System setup and notes
| System name | Midland Premier Corbra mkIII | HEXUS high-end enthusiast system |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz | Intel Core i7 920 @ 3.7GHz |
| Cooler | Corsair Hydro H50 | Thermalright TRUE |
| Motherboard | Gigagbyte EX58-UD5 LGA1,366 | Gigagbyte EX58-UD3R LGA1,366 |
| Memory | OCZ 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 | Corsair DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 |
| Memory timings and speed | 8-8-8-20-1T
@ 1,540MHz |
8-8-8-24-2T @ 1,560MHz |
| Graphics card(s) | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 295 (stock) | Inno3D GeForce GTX 295 (HEXUS overclock - (638/1,367/2,218) |
| Graphics driver | ForceWare 185.85 | ForceWare 185.85 |
| Disk drive(s) | 60GB
OCZ Vertex SSD 1TB Samsung F1 |
60GB
OCZ Vertex SSD 1TB Seagate 7200.12 |
| Optical drive(s) | LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD writer | LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD writer |
| Chassis and PSU | Cooler Master Cosmos S and Corsair HX 1,000W | Cooler Master ATCS 840 and Corsair HX 1,000W |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, SP2 | Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, SP2 |
| Warranty | One year (hardware), return to base, parts and labour | None |
| Notable extras | Overclocked CPU | None |
| Base unit price, including VAT | £1,995, including VAT | £1,692,
including VAT (no
warranty) |
| Benchmarks | PCMark Vantage b1.0.0
(inc. Nov. '08 hotfix) HEXUS.PiFast calculation to 10M places CINEBENCH R10 multi-CPU render 3DMark Vantage b1.0.1 (Extreme settings) Enemy Territory: Quake Wars - 2,560x1,600 4xAA 16xAF Far Cry 2 b1.03 - 2,560x1,600 4xAA 16xAF Power-draw, heat, and noise tests |
|---|
Notes
We're using a cut-down suite that includes two industry-standard benchmarking titles from Futuremark that provide results based on practically every facet of computing performance - from hard-drive to memory.HEXUS.PiFast tests single-core performance and CINEBENCH stresses as many cores as are available.
Appreciating the high-end origins of the machine, gaming has been tested at 2,560x1,600 with 4xAA and 16xAF. Lastly, power-draw and temperature observations have been made.
The machine was left on 3DMark06 and Prime95 torture test over a weekend - some 59 hours - without issue. Midland Premier conducts a 12-hour burn-in test on every machine and a 25-point check before dispatch.
We've tested the performance under Micosoft Windows Vista SP2 and, appreciating that W7 will be a free upgrade at the time of release, with Windows 7 RTM for the Midland machine.
As a comparison, we've knocked up a HEXUS 'enthusiast' system with similar parts. However, we've chosen to overclock the Inno3D GeForce GTX 295 single-PCB to a safe, stable speed - Midland Premier does not overclock its card.
On to the numbers now.