How we test
| System name | Wired2Fire Hellspawn | Scan 3XS GTK SLI | HEXUS high-end enthusiast system (Q4 2010) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.8GHz | Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.7GHz | Intel Core i7 980X @ 3.33GHz |
| Cooler | Titan Fenrir | Akasa Venom | 980X reference cooler |
| Motherboard | ASUS P8P67 | ASUS P8P67 PRO | ASUS P6X58D Premium |
| Memory | Corsair XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 | Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 | Corsair DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 |
| Memory timings and speed | 9-9-9-24-2T
@ 1,600MHz |
9-9-9-24-2T
@ 1,600MHz |
8-8-8-20-1T @ 1,600MHz |
| Graphics card(s) | Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2GB | 2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 |
| Disk drive(s) | 1TB Samsung F3 | OCZ Vertex 2E 60GB 1TB Samsung F3 |
Corsair
Force F80 SSD 1TB Seagate 7200.12 |
| Optical drive(s) | LG CL10LS20 Blu-ray drive | Pioneer DVR-S19L DVD ReWriter | Pioneer BDR-205BK Blu-ray writer |
| Chassis and PSU | Xigmatek Asgard and Corsair 600W | Lancool PC-K58 and XFX 650W | Corsair Obsidian 700D and Corsair HX 1,000W |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit |
| Warranty | Two years (hardware), return to base/ labour | Two years (hardware), return to base, parts and labour | None |
| Notable extras | Monitor, input devices | Overclocked CPU, twin GeForce GTX 560s | None |
| Base unit price, including VAT | £969, including VAT | £1,249, including VAT | £1,850
including VAT (no
warranty) |
Benchmarks |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench | A cross-platform benchmark used to measure memory and processor performance. Run using high-performance mode. | |||||||||||
| CINEBENCH R11 | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. Run using high-performance mode. | |||||||||||
| x264 HD encoding | The multi-threaded test's second-pass frames per second are noted. High-performance CPUs do well here. | |||||||||||
| Aliens vs. Predator |
1,920x1,080 resolution, 2xAA, 16xAF, very high quality | |||||||||||
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | 1,920x1,080 resolution, 4xAA, 16x AF very high quality | |||||||||||
| Just Cause 2 | 1,920x1,080 resolution, 4xAA, 16x AF, very high quality | |||||||||||
| 3DMark Vantage | Run at the 'high' preset | |||||||||||
| Temperature | Noted for CPU idling, under Prime95 all-core load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator | |||||||||||
| Power consumption | Noted for system idling, under Prime95 all-core load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator | |||||||||||
| Noise | A
PCE-318 noise level meter is placed at the front of the chassis. Noted for system idling, under Prime95 all-core load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator |
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Notes
We've got two meatier systems for the Hellspawn to measure itself against. Using a similar CPU but supplied with two pre-overclocked GTX 560 GPUs is the Scan system, reviewed here. Chucking in a near-£2,000 system from last year shows just how well the Wired2Fire stacks up against a genuinely high-end base unit.
Bear in mind that both comparison machines ship without a monitor or input devices.