Polywell's MiniBox bridges the gap between the nonexpandable micro units such as those that Shuttle specializes in, and a full-size, fully upgradable PC.
Polywell Minibox 780G-9950
- Spec Navigator
- Processor
- Memory
- Storage
- Multimedia
- Software
- Optical Drives
- Expansion Slots
- Display
- Modem / Networking
- Case
- Other Features
- Interface Connection
Multimedia
| Audio Adapter Model | Integrated Realtek High Definition Audio |
| Audio Channels | 7.1 surround |
| Graphics Board RAM Type | DDR5 |
| Video chipset | Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 4870 |
| Installed video memory | 512 MB |
| Video bus | PCI Express |
Software
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (32 bit) |
| Included Software |
|
Expansion Slots
| Open PCI Express X16 Slots | 0 |
| Number of PCI slots | 2 |
| Open PCI Express X1 Slots | 1 |
| PCI Express Slots | 2 |
| Slots | 2 |
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Desktops »
Pros
Small, stable form factor
More expandable than the average mini PC
Cons
Larger than the average mini PC
Bottom Line
An attractive, compact PC with a medium level of expandability.
Polywell MiniBox 780G-9950 Power Desktop PC
Minibox 780G-9950 Review, by Jon L. Jacobi, PC World August 21, 2008
At 9 inches high, 11 inches wide, and 14 inches deep, the MiniBox fits in many places a tower wouldn't. Even so, it still offers enough interior space to accommodate a full-featured micro-ATX Gigabyte MA78GPM-DS2H motherboard, two free 5.25-inch drive bays (one external), a 16x PCIe slot, and two PCI slots. Its width also makes for a physically stable system--great for the living room or a child's first PC. Oh, and it even has a handle that folds out from the front of the system so you can carry the unit around like a 1980s boom box.
The MiniBox model's moniker informs us that it's strictly an AMD AM2+ system, starting with a 780G chip set, continuing with the latest 2.6-GHz Phenom X4 9950 CPU, and following through with a very fast ATI 4870 graphics card. The result of this relatively low-priced ($2350 as of August 8, 2008) combination, with some help from its RAID 0 tandem of 10,000-rpm Western Digital VelociRaptor hard drives, is a level of performance we don't generally see in a small PC--namely, a more-than-competent WorldBench score of 110.
The 4870 card also made for some fast gaming frame rates; it averaged a very playable 135 frames per second in Doom 3 running at 1280 by 1024 with antialiasing enabled. If you're willing to sacrifice some frames per second playing games, you can also configure a MiniBox without the 4870 and save a few bucks.
The MiniBox 780G-9950 system we tested is also a nice choice as a multimedia PC. This price includes a 22-inch Samsung SyncMaster 2253BW wide-screen LCD monitor, and the PC itself has a Blu-ray/HD DVD drive on board with HDMI output (with HDCP copy protection) on the rear panel.
--Jon L. Jacobi
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- Rating Breakdown
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69
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67
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78
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Desktops
69
100
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90
Performance
| Adobe Photoshop CS2 | 438 |
| Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 DirectX | 364 |
| Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 Rendering | 380 |
| Doom 3 with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 134.83 |
| Doom 3 with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 135.27 |
| Doom 3, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 134.63 |
| Doom 3, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 135.9 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 1024x768 | 75.77 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 1680x1050 | 75.13 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 1920x1200 | 74.97 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars High 2560x1600 | 59.3 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 1024x768 | 76.07 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 1680x1050 | 75.53 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 1920x1200 | 75.6 |
| Enemy Territory Quake Wars Normal 2560x1600 | 60.53 |
| Far Cry with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 155.18 |
| Far Cry with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 152.72 |
| Far Cry, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit | 155.1 |
| Far Cry, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit | 153.83 |
| Firefox 2 | 247 |
| Microsoft Office 2003 with SP-1 | 350 |
| Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9.0 | 228 |
| Nero 7 Ultra Edition | 210 |
| Overall Graphics Score | Fair |
| Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5 | 240 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1024x768 | 71.63 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1680x1050 | 73.76 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1920x1200 | 73.05 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 2560x1600 | 66.05 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 1024x768 | 115.35 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 1680x1050 | 115.8 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 2560x1600 | 83.29 |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium1920x1200 | 115.95 |
| Winzip Computing WinZip 10.0 | 255 |
| WorldBench 6 Score | 110 |
| WorldBench 6 Word Score | Good |
WorldBench 6 Tests
| Multitasking | 281 |
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