BIOS

The DS437T comes with a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) BIOS named Aptio Setup Utility. Although it is a UEFI BIOS, it is restricted to the old interface, so there is no mouse input support. Its available options are also pretty limited and don't include any overclocking options, but that is to be expected in a barebone.


There aren't any overclocking options since they would endanger this passively cooled system's stability.


The BIOS's boot options.


The provided security options.

Performance

We installed a fast SSD and two Kingston KTH-X3CS/4G DDR3 1600MHz 4GB SO-DIMM modules.

PC Mark 07

Although we used the same components (SSD and memory) as with the DS47, the DS437T's stronger CPU allowed it to achieve a significantly higher score in PCMark. It surely won't set new records, especially in 3D gaming, but will do just fine with office applications or multimedia content reproduction.

3D Mark 06

The Intel HD 2500 offers decent performance for an integrated VGA. As we already mentioned, it will reproduce multimedia content adequately, but you had better look look elsewhere if you want decent 3D gaming performance.

Power Consumption

CPU Utilization

Temperatures

Although it is passively cooled, both CPU and IGP temperatures stayed within safe parameters during our tough testing procedures. This clearly shows how effective the DS437T's cooling system is, although it doesn't employ any moving parts. The lack of cooling fan(s) not only eliminates noise, but increases reliability as even the best fan can fail if it is operating around the clock.