Chillblast Fusion Triplex review

We know Chillblast well from its overclocked gaming PCs, but its latest Fusion Triplex offers something different. Aimed at users less interested in questing and headshots than in spreadsheets, databases and increased productivity, it comes bundled with not one, but three widescreen 23in TFTs.

They’re NEC MultiSync EA232WMi TFTs with IPS panels and LED backlights, all mounted on a triple-VESA bracket that lifts up and down and hinges between each display. It’s a high-tech approach that works well, with a desktop that spans a huge 5,760 x 1,080 resolution, all ably handled by AMD’s Eyefinity technology.

We’ve reviewed the NEC monitor in detail on this site, but to summarise here, it’s a solid panel but not outstanding. Colours are generally accurate and contrast is high, although we noted variation across the three: while two measured at a ratio of 900:1, the third was just 666:1 thanks to lighter black levels. It’s not an ideal choice for accurate colour work, then, but as a way to expand your desktop it’s a setup we found tough to switch back from after our testing.

The necessary processing power to make this freedom worthwhile comes from Intel’s 3.4GHz Core i7-2600. Our benchmark results tell an interesting story. With 8GB of RAM, this PC scored 1.06 overall, and that 6% leap over our reference PC – which uses the same CPU but 4GB of RAM – shows just how much difference RAM makes to the latest intensive applications. That’s aided by the combination of a 120GB Intel X25-M SSD (with Windows 7 Professional installed) alongside a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 hard disk.

Graphical power is provided by the Radeon HD 6850, several steps below AMD’s top end. On a single screen at 1,920 x 1,080, we managed to push the quality in Crysis to Very High with 4x anti-aliasing. Stretching that over the full 5,760 x 1,080 resolution proved trickier; we finally got a playable 40fps average after lowering the settings to Medium with no anti-aliasing. It’s not enough power for hardcore gaming, but it provides a definite treat after a day of wading through data.