Scan 3XS Black Widow review

It's also worth mentioning the customisation options: Scan offers a laser-cut side panel, decorated with a stylish spider and covered in mesh to provide a little extra cooling. It isn'tcheap, however, adding £150 to the cost of the machine.

One final stylish touch is the lighting. Where most high-end machines come with dozens of garishly coloured lights - the CyberPower is a prime example - the Scan boasts monochrome, white strip-lights. It may sound dull, but it's a tasteful topping on a superb build, and has the positive side-effect of lighting the components and layout inside to best effect. Scan also makes it easy to turn off the lights if you wish, via a selection of internal switches that are easy to access.

In fact, the only negative we can see here is the noise. While it's by no means the loudest PC on test - the CyberPower takes that honour with an incredibly loud 48dBA - the Black Widow ran at 41dBA, compared with 33dBA from the unobtrusive Chillblast Fusion Titan. It's worth bearing in mind, though, that the Fusion Titan had a larger case that was packed with sound-absorbing foam.

It all adds up to one of the best PCs we've ever seen. It may not be as quiet as the monolithic Chillblast, but it's fantastic in every other respect. There's ferocious, Core i7-driven power,mind-blowing 3D performance, a Blu-ray drive and SSD storage in one of the most thoughtful and well-conceived builds we've ever seen. It's for these reasons that it's our top-rated ultimate PC.

Author: Mike Jennings