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Review: PC Specialist PowerGlide Extreme

by Parm Mann on 22 June 2012, 12:57 3.5

Tags: PC Specialist

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Test methodology

Comparison Systems - Part One

System name Chillblast Fusion Whisper Mini CyberPower Infinity Xtreme XT Dell Alienware Aurora R4 Dino PC Raptor X79 OC
Processor Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.2GHz Intel Core i7-3820 @ 4.56GHz Intel Core i7-3930K @ 4.1GHz Intel Core i7-3820 @ 4.4GHz
Cooler GELID Tranquillo Asetek 510LC Alienware Liquid Cooling Xigmatek Prime SD1484
Motherboard ASUS P8Z68-M PRO Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 Alienware mATX X79 ASUS Sabertooth X79
Memory Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 Hynix 16GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3
Memory speed 9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1,600MHz 11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz 9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz
Graphics card(s) Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Ti Phantom 1GB PowerColor Radeon HD 7950 3GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB VTX3D Radeon HD 7950 2GB
Sound card Onboard high-definition audio Onboard high-definition audio Onboard high-definition audio Onboard high-definition audio
Primary storage 1TB Samsung HD103SJ HDD 64GB Kingston V+200 SSD 256GB Samsung PM810 SSD 60GB Corsair Force Series 3 SSD
Secondary storage - 1TB Samsung HD103SJ HDD 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD 1TB Hitachi Deskstar HDD
Optical drive Samsung Blu-ray drive Lite-On IHES112-115 Blu-ray drive PLDS DH-24ABS DVD-RW Samsung SH-222B DVD-RW
PSU BeQuiet Straight Power CM (680W) CyberPower PSU (950W) Alienware PSU (875W) Xigmatek NRP-PC702 (700W)
Chassis Fractal Design Define Mini CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer Alienware Aurora ALX Zalman Z11 Plus
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Standard Warranty Two years collect-and-return Three years limited (three-year labour, one-year parts, one-month collect and return) One year next day in-home service Three years (three-year labour, one-year parts, 30-day collect and return)

Comparison Systems - Part Two

System name PC Specialist PowerGlide Extreme PC Specialist Vanquish XT-680 Scan 3XS Performance GTX Scan 3XS Z77 Performance GTX
Processor Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.6GHz Intel Core i5-2500K @ 4.7GHz Intel Core i5-3570K @ 4.6GHz
Cooler AIO Integrated CoolIT ECO II ALC Fat Boy Cogage Arrow Thermalright HR-02 Macho
Motherboard Gigabyte MSH61QI ASUS P8Z77-V Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
Memory Samsung SODIMM 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR3 Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3
Memory speed 11-11-11-28-1T @ 1,600MHz 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1,600MHz 9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz 9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz
Graphics card(s) Palit GeForce GTX 670 2GB Palit GeForce GTX 680 2GB EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB
Sound card Onboard high-definition audio Onboard high-definition audio Onboard high-definition audio ASUS Xonar DG
Primary storage 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB Kingston HyperX SSD 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD 120GB Corsair Force Series 3
Secondary storage 1TB Western Digital Scorpio Blue HDD 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD - 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
Optical drive Sony BC-5550H Blu-ray Drive / DVD-RW LiteOn Blu-ray Drive / DVD-RW Pioneer DVD-RW Pioneer DVD-RW
PSU 3 x External 180W Corsair TX850 (850W) Corsair Gaming Series GS600 (600W) Corsair Gaming Series GS600 (600W)
Chassis Custom All-In-One Cooler Master CM Storm Trooper Corsair Carbide Series 300R Corsair Carbide Series 300R
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Standard Warranty Three years (one-month collect-and-return, one-year parts, three-year labour) Three years (one-month collect-and-return, one-year parts, three-year labour) Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only) Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only)

Benchmarks

Geekbench A cross-platform benchmark used to measure memory and processor performance.
Cinebench Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible.
PCMark 7 PCMark 7 combines various single- and multi-threaded CPU, Graphics and HDD tests to score overall system performance.
Aliens vs. Predator 1,920x1,080 resolution, 2xAA, 16xAF, very high quality.
Just Cause 2 1,920x1,080 resolution, 4xAA, 16x AF, very high quality.
3DMark 7 Run at the 'extreme' preset.
Temperature Noted for CPU idling, under Prime95 all-core load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator.
Power consumption Noted for system idling, under Prime95 all-core load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator.
Noise A PCE-318 noise level meter is placed at the front of the chassis. Noted for system idling, under Prime95 all-core load, and for GPU playing Aliens vs. Predator.