Scan likes its PCs big and powerful, and the 3XS Velocity X79 SLI Extreme is no different, thanks to an overclocked Sandy Bridge E Series processor and stylish Corsair Obsidian 650D chassis. The biggest draw of all, however, is the pair of hulking graphics cards visible through the side window.
They’re Nvidia GeForce GTX 580s from EVGA, and each comes with a fearsome specification: a core overclocked from 772MHz to 797MHz, 512 stream processors running at 1,594MHz instead of 1,544MHz, and 1,536MB of GDDR5 RAM clocked up to a formidable 4,050MHz.
The two cards in tandem provided some of the best gaming results we’ve yet seen from a PC. The Scan averaged 86fps in our 1,920 x 1,080 Very High quality test, 66fps when we upped the resolution to 2,560 x 1,600, and still 56fps when we added 4x anti-aliasing. That’s much quicker than the only other X79-powered PC we’ve seen, Chillblast’s Fusion Photo OC IV, which included a mere GTX 560 Ti.
The processor’s no slouch, either. Scan hasn’t gone for the top-end Extreme Edition i7-3960X, but a 3.2GHz Core i7-3930K boosted to run at 4.7GHz is still a monster. Its benchmark result of 1.34 is a little behind the 1.39 of the Photo OC IV, but it’s stunningly fast nonetheless.
As well as that raw power, the rare inclusion of a discrete sound card – in this case a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium – will please audio buffs, and the Scan also has 16GB of DDR3 memory, a 120GB Corsair Force GT SSD and a 1TB hard disk. The Blu-ray drive reads but also writes to discs.
The Corsair Obsidian 650D is a tall, striking and well-built enclosure. The painted interior and motherboard tray lend themselves to an attractive, tidy machine, and the top of the enclosure houses a SATA dock. There are two USB 3 ports on the front, and four more, alongside USB 2 and a pair of eSATA ports, on the rear.
Warranty | |
---|---|
Warranty | 2 yr return to base 1st year on-site, 2nd year RTB |
Basic specifications | |
Total hard disk capacity | 1,120GB |
RAM capacity | 16.00GB |
Processor | |
CPU family | Intel Core i7 |
CPU nominal frequency | 3.20GHz |
CPU overclocked frequency | 4.70GHz |
Processor socket | LGA 2011 |
HSF (heatsink-fan) | Corsair H100 |
Motherboard | |
Motherboard | Asus P9X79 Pro |
Motherboard chipset | Intel X79 |
Conventional PCI slots free | 0 |
Conventional PCI slots total | 2 |
PCI-E x16 slots free | 1 |
PCI-E x16 slots total | 3 |
PCI-E x8 slots free | 0 |
PCI-E x8 slots total | 0 |
PCI-E x4 slots free | 0 |
PCI-E x4 slots total | 0 |
PCI-E x1 slots free | 1 |
PCI-E x1 slots total | 2 |
Internal SATA connectors | 6 |
Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec |
Memory | |
Memory type | DDR3 |
Memory sockets free | 4 |
Memory sockets total | 8 |
Graphics card | |
Graphics card | Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 |
Multiple SLI/CrossFire cards? | yes |
3D performance setting | Medium |
Graphics chipset | Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 |
Graphics card RAM | 1.50GB |
DVI-I outputs | 4 |
HDMI outputs | 2 |
VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 0 |
DisplayPort outputs | 2 |
Number of graphics cards | 2 |
Hard disk | |
Hard disk | Corsair Force GT |
Capacity | 120GB |
Hard disk usable capacity | 111GB |
Internal disk interface | SATA/600 |
Hard disk 2 make and model | Western Digital Caviar Black |
Hard disk 2 nominal capacity | 1,000GB |
Hard disk 2 formatted capacity | 931 |
Hard disk 2 spindle speed | 7,200RPM |
Hard disk 2 cache size | 64MB |
Drives | |
Optical disc technology | Blu-ray writer |
Additional Peripherals | |
Sound card | Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium |
Case | |
Chassis | Corsair Obsidian 650D |
Case format | Full tower |
Dimensions | 229 x 546 x 521mm (WDH) |
Free drive bays | |
Free front panel 5.25in bays | 3 |
Rear ports | |
USB ports (downstream) | 6 |
eSATA ports | 2 |
PS/2 mouse port | yes |
Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 |
Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 1 |
Modem | no |
3.5mm audio jacks | 8 |
Front ports | |
Front panel USB ports | 2 |
Front panel memory card reader | no |
Operating system and software | |
OS family | Windows 7 |
Noise and power | |
Idle power consumption | 231W |
Peak power consumption | 843W |
Performance tests | |
3D performance (crysis) low settings | 131fps |
3D performance setting | Medium |
Overall Real World Benchmark score | 1.34 |
Responsiveness score | 0.98 |
Media score | 1.50 |
Multitasking score | 1.53 |
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