Eclipse Armageddon X58-i795N275 review

Mike Jennings Read more October 7, 2009

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The first Eclipse system we’ve seen this year may not have a catchy name – the Armageddon X58-i795N275 – but that string of numbers holds clues to the powerful components that make up its specification.

The “i795”, for instance, is indicative of the processor – the first Intel Core i7 950 we’ve seen since its release at the beginning of June. With a clock speed of 3.06GHz it’s quite a bit faster than the 2.66GHz Core i7 920 that most PCs have opted for recently, and it helped the Eclipse to an overall benchmark score of 2.24. That’s virtually the same speed as the Chillblast Fusion Spitfire and approaching the best-ever 2.58 scored by the Wired2Fire Hellspawn – and it’s eye-opening that both of those systems came pre-overclocked.

The “275” graphics card is a breath of fresh air, too. Recent months have been dominated by ATI’s Radeon HD 4000-series chips, but Eclipse has chosen to equip this rig with an Nvidia GTX 275. It’s a card that proved impressive when released in April, running at similar speeds to ATI’s Radeon HD 4890.

The Eclipse managed 51fps in our 1,600 x 1,200 Crysis benchmark at high settings and, more impressively, 30fps in the hugely demanding, very high quality test at the same resolution. While the maximum settings were too much at the monitor’s native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, the machine ran at a brisk 46fps when we notched Crysis down to its high-quality level.

The rest of the specification is just as capable. A 1TB hard disk promises to accommodate the largest of media collections, and the presence of two optical drives – a Blu-ray reader and DVD writer – is a thoughtful touch, and 6GB of triple-channel DDR3 RAM complete a fine core package.

The Elite 335 case is another new part to us, combining Cooler Master’s familiar mesh facade with a neat band of glossy black across the centre, which houses a well-appointed card reader. There are plenty of ports and sockets on the rear of the machine, too, with the Asus P6T motherboard boasting six more USB sockets, eSATA, FireWire, a pair of PS/2 ports, S/PDIF and Gigabit Ethernet.

The wealth of options continues inside, with plenty of room for upgrades. Two empty PCI Express x16 sockets lie fallow – although only one has the requisite 16 PCI lanes for an additional graphics card, with the other having only four – and three spare DIMM sockets are also available. There are two PCI sockets free and, while there is an empty PCI Express x1 slot it’s hidden behind the bulky GPU.

Four empty hard disk bays are ripe for extra storage, and two vacant 5.25in sockets are also available – although, with two optical drives already in place, potential upgrades are limited. Every socket and bay is equipped with tool-free access, which is a neat touch, and the plethora of cables are tied together and bunched aside, so it’s easy to access components.

Despite its Intel stock cooler and beefy GPU the Eclipse isn’t much louder than other high-end PCs, and while we were worried about the lack of airflow through the chassis (due to the absence of a fan on the front of the case) we found that the GPU’s temperature never rose above 86?C during intensive testing, with the CPU staying cooler still.

Eclipse’s choice of monitor, though, is a blip on the radar. The BenQ G2410HD monitor comes with a 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution and, while it’s technically ideal for Blu-ray movies, quality is lacking. We found that backlight bleed was present on both the top and bottom of the screen, white areas were grainy and colours were dull and lifeless in comparison to the best models from Samsung.

But elsewhere the Eclipse excels, returning a superb 2D benchmark result and gaming performance that matches up to the best on our A List – and in a rig that reaps the benefits from several brave design choices, too. It only loses out because of its weaker peripherals and higher price but, nevertheless, it’s still a tempting system that earns our recommendation.