Polywell's AMD 64 Q-Box-NF3B is a Screamer !!!!!!!!!

Unleash your inner gamer! The Polywell Q-Box-NF3B is a computer that was made with the gamer in all of us in mind.

I started by pulling this bad boy out of the box and was just amazed at how small and sleek it looks. Covered in a smooth silver casing with a handle on top for portability, the Q-box-NF3B could not look any better. The specs on the box boast a lot of power for such a small box, it is amazing how efficient they were with using the least amount of space possible and still creating a screaming machine. I could barely wait to get it set up and running.

Polywell sent this PC ready to go, so setup was a breeze; a snap here, a plug there, and all systems were go. They also took the liberty of pre-installing all of the necessary software while still including copies on CD. Plugged in and ready to go, I was off to find out what this AMD Athlon 64 processor is capable of doing.

Polywell also included a 17'' LCD flat screen that displays a sharp image and matches with the tower. The Q-Box  we got was loaded down with powerful hardware; it came with a 160GB Hitachi EIDE 7200rpm HD, a quiet,
quick and efficient drive that left me wondering what to do with all the space. It also has an AMD Athlon Motherboard with an AMD 64 bit processor 3200. This thing is what gaming is supposed to be all about! It also has Gigabig LAN capability, which allows a maximum internet connection speed of 1 gigabyte per second. Zero ping, anyone? For sound, the system includes Logitech Z-640 5.1 surround sound speakers with a 70 watt subwoofer, providing all the clear and immersive audio for a total gaming experience. There was an Nvidia GeForce FX 5900XT 8x AGP video card, one of the top 3D graphics rendering cards on the market (It performed very well in our own graphics test). This system also has just about every type of port you would want on the front panel. With two 2.0 USB ports, one 6-pin firewire port, microphone in and headphone out, and one optical S/PDIF port all front side, there is also a 6 in 1 floppy drive which reads 5 different types of memory sticks as well as 3.5" floppies. The Q-Box supports virtually unlimited expansion, that couldn't be easier to set up. As if all that weren't enough, Polywell threw in a wireless keyboard and mouse.

The Q-box hit the ground running, going through the entire boot sequence in about 30 seconds. After checking out all the hardware, the first thing I did was tune up the color on the LCD with the automatic software that prompts right after booting up. Booted and tuned, I checked out a demo CD that was not only a game demo disc but also a graphics tune up utility.

Ready for some serious gaming after all that, I started out with Far Cry from Ubisoft (Which was voted the best 3D game for Windows). This game is supposed to be one of the most tasking games, asking to use a large portion of the CPU; not a single problem. I was like a kid in a candy store; it loaded so quickly and played so smoothly, it was one of the best FPS games I have ever played. I was able to keep all my graphics at the highest possible settings available. Without a single glitch, the Q-Box-NF3B took everything I was throwing at it and asked for more. The graphics were unreal so I played some other game titles to see how it compared with some of the gaming setups I have used in the past. I tried Rockstar classics Grand Theft Auto 3 and GTA: Vice City, along with a few others titles and all were a wonderful experience. I also tried some older games like my all time favorite Counter Strike, which also worked quite well. .

By this point the gaming capabilities did not seem limited at all, any type of game title I played gave completely satisfactory results. But wait, then I threw in two 1G sticks of DDR 400 RAM from our good friends at Gigaram. After running some test and getting some new benchmark figures I felt sure that the Polywell could handle even high-end rendering and CGI (didn't have the software to put it to the test, unfortunately). I tried a few of the games again after this and needless to say they were out of control; it was just amazing.

Now that I know the Q-Box is a gaming god in disguise, I figured it was time to run some practical applications and see how those would work. The first program I tried was Photoshop CS , which ran beautifully. Even hi-res images with multiple layers opened quickly not one time did I get any hesitation. After that I worked with some multi media editing software from Discreet (Cleaner XL) . I took raw digital AVI from my Sony mini DV camera (which I was able to just plug into the front panel) and uploaded it without blinking an eye. Then I started to edit and compress the AVI files, for all major formats. I did not have one problem doing any of this. Once I got Cleaner configured and ready to go, it was like I was using a very high end editing station (the Q-Box also has the capability to support dual display) right here on my own desk.

Next I tried some heavy multitasking, running Access, RealOnePlayer, and a few other small applications running in the background. I even ran windows media player and burned a disk using Roxio software at the same time and had no interruption with either one. I shouldn't have been surprised at this point, but seeing it run so many things smoothly was very impressive.

With so much going for it, it's tough for me to see a downside. The Polywell Q-Box is fast, powerful, and versatile. On top of that, it looks gorgeous sitting on my desk.

I would tell anyone looking for an affordable and all-around great computer to give this one a chance. It is an inexpensive way for the average consumer to finally have that monster power-house piece of equipment which is great for the SOHO (small office home office) and has unlimited capabilities.

Polywell provides a true custom configuration with free consulting advice which is backed by their unique 5-year labor and 3-year parts warranty. They also provide 24-hour toll free phone support and optional on-site service in over 600 U.S. and Canadian locations.
 
This reviewer is so impressed with this Polywell PC, that I plan on doing many more reviews using this spectacular peice of equipment. I hope to bring them all to you very soon. So just keep an eye out in the Tech Talk section.

If you would like to learn more about Polywell Computers go to: www.polywell.com  

These photos were taken with the unbelievably easy to use Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera. The camera is equipped with a really neat low-light laser focusing assist. The Cyber-Shot's unique "night framing" night vision settings makes it really fun to use in both low-light and no-light environments. This camera is perfect for those memorable evening events as well as daylight shooting with its 5 mega pixel clarity.