Printed from www.pcpro.co.uk
Enthusiast PC winner
Wired2Fire Hellspawn XFire
Verdict
Superb performance in a very neat chassis, making it an excellent high-end choice
Review Date: 22 Sep 2009
Price when reviewed: £1199
Overall Rating
Alternative products
Eclipse Armageddon X58-i795N275
A bold and inventive rig that mixes unusual components with superb performance
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Comparison
| Product |
Chillblast Fusion Mustang
|
Eclipse Armageddon X58-i795N275
|
Wired2Fire Hellspawn XFire
|
| Details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part Code | Fusion Mustang | Armageddon X58-i795N275 | Hellspawn XFire |
| Review Date | 22 Sep 2009 | 4 Aug 2009 | 22 Sep 2009 |
| Price ex VAT | £1,042 | £1,130 | £1,199 |
| Price inc VAT | £1,198 | £1,300 | £1,379 |
| Overall rating |
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| Performance |
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| Features & Design |
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| Value for Money |
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| Warranty | |||
| Warranty final | 2yr collect and return | 3 yr return to base | 1yr collect and return |
| Basic specifications | |||
| Total hard disk capacity | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| RAM capacity | 6.00GB | 6.00GB | 4.00GB |
| Screen size | 22.0in | 24.0in | 24.0in |
| Processor | |||
| CPU family | Intel Core i7 | Intel Core i7 | Intel Core i5 |
| CPU nominal frequency | 2.60GHz | 3.06GHz | 2.66GHz |
| CPU overclocked frequency | 3.80GHz | N/A | 3.80GHz |
| Processor socket | LGA 1366 | LGA 1366 | LGA 1156 |
| HSF (heatsink-fan) | Akasa Nero | Intel stock cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus |
| Motherboard | |||
| Motherboard | Asus P6T SE | Asus P6T | MSI P55-GD65 |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel X58 | Intel X58 | Intel P55 |
| Conventional PCI slots free | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Conventional PCI slots total | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| PCI-E x16 slots free | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| PCI-E x16 slots total | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| PCI-E x8 slots free | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PCI-E x8 slots total | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PCI-E x4 slots free | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| PCI-E x4 slots total | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| PCI-E x1 slots free | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| PCI-E x1 slots total | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Internal SATA connectors | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Internal SAS connectors | 1 | 0 | |
| Internal PATA connectors | 2 | 1 | |
| Internal floppy connectors | 1 | 1 | |
| Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec | 1,000Mbits/sec | 1,000Mbits/sec |
| Memory | |||
| Memory type | DDR3 | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Memory sockets free | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Memory sockets total | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Hard disk | |||
| Hard disk | Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 | Samsung SpinPoint F1 | |
| Capacity | 500GB | 1.00TB | 1.00TB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 465GB | 931GB | 931GB |
| Internal disk interface | SATA/300 | SATA/300 | SATA/300 |
| Spindle speed | 7,200RPM | 7,200RPM | 7,200RPM |
| Cache size | 16MB | 32MB | |
| Hard disk 2 make and model | Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 2 nominal capacity | 500GB | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 2 formatted capacity | 465 | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 2 spindle speed | 7,200RPM | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 2 cache size | 16MB | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 3 make and model | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 3 nominal capacity | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 4 make and model | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hard disk 4 nominal capacity | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Drives | |||
| Optical drive | LG GGC-H20L | LG GGC-H20L | |
| Optical disc technology | Blu-ray reader | Blu-ray reader | Blu-ray reader |
| Optical disk 2 make and model | N/A | N/A | |
| Optical disk 3 make and model | N/A | N/A | |
| Rear ports | |||
| USB ports (downstream) | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| FireWire ports | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| eSATA ports | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| PS/2 mouse port |
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| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Modem |
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| 3.5mm audio jacks | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Graphics card | |||
| Graphics card | Zotac GTX 275 | XFX Radeon HD 4890 | |
| Multiple SLI/CrossFire cards? |
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| 3D performance setting | High | High | High |
| Graphics chipset | Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 | Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 | ATI Radeon HD 4890 |
| Graphics card RAM | 896MB | 896MB | 1.00GB |
| DVI-I outputs | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| HDMI outputs | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Number of graphics cards | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Monitor | |||
| Monitor make and model | BenQ E2200HDA | BenQ G2410HD | Samsung SyncMaster 2433BW |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,920 | 1,920 | 1,920 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 1,080 | 1,080 | 1,080 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| Pixel response time | 5ms | 5ms | |
| Contrast ratio | 1,000:1 | 1,000:1 | |
| Screen brightness | 300cd/m2 | 300cd/m2 | |
| DVI inputs | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| HDMI inputs | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| VGA inputs | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| DisplayPort inputs | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Additional Peripherals | |||
| Speakers | Logitech X-540 | N/A | Logitech X-240 |
| Speaker type | 5.1 | N/A | 2.1 |
| Sound card | Asus HD Audio | Realtek HD Audio | |
| Case | |||
| Chassis | Cooler Master Sileo | Cooler Master Elite 335 | Antec Nine Hundred Two |
| Case format | Full tower | Full tower | Full tower |
| Dimensions | 200 x 480 x 437mm (WDH) | 185 x 486 x 413mm (WDH) | 218 x 472 x 493mm (WDH) |
| Power supply | |||
| Power supply | OCZ Stealth | Cooler Master RS-850-ESBA | |
| Power supply rating | 600W | 850W | |
| Free drive bays | |||
| Free front panel 5.25in bays | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Front ports | |||
| Front panel USB ports | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Front panel eSATA ports | 1 | 1 | |
| Front panel memory card reader |
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| Mouse & Keyboard | |||
| Mouse and keyboard | Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 3000 | Microsoft Optical Keyboard and Mouse | Logitech Internet 350 Keyboard, Razer Salmosa mouse |
| Operating system and software | |||
| OS family | Windows 7 | Windows Vista | Windows 7 |
| Recovery method | Windows disc | Windows disc | |
| Software supplied | N/A | Cyberlink Power DVD | |
| Noise and power | |||
| Peak noise level | 33.0dB(A) | 42.0dB(A) | |
| Idle power consumption | 157W | ||
| Peak power consumption | 252W | ||
| Performance tests | |||
| Overall application benchmark score | 2.53 | 2.24 | 2.45 |
| Office application benchmark score | 1.89 | ||
| 2D graphics application benchmark score | 2.86 | 2.49 | 2.72 |
| Encoding application benchmark score | 2.20 | 1.93 | 2.18 |
| Multitasking application benchmark score | 2.65 | ||
| 3D performance (crysis) low settings | 50fps | 51fps | 64fps |
| 3D performance setting | High | High | High |
