Benchmarks: System and Gaming
All-round system performance is understandably strong, and with an MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3G Gaming graphics card in tow, gaming potential is significant. The standard 1080p Aliens vs. Predator benchmark is no test for a system of this ilk.
1080p Gaming Performance (Full-HD, Average FPS) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Image Preset | Mesh Nightblade 3 HEX |
Scan 3XS Z97 Vengeance 780 |
||
(MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti Gaming) |
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SC ACX) |
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 SC ACX) |
(Palit GeForce GTX 660) |
||
| BioShock Infinite | Medium Quality | 230.6 |
236.7 |
214.9 |
98.8 |
| High Quality | 209.4 |
214.6 |
191.9 |
89.5 |
|
| Max Quality | 125.5 |
127.6 |
112.2 |
54.4 |
|
| GRID 2 | Medium Quality | 204.9 |
164.2 |
210.8 |
115.7 |
| High Quality | 190.7 |
156.5 |
192.0 |
103.5 |
|
| Ultra Quality | 137.2 |
110.5 |
120.9 |
57.5 |
|
| Total War: Rome II | Medium Quality | 260.4 |
256.5 |
232.0 |
124.2 |
| Very High Quality | 134.1 |
134.0 |
118.9 |
56.1 |
|
| Extreme Quality | 72.6 |
74.7 |
63.2 |
25.3 |
|
Further examining 1080p performance, we've run a trio of games at varying degrees of image quality. The message is clear: if you're a full-HD gamer, the Nightblade will let you crank everything up to max in most of today's games.
2160P Gaming Performance (4K, Average FPS) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Image Preset | Mesh Nightblade 3 HEX |
Scan 3XS Z97 Vengeance 780 |
(MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti Gaming) |
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 SC ACX) |
||
| BioShock Infinite | Medium Quality | 74.8 |
65.4 |
| High Quality | 68.3 |
59.9 |
|
| Max Quality | 42.2 |
36.8 |
|
| GRID 2 | Medium Quality | 130.6 |
119.9 |
| High Quality | 111.2 |
99.1 |
|
| Ultra Quality | 55.9 |
49.0 |
|
| Total War: Rome II | Medium Quality | 93.3 |
81.7 |
| Very High Quality | 47.7 |
40.7 |
|
| Extreme Quality | 23.4 |
19.8 |
|
But really, you'd be missing out by limiting the Nightblade 3 HEX to a paltry 1,920x1,080 resolution. To stress the machine's full capabilities, we've also been able to attach it to a lovely-looking Philips Brilliance 288P6LJEB/00 4K monitor to see how it fares at a demanding 3,840x2,160.
This is about as demanding as modern-day gaming gets, yet the compact machine still does a terrific job and returns smooth framerates at high-quality settings. Take our word for it, games look and play fantastic at this res.