BIOS
A look at the BIOS can often highlight just how a manufacturer views its product. Aggressive settings and high levels of voltage manipulation are usually indicative of enthusiast-orientated kit, and conservative, understated BIOSes often reflect many an OEM system's.
The only adjustable core voltage is reserved for DDR, which goes up to 2.8v. DRAM speeds can be set to either DDR200 (asynchronous) or DDR266, and the timings are pretty tweakable. This Tranquil PC was supplied with 256MB of A-DATA PC2100 memory. The pre-set BIOS is reasonably good for what is budget memory.
The spatial confines imposed by the Tranquil case dictate that no more than two devices can be comfortably attached at any one time. Interestingly, the 8x slimline DVD-ROM is given Master status, whilst the 80GB Seagate is left on Slave. We don't expect either device to saturate the 133MB/s VIA ATA controller on the VT8235 South Bridge.
A separate subscreen allows one to toggle the various display options. Multi-display support will undoubtedly be one of the selling points of this quiet box of tricks. Display devices range from CRT, LCD, and TV (and CRT+TV and CRT + LCD). The on-board VT1622M digital encoder can export streams of up to 1024x768, making it perfect for most of today's TVs.
The on-board video is integrated into the CLE266 North Bridge, so there seems to be little point in specifying an additional PCI-based video card. The on-board video's limited 3D potential all but rules out the very basic of modern gaming.
For once, the 0RPM fan speed is purely by design rather than accident. The simple truth is that fans have been banned from the Tranquil PC, a move that's bound to please many lovers of silence. The reported CPU temperature gave us a little cause for concern. BIOS load caused it to hover between 56c - 63c. Let's remember that this is a purely passive solution and, as such, the CPU's temperature is highly sensitive to the ambient temperature. As we're right in the middle of the hottest period for over 10 years, and with due attention to the 30c ambient temperature, we can surmise that the passive cooling is working reasonably well. The right-hand side of the case, which also doubles as an extended heatsink, was a little warm to the touch.
