IBM, Compaq/HP, and Dell are generally regarded as the “big three” in Corporate Computing. While there are other players, and delivery may be by a third party like EDS or Decision One, the battle for the Corporate desktop and mobile computing needs is most often played by the “Big 3”. It is for this market that the IBM Think Center is designed, and IBM has generally done a brilliant job in creating this small computer for corporate needs.

IT Professionals have very different concerns than the home computer user or computer enthusiast. They are more concerned with the “cost of ownership” and the related “technology refresh” cycle. Most corporations lease their computer equipment, and they build into their lease/deployment plans when computer equipment will be “refreshed” (replaced). As the pace of innovation in computers accelerates, the refresh cycle has generally become shorter. Most corporations are now working on 2- to 3-year refresh cycles; although, the current recession has lengthened those times for many Corporations, who have been holding onto equipment for a longer time to cut costs.

Once the refresh cycle is plugged into the equation, “cost of ownership” becomes the next consideration. Computers break, they have to be maintained, they sometimes need to be upgraded to meet the requirements of the latest and greatest tools that the Corporation decides to roll-out to their desktop — and all of these cost money. For this reason, IT departments are very concerned about warranties and parts replacement by their computer vendor; and even with the cost of parts covered by warranty, generally on-site service is an additional contracted cost from either the computer vendor or a 3^rd party.

The larger the corporation, the more scrutiny these costs are likely to undergo, and the greater the desire to control the costs to an absolutely predictable level. A recent and growing trend is “user-replaceable” parts. Dell was the company that first excluded items like the mouse, keyboard and monitor from technician replacement. They would ship the replacement part to the end-user who would do the replacement themselves. That trend caught on and is growing with all the Corporate vendors, and as a result, the list of items considered “user-replaceable” has been growing — in a effort to cut cost-of-ownership.

Enter the IBM Think Center SFF. As you will see when we delve deeper into the guts of this little PC, IBM has engineered a computer whose main reason for being is to reduce cost of ownership to the absolute minimum. Having come from managing a large National Computer Service organization and a National Help Desk, I could almost hear the scripts that the Help Desk employees would use to guide the end-user through replacing their hard drive or adding memory. IBM certainly is listening to their clients, and the IBM Think Center carries “End-User Replaceable” to heights that a computer technician could only imagine.

System Specifications

System Specifications
	IBM Think Center S50	Soltek Qubic EQ3401M	Biostar iDEQ 200T	Shuttle SB65G2
Expansion Bays (5.25"/3.5"/Hidden)	1/1/1	2/1/1	1/1/1	1/1/1
Front USB Ports	2	2	2	2
Rear USB Ports	6	4	2	4
Internal USB Ports	N/A	2	4	2
Front Firewire Ports	None	1 Standard	1 Standard	1 Mini
Rear Firewire Ports	None	2 Standard	1 Standard	1 Standard
On-Board Parallel Port	Rear	Internal Header	Internal Header	Internal Header
On-Board Game Port	None	None	Internal Header	None
On-Board Serial Ports	2	2 Rear	2 — One Rear & One Internal Header	2 Rear
Front Audio Jacks	2 — Mini Mic & Headphone	2 — Mini Mic & Line-In	2 — Mini Mic & Heaphone	3 Mini
Rear Audio Jacks	None	3 Mini	3 Mini	3 Mini
SPDIF	None	One — Front Optical Out	Two: Rear Optical Out & Front Optical In	Two: Rear Optical SPDIF In & Out
Number of Fans (including CPU/chipset)	2	2	2	1
Power Supply	200W	250W Enhance	200W Enhance	220W Enhance

IBM Think Center S50: S50 Chassis

IBM's Think Center S50 is the smallest Desktop PC made by IBM — some 62% smaller than traditional IBM Desktops. As you can see in comparison to the more traditional SFF, the Think Center is laid out as a wide, thin, and shallow computer. At 12.2" x 14" x 3.3", it is really quite small. Despite the size, the S50 is very heavy, weighing a bit over 16 lbs. (7.3 kg). IBM claims that the S50 can support heavy CRT monitors on top of the unit, and we agree — you will not find any thin metal in this computer. In addition, the thick metal is said to function as a heatsink, keeping the Think Center cooler. The S50 is all black and comes with a matching black keyboard and mouse.

A tilt-stand is also provided, which reduces the “footprint” even further. In the system above, the S50 is standing next to a 17" flat panel. Even in the smallest cubicles and on the smallest desk, the IBM is kind in its space requirements.

The Think Center front has slanted air intakes where 2 small, but quiet, fans pull in outside air to cool the fanless CPU. Standard components are a 1.4mb 3.5" floppy and a CD-ROM, CD-RW or DVD-ROM. Either a 40GB or 80GB 7200RPM hard drive is available. In addition to drive access, the front has 2 USB 2.0 ports and mic and headphone inputs. A flush on/off push-button is also on the front of the tiny chassis.

