12/17/07 – Performance desktops are a big money maker for computer manufacturers, but so are business grade servers and work stations. Polywell offers customized systems in all of these different categories. This allows them to offer some unique features to be installed in their latest performance desktop, the Poly i680 SLI. Let's take a look at what they have to offer ...
Processor:
Polywell's Poly i680 SLI has some of the widest range of processors available for purchase. Most users will probably elect to get the Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor for the most performance, but other low cost alternatives are available. About every model of the Core 2 series of processors are available for those who want to drop the cost of the system. They even offer the older Pentium D processors, but it would be best to avoid these in favor of even the low end Core 2 Duo.
Memory:
Just as there are a lot of choices for processor with the Poly i680 SLI, there are just as many choices for the memory. Polywell offers a choice of three different DDR2 memory speeds including 667, 800, 1066 and even 1200MHz. The choice of memory speed will really depend on the processor selected with the 667 best for Pentium D, the 800 for the Core 2 Duos and the 1066 for the Core 2 Extreme. Capacities range from 512MB up to 8GB for those needing lots of memory. All memory configurations above 4GB will require a 64-bit OS version.
Hard Drives:
The industry has pretty much settled on SATA for all hard drives and the majority of drive offerings from Polywell use this interface. Drive options using this range from the 74GB WD Raptor drive up to the new terabyte drives with up to four total installed. In addition to these options, Polywell also offers the installation of a RAID5 Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) controller card and several several different SAS drives ranging from 36GB to 300GB that run up to a blistering 15,000rpm. This can give the Poly i680 SLI some of the fastest drive performance available on the market.
CD/DVD Drives:
Like most desktop computer systems, the Polywell comes with a dual layer DVD burner standard. Users can choose between a Pioneer, Plextor or Lite-On model to handle all DVD recording. Users also have the option of including a second CD-RW/DVD combo drive, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive with the system. If DVD burning isn't your kind of thing, you could also elect instead to drop the drive for one of the other types. Those looking for the new high definition formats can elect to include a Lite-On Bluray burner.
Graphics and Display:
Gamers are the biggest group of people buying performance computers and Polywell delivers the options to them. The Poly i680 uses the latest NVIDIA chipset that allows them to include dual GeForce 8800 GTX graphics cards for top of the line 3D performance. Need to do professional graphics instead? Polywell has you covered with a large range of QuadroFX graphics cards. If all of that is too expensive, there is also the variety of GeForce 7000 graphics cards including the low end 7300LE and the GeForce 8500 and 8600 graphics boards.
Audio:
With such an emphasis on high performance, its somewhat surprising to see the default configuration of the Poly i680 SLI to be the 7.1 on-board audio. Sure, this is all that's needed for most people but it doesn't give the same level of clarity or CPU savings as dedicated boards. Upgrade options are very limited with either the older Creative Audigy SE 7.1 or X-Fi XtremeGamer card. They do provide a Creative 7.1 speaker setup as the default speaker solution with options for other Creative or Logitech speaker systems.
Software:
It is just assumed that most PCs sold on the market ship with Windows. Sure, Polywell does offer the various versions of Windows XP and Vista with the Poly i680 SLI, but they also offer a number of other alternatives. For those looking for a non-Microsoft solution, they offer the SUSE Linux operating system or if you need a server, they will sell it with Windows Server 2003. Several dual boot operating options are even available. They don't include any application software with the system but users can elect to include a variety of productivity and security software packages.
Overall Impressions:
12/17/07 - What really sets the Polywell Poly i680 SLI apart from other performance systems is the level of component selections available to the user. This allows the system to be configured in so many different ways to fit into the budget and performance requirements of practically any user. Sure, there aren't many external appearance choices available with the system, but these cosmetic choices don't actually impact the performance that much.
If configured in a similar fashion to many of the competitions' performance systems, the Polywell Poly i680 SLI comes in at a much more affordable level. It may not look as pretty as some of the other systems on the market or have the name cachet, but it will sure keep pace with the others when it comes down to computing.
In some ways, the Poly i680 SLI actually has more to offer than just a gaming system. With the inclusion of options for the QuadroFX professional workstation graphics cards and the Serial Attached SCSI drives and controller, the system can be just as valuable as a top of the line CAD or graphics workstation as it can be for gaming. This is what really sets it apart from the more traditional thinking of all performance systems are for gamers.
If there are just too many options for you to select between, Polywell also offers a variety of pre-configured options that range in price as low as $1600 all the way past $4000. After all, this system can also be configured as a more mainstream performance system or a workstation/server.
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