Biostar iDEQ 200T: Great Performance & Brilliant Design
by Wesley Fink on September 29, 2003 10:24 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Final Words
With each new Small Form Factor that we test at AnandTech, we end up asking the question, “Is it as good as Shuttle?” Shuttle pioneered the SFF, and they have never rested on their laurels. They have continued to perfect the SFF from that first introduction in 2001. With the Biostar iDEQ 200T, it appears that we finally have a unit where the answer is, “Yes, it is as good as Shuttle or maybe even better!”Shuttle has always been praised for the care and thought that goes into their SFF designs. Everything just seems so carefully designed and manufactured. So when the Biostar is praised as the easiest SFF to setup that we have ever seen, it is saying something.
The Biostar is even faster than the excellent Shuttle, and it will compare well to any 865/875 system to which you wish to compare it. The Biostar system holds its own against the best 865/875 systems to which we compared it. It also overclocked to the same levels that we were able to achieve with the Shuttle SB65G2. The Biostar even handled the demands of our power-hungry, top-of-the-line ATI 9800 PRO, and then overclocked well with that card as well. In every test we ran, it was as stable, cool, and quiet as you could want in a computer.
We are impressed with the Biostar. It is clear that Biostar set out to capture a significant portion of the SFF market, and that requires much more than just a slapped-together little computer. Biostar carefully studied the things the market leader, Shuttle, does very well. They then designed an attractive unit with careful attention to how the end-user would actually use the computer. The cooling system had to be as effective as the outstanding Shuttle ICE system, and it appears to work well and is very quiet in normal operation. Shuttle’s ICE is still a better cooling system in our opinion, but Biostar comes close. The most brilliant move on Biostar’s part was the incredible attention to assembly details. You can put together the Biostar in about half the time required for the Shuttle — without having to unscrew cages to get at hard to reach memory slots or a CPU socket. The little things like all the hard drive and floppy cables being cleverly pre-routed are sure to impress the end-user. Even the 3-piece top is a thoughtful improvement to Shuttle’s bulky one-piece shroud. Biostar even priced the unit about $50 less than Shuttle’s comparable unit to make it an even more attractive value.
If you are looking for an Intel 865 or 875 computer in a small and quiet package, we highly recommend the Biostar iDEQ 200T. It will impress you with its easy assembly and thoughtful attention to details. It will also continue to impress over time with its excellent overclocking capabilities, stability, and quiet operation.
With that said, we should also point out that we have just taken a look at the final release version of the Shuttle SB65G2. Shuttle has increased the power supply to 220W, and the BIOS has all the overclocking options that you could possibly want. If you plan to overclock your SFF computer, then Shuttle should be your choice right now. That is until Biostar improves their BIOS overclocking options and increases their power supply. It is great to finally have some real competitors to Shuttle in the SFF market. It means better products and greater value for you in a small, quiet computer system.
We have just received our first Athlon64 SFF systems. Keep checking AnandTech to see what Shuttle and Biostar have created with Athlon64 SFF systems.
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Anonymous User - Monday, October 6, 2003 - link
http://www.sfftech.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=442Even nicer!
Anonymous User - Sunday, October 5, 2003 - link
Be warned. They still need to work on the power supply for these systems. I own a Shuttle, and basically had to rip out the crappy 200W PSU and use an external 350W PSU (probably 300W may have been enough). With the stock PSU, the system would basically hang after any kind of intensive activity (try a stress test on the system for an hour or so).These systems overdrive the PSU, and while you will hear stories of people running 17 harddrives and their latest ATI Bongo 945600 on an overclocked box -- those are very much the exceptions. You either have to hook up a better PSU externally -- basically invalidating the whole purpose behind a SFF in the first place, or you have to play roulette with reordering 200W PSUs until you get a particular item which may work overdriven (but for how long?)
I see SHuttle has 220W PSU's in their newer versions, which should help.. but considering that people run the same hardware with 350W PSU's in bigger boxes, I still remain *very* suspicious of their claims.
Wesley Fink - Saturday, October 4, 2003 - link
#11 - The Shuttle and Biostar are the same size. A review will be posted shortly on the Soltek SFF which is a bit taller and has 2-5.25" bays and a 250W PS. I've included a picture of the Soltek and Biostar side-by-side in that review.#20 - As you can see on the Shuttle and Biostar Forums on some boards, users have been modifying these machines. You are correct that the internal USB headers have no matching punch-out for an external header, but most USB connectors are on slot brackets and you could certainly get a 4-port slot bracket for one of the two slots in the rear. Also you could use a hard-drive where the floppy goes - just be very careful of heat build-up. It should work fine.
Anonymous User - Friday, October 3, 2003 - link
Can someone explain to me what "internal" USB ports are for? I note the sb65g2 has a total of 6 ports (4 rear, 2 front) while the 200t has 4 (2 rear, 2 front). But the article says the 200t has 4 more "internal" USB ports, and the sb65g2 has 2 more internally. There's no breakout (that I noticed) for adding more external ports using a header (like the parallel port header allows), so what good are internal ports?Also, is there any reason why one could not put a second hard drive where the floppy goes, like one can do in the sb65g2?
(I'm really torn between the two machines!!! Grrr.)
Anonymous User - Thursday, October 2, 2003 - link
I would like to upgrade from my present SFF (ASUS Terminator) but want to install dual HDs. Your review mentioned an optional dual HD cage. Any info available on where this might be found. Typically I've found that optional items on SFF machines are not available (except maybe in Taiwan).hirschma - Wednesday, October 1, 2003 - link
Post #10 - perhaps you _should_ test the SPDIF input. That was the problem when I bought the Biostar 200N - Biostar said that it had input, every reviewer said the same... turns out that it was on Biostar's spec page, and every reviewer just took their word for it.Would your review be so glowing if it turned out that a major feature for some wasn't really there?
Don't reviewers have some responsibility to ensure that all advertised features actually are present?
It ain't that hard to test - hook up your PS2 or similar, and see if it passes audio, no?
rhacquer - Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - link
Oh, I got the jones for a SFF rig now... soon as we put on a new roof, pay for baby's private school, replace my 12 yr old car, etc. :-(Anonymous User - Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - link
post # 14 - SIZEAnonymous User - Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - link
50 Dba is twice as loud as 40Dba, not 10x as much.Anonymous User - Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - link
fill me in on the power supply .. why are the sff's 200 watts versus pc at 450 or so? why so much less power?