The rear of the chassis is a pleasant surprise in terms of port selection. Not only are there six USB 2.0 ports on the rear, you will also find 2 serial ports and a Parallel port — very unusual on SFF computers. Anyone who has worked in the Corporate Computer arena will quickly discover that there are lots of legacy peripherals to which corporations have become attached, and these sometimes are proprietary. IBM was smart to cater to those needs with a full array of legacy ports plus a full 8 USB 2.0.

If you are looking for the Firewire ports, you won't find any. This machine is targeted at the Corporate desktop, and it is very rare to find a consistent need for IEEE 1394 ports in that target audience. Since there are 2 PCI expansion slots in the PC, a Firewire card can always be added if needed.

You can also see the outlet grill on the rear for the 200 Watt power supply. IBM has paid careful attention to the PS, selecting a model that is very quiet.

The small black IBM box is a model of simplicity from an end-user's perspective. The computer is completely screwless. A top key lock can prevent unauthorized access to the unit. There is also a Kensington lock slot for Corporations using that security solution.

Opening the computer is as easy as pushing the lock buttons on each side and raising the top. Inside, you will find an open, uncluttered interior whose excellent engineering makes it appear to be the model of simplicity.

By flipping out the hinged drive panel, you have full access to everything inside the computer. IBM markets the Think Center S50 as extremely easy to service. More than that, many corporations will consider the S50 as User Serviceable to much deeper levels than generally seen on the Corporate desktop. Of course, this significantly reduces “cost-of-ownership” over the 2- to 3-year lease life of the S50.

Even the drives in the S50 are “User-Serviceable”. The drives can be removed or replaced without so much as a screwdriver. Whether replacement is by the actual PC user or a technician, service time is significantly reduced for drive replacement.

The CPU is protected by a metal cover. Beneath the cover is a very large passive heatsink generally preferred by IT departments. Cooling air blows across the heatsink fins from the 2 front mounted fans to allow high-end CPUs to be used. Our test system came equipped with a 3.2GHz Pentium 4.

The Think Center S50 provides 2 full-length PCI slots for expansion. The lack of an AGP slot reminds us again that the target audience is the Corporate Desktop. Corporate PC departments would not be adding expensive 8X AGP cards to computers aimed at general business usage, and the on-board Intel Extreme Graphics 2 is plenty of graphics power for business applications.

IBM Think Center S50: 8183 Motherboard

Motherboard Specifications
CPU Interface	Socket-478
Chipset	Intel 82865PE MCH (North Bridge) Intel ICH5 (South Bridge)
Bus Speeds	Not Adjustable
AGP/PCI Speeds	Not Adjustable
Core Voltages Supported	Not Adjustable
AGP Voltages Supported	Not Adjustable
DRAM Voltages Supported	Not Adjustable
Memory Slots	2 x 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots DDR320 only
Expansion Slots	2 PCI Slot
Onboard Graphics	Intel 865G Extreme Graphics 2
Onboard RAID	None
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394	Eight USB 2.0 supported through ICH5 No Firewire
Onboard LAN	Intel PRO/100 (Pro/1000 Optional)
Onboard Audio	SoundMAX Cadenza (ADI1981B)
Onboard Serial ATA	2 SATA drives supported by Intel ICH5

The Corporate Desktop is not where would you expect to find overclocking options, and there are none available on the Think Center S50. A few of the IBM decisions, though, need some explaining. While we suspect that IBM chose DDR333 for maximum stability in the S50, the Intel 865 chipset limits actual memory performance to DDR320. The real difference between DDR320 and DDR400 performance is not that great, so we understand IBM's decision. However, we do wish the BIOS had at least an AUTO function that would see and recognize DDR400 for those Corporate clients who chose to use it. When we installed 2 X 512mb of DDR400 for our tests, the system still set it up as DDR320 — though it did recognize and set the aggressive 2-2-2-5 SPD memory timings.

While IBM shipped our Evaluation unit with just one DIMM, we would strongly recommend purchasing the S50 with 2 DIMMs or a quick upgrade to 2 DIMMs. Sandra 2004 confirms that with 2 DIMMs, the S50 operates in Dual-Channel memory mode, which is faster than the Single-Channel mode used by a single DIMM. Dual-Channel memory is one of the defining features of the Intel 865/875 series, and eliminating that feature has a significant impact in performance — making the 865 no faster than the venerable 845 chipset. IBM also limited on-board memory to 2GB in 2 DIMM slots. This will not likely be a significant limitation with a Corporate desktop system.

