Wired2Fire Hellspawn Predator review

£1175
Price when reviewed

If we hadn’t already written about it, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the Hellspawn Predator was filled with cutting-edge hardware. Wired2Fire has employed Corsair’s new Carbide Series 300R chassis, and after some of the king-size desktop PCs we’ve seen in recent months, it’s a refreshingly compact and rather understated affair.

Inside, the build is immaculate. Every cable is neatly routed out of sight behind the motherboard and, despite the Corsair’s relatively compact dimensions, generous venting around the chassis provides plenty of airflow. Those looking to upgrade to a dual graphics card setup will welcome the opportunity to attach a further two 120mm or 140mm fans to the side panel or add another two to the roof above.

Wired2Fire Hellspawn Predator

Elsewhere, there’s little lacking. A Blu-ray reader leaves two 5.25in drive bays empty below, and inside there’s enough room for another two side-mounted hard drives beneath the SSD and HDD combo, each clipping in and out easily.

Almost completely concealed by the huge Be Quiet cooler is Asus’ P8Z77-V Pro motherboard, and there’s no shortage of connectivity, with four USB 3 ports and two USB 2 ports at the rear, and a further two front-facing USB 3 ports courtesy of the Corsair’s front panel. Meanwhile, the spare PCI Express 16x slot provides a future upgrade path to CrossFire for those craving more graphical grunt.

Those expecting Ivy Bridge to deliver an almighty performance increase may come away disappointed, but Wired2Fire’s Hellspawn Predator still has plenty going for it. Despite a hefty overclock and serious reserves of power, the new 22nm processor has allowed Wired2Fire to create a compact, powerful system that’s both power-efficient and cool-running. If you’re looking for a high-powered base unit that doesn’t draw undue attention to itself, the Hellspawn Predator is one PC that should definitely make your shortlist.

Warranty

Warranty1 yr return to base

Basic specifications

Total hard disk capacity2,120GB
RAM capacity8.00GB

Processor

CPU familyIntel Core i5
CPU nominal frequency3.40GHz
CPU overclocked frequency4.80GHz
Processor socketLGA 1155
HSF (heatsink-fan)Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro

Motherboard

MotherboardAsus P8Z77-V Pro
Motherboard chipsetIntel Z77
Conventional PCI slots free2
Conventional PCI slots total2
PCI-E x16 slots free2
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 connectors4
Wired adapter speed1,000Mbits/sec

Memory

Memory typeDDR3
Memory sockets free2
Memory sockets total4

Graphics card

Graphics cardSapphire Radeon HD 7950
Multiple SLI/CrossFire cards?no
3D performance settingMedium
Graphics chipsetAMD Radeon HD 7950
Graphics card RAM2.93GB
DVI-I outputs2
HDMI outputs1
VGA (D-SUB) outputs0
DisplayPort outputs1
Number of graphics cards1

Hard disk

Hard diskCorsair Force 3 SSD
Capacity120GB
Hard disk usable capacity111GB
Internal disk interfaceSATA/600
Hard disk 2 make and modelSamsung Spinpoint F3
Hard disk 2 nominal capacity2,000GB
Hard disk 2 formatted capacity1,800
Hard disk 2 spindle speed7,200RPM
Hard disk 2 cache size64MB

Drives

Optical disc technologyBlu-ray reader

Additional Peripherals

Sound cardRealtek HD Audio

Case

ChassisCorsair Carbide 300R
Case formatFull tower
Dimensions210 x 490 x 450mm (WDH)

Power supply

Power supplyCorsair CX600
Power supply rating600W

Free drive bays

Free front panel 5.25in bays2

Rear ports

USB ports (downstream)2
PS/2 mouse portno
3.5mm audio jacks6

Front ports

Front panel USB ports2

Operating system and software

OS familyWindows 7

Noise and power

Idle power consumption70W
Peak power consumption332W

Performance tests

3D performance (crysis) low settings63fps
3D performance settingMedium
Overall Real World Benchmark score1.15
Responsiveness score1.03
Media score1.25
Multitasking score1.16

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