Testing methodology
Comparison Systems |
| System Name |
Chillblast Fusion Stealth |
Scan 3XS Nanu Gamer |
PC Specialist Vanquish R4 |
Scan 3XS Z87 Performance GTX |
| Processor |
Intel Core i5-3570K @ 4.3GHz |
Intel Core i5-4670 @ stock |
Intel Core i5-4670K @ 4.2GHz |
Intel Core i5-4670K @ 4.4GHz |
| Cooler |
Gelid Tranquillo |
Intel retail |
Corsair Hydro Series H60 |
Corsair Hydro Series H60 |
| Motherboard |
Asus P8Z77-V |
Asus H81I-Plus |
Asus Z87-K |
Gigabyte Z87-HD3 |
| Memory |
Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 |
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 |
Kingston Hyper-X Genesis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 |
Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 |
| Memory Speed |
10-10-10-27-2T @ 1,600MHz |
9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz |
9-9-9-27-1T @ 1,600MHz |
9-9-9-24-2T @ 1,600MHz |
| Graphics Card |
Asus GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU II 2GB |
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 ACX |
PowerColor Radeon HD 7950 Boost 3GB |
MSI GeForce GTX 770 Gaming OC 2GB |
| Sound Card |
Onboard audio |
Onboard audio |
Onboard audio |
Asus Xonar DGX |
| Primary Storage |
120GB Intel 330 SSD |
2TB Seagate Hybrid drive |
120GB Kingston Hyper-X 3K SSD |
250GB Samsung 840 Series SSD |
| Secondary Storage |
2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD |
None |
1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD |
2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD |
| Optical Drive |
LG Blu-ray Drive |
Samsung DVD Writer |
Lite-On DVD Writer |
Samsung SH-2244BB DVD Writer |
| PSU |
be quiet! Straight Power E9 CM (680W) |
Corsair VS450 (450W) |
FSP Raider RA-650 (650W) |
Corsair GS600 (600W) |
| Chassis |
Fractal Design Define R4 |
Cooler Master Elite 130 |
Fractal Design Define R4 |
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed |
| Operating System |
Windows 8 (64-bit) |
Windows 8 (64-bit) |
Windows 8 (64-bit) |
Windows 8 (64-bit) |
| Standard Warranty |
Two years (collect-and-return) |
Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only) |
Three years (one-year 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) |
| Approx. Price |
£1,200 |
£800 |
£1,000 |
£1,200 |
Benchmarks |
| HEXUS PiFast |
Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU. |
| 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 11 |
Run using 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. |
Notes
The Scan 3XS Nanu Gamer is the cheapest PC in the four-machine comparo, so please bear this in mind when comparing results.