In our recent Biostar SFF review, we were impressed that you could assemble, upgrade, and change memory without having to remove the drive cage from the case. The IBM extends this ease of use/ease of upgrading to an even higher plateau. You can add, remove, repair, and troubleshoot virtually anything in the Think Center S50 without even so much as a screwdriver.

IBM Think Center S50: BIOS

The IBM BIOS provides no tweaking or overclocking options, nor do we really expect these options in a computer system aimed at the Corporate market. The BIOS does offer full control over enabling or disabling on-board ports and on-board options like audio. Ports can also be custom-configured if required by the computing environment.

IBM Think Center S50: Special Features

Computer service costs and their impact on “Cost-of-Ownership” for a PC have been discussed in some detail. Another significant cost in keeping PCs running is hardware and software updates. IBM has also addressed this concern by designating the S50 a “Workhorse Computer”. Translated, this means IBM is willing to certify that the Think Center S50 will not require hardware or software updates for one year.

IBM also supports earlier Operating Systems on the S50, which will be important to many Corporate clients. Windows 98, NT, 2000, Netware, and Windows XP are officially supported. In addition to the included Kensington lock capabilities and the optional key lock, other security options are available to answer the special security needs of Corporations. These include the option of the IBM Embedded Security Subsystem. This option provides encryption of local files and advanced user authentication as two of the benefits.

IBM Think Center S50: The Test

One of the decisions made when designing the IBM Think Center S50 was to remove any possibility of upgrading the on-board Intel Extreme Graphics 2. Without any kind of AGP port, there is no effective way of upgrading video except by using a PCI graphics card, which are rare and getting rarer.

The lack of a video upgrade option is not a real issue where the S50 will be used, but it makes it impossible for us to mount our standard ATI 9800 PRO graphics card for a full suite of Benchmark tests.

IBM supplied our Evaluation Unit with a 3.2GHz P4 and a single 512Mb Infineon DDR333 CAS 2.5 DIMM. To be consistent with our other benchmarks, our limited testing used our standard 2 x 512Mb PC3500 Mushkin Level 2 memory. CPU-Z confirmed the Mushkin was running at DDR320 at 2-2-2-5 timings. Just to double-check, we also ran the Content Creation benchmarks with the stock Infineon memory. Performance in the benchmarks was a couple of points lower in either test with the stock Infineon memory. Reported results are with 2 x 512mb Mushkin at DDR320 2-2-2-5.

Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s):	Intel 3.2 800FSB Pentium 4
RAM:	2 x 512MB Mushkin PC3500 Level II DS 2 x 256MB Corsair 3200LL SS
Hard Drive(s):	Maxtor 120GB 7200 RPM (8MB Buffer) Western Digital 120GB 7200 RPM (8MB Buffer)
Bus Master Drivers:	Intel INF Update v5.00.1012 Intel IAA for 875P RAID not installed for consistency of Test Results
Video Card(s):	On-board Intel Extreme Graphics ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB (AGP 8X)
Video Drivers:	Intel 82865G Graphics Controller 6.13.10.3510 ATI Catalyst 3.7
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards:	IBM Think Center S50 Soltek Qubic EQ3401M Biostar iDEQ 200T @ 200.8 MHz Shuttle XPC SB65G2 (865PE) @ 200.5 MHz Asus P4C800-E (875P) @ 200.5 MHz ABIT IS7-G (865PE) ABIT IC7-G (875P) Gigabyte 8KNXP (875P)

Recent performance tests on Intel 875/865 boards used 2 x 512MB Mushkin PC3500 Level II Double-bank memory. Previous tests of Intel motherboards used 2 x 256MB Corsair 3200LL Version 1.1.

All performance tests with the ATI 9800 PRO 128MB video card were run with the AGP Aperture set to 128MB with Fast Write enabled. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1024x768x32.

Additions to Performance Tests

We have standardized on ZD Labs Internet Content Creation Winstone 2003 and ZD Labs Business Winstone 2002 for system benchmarking. We are no longer reporting SysMark2002 results as part of our standard benchmark suite.




As much as we appreciate the superb engineering that went into the design of the IBM Think Center S50, the actual performance of the machine was very disappointing. Content Creation benchmarks usually remain similar whether we are testing with on-board graphics or a $400 video card. However, the S50, while running a faster 3.2GHz while other machines ran 3.0, still posted the lowest performance in Content Creation of any Pentium 4 that we have recently tested. It appears that IBM's decision to use DDR320 (DDR333) instead of DDR400 coupled with other design decisions have combined to lower performance significantly. Stability and compatibility matter most on the Corporate desktop, but we doubt most IT departments will be happy to see the IBM Think Center with an expensive 3.2GHz P4 actually performing 10% to 20% slower than other 865 machines that we have tested with a 3.0GHz P4.

