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Uniquely designed workstation offers extreme speed that justifies its price tag.
Last year, Cadalyst Labs reviewed BOXX Technologies' GoBOXX 1640, which proved to be the fastest mobile computer we had reviewed to date. This time around we evaluated the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME desktop workstation. Of course, we couldn't help but ask ourselves, "Will this full-sized machine follow the example set by its mobile cousin and prove to be a top performer?"
System features. No one would describe the 3DBOXX 3970 XTREME as a traditional workstation. To start with, the case looks like a one-off unit straight from the floor of an industrial machine shop. We mean this as a compliment - the rugged look affords a nice contrast to the thin metal and plastic cases we often come across. The case, which measures 67/s" x 175/s" x 193/s", is built to last and sports a thick, foam-backed, wire-mesh screen in the front to hide the cooling system. Yes, the 3970 XTREME includes an Asetek sealed-loop liquid cooling system, complete with a radiator and tiny hoses. It is coupled to an Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU, which is overclocked to a whopping 4.5 GHz. As for noise, the cooling system is audible, but it's certainly not a matter of concern - and we are definitely sensitive to the issue of noise.
Looking inside the case, we promptly noticed the spacious interior. This unit is packed with options and has loads of room to spare. Then we noticed something was missing: the hard drive. Honestly, we were perplexed until we removed the opposing side panel and uncovered the Western Digital 1.0-TB, 7,200-rpm SATA drive neatly sandwiched vertically between the back side of the motherboard and the external panel. This narrow space also houses an Intel 311 SSD, a 2.5" 20-GB solid-state drive that intelligently caches the most frequently accessed files...