned in the middle...
...Removing the panel on the right reveals the hard drives, which mount to the rear of the panel supporting the motherboard. Here we found what made this BOXX workstation unique: The 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME is the first workstation we've reviewed to come equipped with an Intel solid state drive (SSD) taking advantage of Intel's new Smart Response Technology...
...The 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME comes standard with a 20GB Intel SSD 311 series drive, which is used as a cache for frequently accessed operations. Coupled with a standard hard drive, the addition of this inexpensive (around $120) SSD speeds up hard drive/main memory interaction. This results in faster apparent hard drive speeds, reduced load and wait times, and maximized storage utilization. Overall system power consumption also goes down by reducing unnecessary hard drive spin...
...Our evaluation unit also came with a 1TB, 7,200rpm Western Digital SATA drive with a 64MB cache. This speedy 3.5-in. drive features 4.2-millisecond nominal latency and a 128MB/second maximum transfer rate to help the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME deliver excellent performance...
...The Intel Core i7-2600K CPU in our evaluation unit was also somewhat unique. While the Xi MTower workstation we reviewed in August also came equipped with this same processor, BOXX over-clocked its CPU to 4.5GHz. But over-clocking this quad-core "Sandy Bridge" processor works a bit differently than what we've seen in the past. The 2600K CPU, which is based on a 32nm process technology and has a maximum thermal design power (TDP) of 95 watts, has a clock speed of 3.4GHz and a rated maximum turbo frequency of 3.8GHz...
...Because the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME was equipped with just a single quad-core CPU, albeit one that was tweaked for very fast performance, we weren't expecting it to set any records--particularly when compared to other systems we've recently reviewed that utilized one or even two six-core CPUs. But then again, we weren't quite sure what to expect with the addition of the SSD and Smart Response Technology. To say that we were impressed with the performance of the 3970 XTREME would be an understatement...
...On the SPECviewperf test, the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME equipped with the NVIDIA Quadro 4000 turned in some of the best results we've ever recorded, surpassing even dual-socket systems equipped with more expensive graphics boards on some of the Viewperf datasets...
...On our own AutoCAD rendering test, however, which clearly shows the advantages of hyper-threading, the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREMEproved to be faster than any other single CPU-based system we've ever tested. It rivaled the performance of some workstations equipped with two processors. In addition, the system ran nearly silent, except when accessing the DVD drive...
...Even more amazingly, the incredible performance of the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME doesn't cost as much as you'd think. All 3970 XTREME workstations include the Intel Core i7-2600K CPU and 20GB Intel SSD...
...As configured, our 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME should more than meet the needs of most users--delivering one of the fastest systems available today without breaking the bank.