We suspect that this could be a significant issue to corporate purchasing and IT groups, since our performance benchmarking only tested Content Creation and General Usage — suites with Word, Excel, Power Point, and Multimedia Content, those applications that are the bread-and-butter of the Corporate PC.

IBM Think Center S50: Noise Level

Corporate clients are normally even more concerned about PC noise levels than even the pickiest home users. To see how the IBM Think Center S50 compared, we ran the noise level tests that we have been using in all recent SFF system reviews.

Sound levels of the IBM Think Center S50 were measured on a desk, with the S50 in the provided holder that mounts the computer on its side. To be consistent with earlier data, Sound Level was measured on all 4 sides, in the center of the side, 4" from the chassis. Our Sound Level meter is capable of measuring as low as 35db, using either A or C weighting with Fast or Slow Dynamic Response. We use A weighting and Fast response because they are most like how we actually experience sound as humans.

The IBM S50 was equipped as provided by IBM, with a 3.2 P4, 512Mb DDR333 memory, CDRW, a floppy drive, on-board Intel Extreme Graphics 2, and 7200RPM Hard Drive. Since the unit was mounted in the side stand, left is the same as the top of the machine and right is equivalent to the bottom of the S50.




The IBM is superbly quiet, trouncing any other machine that we have tested for Sound Level. The decibel scale is logarithmic, which basically means that, unlike a linear scale, small changes in value actually represent large changes in sound level. Theoretically, a 3db increase in value is twice as loud. However, many studies show the human ear does not perceive 3bd as twice as loud, and that 10db may be a better value for the perception of twice as loud. The IBM measured 3.2db to 9.5db quieter than the outstanding, quietest SFF we had previously tested. This makes the IBM anywhere from half as noisy as the very quiet Soltek to 8 times more quiet. It is a remarkable accomplishment that IBM has achieved such incredibly low sound levels in a very small PC.

IBM does not have the same high-speed fan options offered on competing SFF systems we have reviewed. Therefore, high fan-speed settings were not compared.

Final Words

The IBM Think Center S50 is the first of many Corporate desktop computers we plan to test in upcoming months. It is quite clear in our look at the S50 that its reason for being is to lower “Cost-of-Ownership”, and in particular, service costs to the absolute minimum. This is evident in the screwless “user-serviceable” features of virtually every component in the S50. It is then extended with IBM's System Migration Assistant and Rapid Restore Ultra software that can manage moving data and applications from your old system and fixing hard-drive crashes, corruption, and failures. Finally, IBM even designates the S50 a “Workhorse Model”, an option that guarantees no planned hardware or software updates or changes for 12 months. If we evaluate the Think Center S50 on the basis of meeting the design goal of a very low “Cost-of-Ownership”, then the Think Center S50 is a brilliant design and an unqualified success.

Another area where the IBM is without peer is in quiet operation. Our measurements show the Think Center is 2 to 8 times quieter than the “quietest” SFF machines we have tested. The IBM is as close to silent as will likely be found in a small computer. IT departments concerned about computer noise disturbing productivity of other workers will be completely pleased with the ultra-quiet S50.

Then we get to the thorny Performance area. This is not the most important area to most Corporate IT and Purchasing departments, but it is hard to overlook benchmarks that show the IBM S50 as a dismal performer in Content Creation — benchmarks made up of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other common programs used in most every Corporate computing environments. Unfortunately, in those benchmarks, an S50 with a 3.2GHz processor performs some 10% to 20% poorer than other 865 chipset machines with 3.0GHz processors. Frankly, we wish we knew why the Think Center S50 is such a poor performer, but we don't. We tested with 2 DIMMs to make sure we were enabling Dual-Channel mode, and even checked performance against the single Infineon DIMM to make certain we were not overlooking something. No matter what we did, Content Creation performance was lackluster. We even tried Sysmark 2002 on the chance that the Veritest Winstones might be the culprit, but Sysmark just confirmed what we had found. Sysmark 2002 scores were 403 for Internet Content Creation and 156 for Office Productivity — neither are very good results for a 3.2GHz Pentium 4.

Whatever the reasons for the lackluster performance, we would recommend that IBM take a close look at system performance and fix it. The Think Center S50 is just too good not to perform at the top of its class in every area.

For the Corporate Desktop, the IBM Think Center S50 is an ideal machine. It is small, taking up very little space. It is well-equipped and has the options most Corporate clients want. The S50 sets new standards in quiet and can be considered silent. “Cost-of-Ownership” was a serious concern to the S50 design team and it shows. All-in-all, it is hard to fault the S50 in any of these areas. The Performance in standard Corporate software, however, is substandard and IBM needs to correct this quickly. We have no trouble recommending the S50 to Corporate IT Departments and Purchasing groups. It's a great choice — provided that you demand better performance than it now delivers and verify that it delivers those performance improvements in your qualification testing.