Review: Scan 3XS X99 Nanu Carbon

by Parm Mann on 5 June 2015, 14:15

Tags: SCAN, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Samsung (005935.KS)

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Benchmarks: Gaming

The Intel CPU or Samsung SSD could have been the star of the show, but that accolade probably has to go to EVGA's GeForce GTX 980 Ti SuperClocked ACX. It's a performance beast and Scan's overclock only adds to its appeal - 16,690 3DMarks from a PC of this size is frankly frightening.

1080p Gaming Performance (Average FPS)

Game Quality Settings
Scan 3XS Nanu Carbon
(Asus GeForce GTX 970 Strix)
(MSI GeForce GTX 960)
(Zotac GeForce GTX 980)
(EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SC ACX)
(EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti SC ACX)
(EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX)
(MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming)
BioShock Infinite Medium
204.3
140.1
230.2
230.3
269.4
209.5
135.2
High
180.0
120.4
206.9
208.5
244.5
183.6
115.1
Max
113.1
74.7
125.5
126.4
156.0
114.6
72.0
Total War: Rome II Medium
253.6
174.1
281.0
271.7
310.8
254.9
161.8
Very High
135.2
90.9
148.2
137.9
171.4
135.8
86.7
Extreme
71.1
46.2
78.2
73.7
98.4
71.9
46.2

Looking at 1080p gaming performance brings up an interesting point: the Nanu Carbon is wasted if you're still playing at a ye-olde 1,920x1,080 resolution. Anyone considering a PC of this ilk should seriously be considering a high-resolution monitor to go with it, and preferably a high-DPI mouse, too.

4K Gaming Performance (Average FPS)

Game Image Preset
Scan 3XS Nanu Carbon
(Zotac GeForce GTX 980)
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti SC ACX)
(EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti SC ACX)
(EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC ACX)
BioShock Infinite Medium Quality
71.8
78.6
105.3
59.4
High Quality
62.4
71.2
93.0
52.7
Max Quality
42.4
43.1
60.8
37.1
Total War: Rome II Medium Quality
97.5
94.6
138.3
89.5
Very High Quality
51.0
47.7
75.1
45.9
Extreme Quality
24.5
23.4
38.7
21.8

4K appears to be the gold standard these days, and out of all single-GPU PCs we've tested over the years, Scan's 3XS Nanu Carbon is best equipped at dealing with the demands of a lush 3,840x2,160 resolution. If you're putting the Nanu Carbon on your wish list, don't forget to add a 4K G-Sync monitor as well.