Scan 3XS Velocity X79 SLI Extreme review

£2687
Price when reviewed

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.

Scan 3XS Velocity X79 SLI Extreme

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

Warranty2 yr return to base 1st year on-site, 2nd year RTB

Basic specifications

Total hard disk capacity1,120GB
RAM capacity16.00GB

Processor

CPU familyIntel Core i7
CPU nominal frequency3.20GHz
CPU overclocked frequency4.70GHz
Processor socketLGA 2011
HSF (heatsink-fan)Corsair H100

Motherboard

MotherboardAsus P9X79 Pro
Motherboard chipsetIntel X79
Conventional PCI slots free0
Conventional PCI slots total2
PCI-E x16 slots free1
PCI-E x16 slots total3
PCI-E x8 slots free0
PCI-E x8 slots total0
PCI-E x4 slots free0
PCI-E x4 slots total0
PCI-E x1 slots free1
PCI-E x1 slots total2
Internal SATA connectors6
Wired adapter speed1,000Mbits/sec

Memory

Memory typeDDR3
Memory sockets free4
Memory sockets total8

Graphics card

Graphics cardNvidia GeForce GTX 580
Multiple SLI/CrossFire cards?yes
3D performance settingMedium
Graphics chipsetNvidia GeForce GTX 580
Graphics card RAM1.50GB
DVI-I outputs4
HDMI outputs2
VGA (D-SUB) outputs0
DisplayPort outputs2
Number of graphics cards2

Hard disk

Hard diskCorsair Force GT
Capacity120GB
Hard disk usable capacity111GB
Internal disk interfaceSATA/600
Hard disk 2 make and modelWestern Digital Caviar Black
Hard disk 2 nominal capacity1,000GB
Hard disk 2 formatted capacity931
Hard disk 2 spindle speed7,200RPM
Hard disk 2 cache size64MB

Drives

Optical disc technologyBlu-ray writer

Additional Peripherals

Sound cardCreative Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium

Case

ChassisCorsair Obsidian 650D
Case formatFull tower
Dimensions229 x 546 x 521mm (WDH)

Free drive bays

Free front panel 5.25in bays3

Rear ports

USB ports (downstream)6
eSATA ports2
PS/2 mouse portyes
Electrical S/PDIF audio ports0
Optical S/PDIF audio output ports1
Modemno
3.5mm audio jacks8

Front ports

Front panel USB ports2
Front panel memory card readerno

Operating system and software

OS familyWindows 7

Noise and power

Idle power consumption231W
Peak power consumption843W

Performance tests

3D performance (crysis) low settings131fps
3D performance settingMedium
Overall Real World Benchmark score1.34
Responsiveness score0.98
Media score1.50
Multitasking score1.53

Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way.

Todays Highlights
How to See Google Search History
how to download photos from google photos