Review: PC Specialist Vulcan 440

by Parm Mann on 13 May 2015, 16:00

Tags: PC Specialist

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacrec

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Test Methodology

Comparison Systems
System Name Chillblast Fusion Silencio Cyberpower Infinity Hercules Pro PC Specialist Vulcan 440 Scan 3XS X99 Micro Scan 3XS Z97 Performance Q10 Vibox Defcon 2
Overclocked Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
CPU Intel Core i5-4690K @ 4.3GHz Intel Core i5-4690K @ 4.3GHz Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.6GHz Intel Core i7-5820K @ 4.25GHz Intel Core i5-4690K @ 4.6GHz Intel Core i5-4590 @ up to 3.7GHz
CPU Cores / Threads 4 / 4 4 / 4 4 / 8 6 / 12 4 / 4 4 / 4
CPU TDP 88W 88W 88W 140W 88W 84W
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 Corsair Hydro Series H55 Corsair Hydro Series H100i Corsair Hydro Series H100i Thermalright True Spirit 140 Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Motherboard Asus Z97-K Asus Z97-P Asus Maximus VII Ranger EVGA X99 Micro Asus Z97-K MSI Z97 PC Mate
Memory Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) Kingston Hyper-X Fury 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) Kingston Hyper-X Fury 16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB DDR3 (2x4GB) Team Elite 8GB DDR3 (1x8GB)
Memory Speed 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1,600MHz 10-11-10-30-1T @ 1,866MHz 10-10-10-30-1T @ 1,600MHz 15-17-17-35-2T @ 2,666MHz 11-11-11-27-2T @ 2,133MHz 11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz
Integrated Graphics - - - - - -
Discrete Graphics Asus GeForce GTX 970 Strix 4GB MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Zotac GeForce GTX 980 4GB EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Superclocked ACX 3GB EVGA GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked ACX 4GB MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2GB
Sound Card Onboard audio Onboard audio Onboard SupremeFX audio Onboard audio Onboard audio Onboard audio
Primary Storage 250GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD 120GB Kingston SSDNow V300 SSD 500GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD 500GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD 500GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
Secondary Storage - 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD 2TB WD Caviar Black HDD 2TB WD Green HDD - -
Optical Drive - - - EVGA slot-loading DVD Writer Samsung DVD Writer Samsung DVD Writer
PSU Cooler Master V550 (550W, internal) Corsair VS450 (450W, internal) Corsair RM850 (850W, internal) Corsair RM550 (550W, internal) Corsair RM550 (550W, internal) FSP FSP500-60HHN (500W, internal)
Chassis Cooler Master Silencio 652S NZXT Source 340 NZXT H440 Fractal Design Node 804 Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Corsair Carbide Series Spec-01
Operating System Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) Windows 8.1 (64-bit, added) Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
Standard Warranty Five years (two-year collect-and-return including parts, five-year labour) Three years (one-month collect-and-return, two-year parts, three-year labour) Three years (one-month collect-and-return, one-year parts, three-year labour) Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only) Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only) One year (three-month collect-and-return, one-year parts and labour)
Date Reviewed April 2015 February 2015 May 2015 August 2014 October 2014 March 2015
Cost When Reviewed £949 £800 £1,499 £1,899 £1,249 £630

CPU Benchmarks
HEXUS PiFast Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU.
Cinebench Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible.
HandBrake Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores.

Memory and Storage Benchmarks
AIDA64 Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency.
CrystalDiskMark Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds.

System and Gaming Benchmarks
PCMark 8 System-wide examination that uses the Home preset, run with OpenCL acceleration.
3DMark DX11, run at the Firestrike default test.
BioShock Infinite 1080p and 4K, various quality settings.
Total War: Rome II 1080p and 4K, various quality settings.

Miscellaneous Benchmarks
Power Consumption Noted for system idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator.
Temperature Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator.

Notes

Going by price alone, the Vulcan 440 should have the beating of most of our comparison systems. The big question-mark, however, is whether or not the premium is warranted. Top-of-the-range parts are often characterised by diminishing returns, and it'll be interesting to see how PC Specialist's £1,499 Vulcan 440 compares to Chillblast's £949 Fusion Silencio. Is the step up to Core i7 and GeForce GTX 980 going to enough to justify that cost? Let's find out.


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