Wired2Fire Hellspawn XFire review
1 of 2 
Verdict
Blistering speed and impeccable build quality is scuppered by temperatures that are too high and a mediocre monitor
Review Date: 2 May 2011
Reviewed By: Mike Jennings
Price when reviewed: £1,741 (£2,089 inc VAT)
Overall Rating
Features & Design
Value for Money
Performance
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Part Code | Hellspawn XFire |
| Review Date | 2 May 2011 |
| Price ex VAT | £1,741 |
| Price inc VAT | £2,089 |
| Overall rating |
|
| Performance |
|
| Features & Design |
|
| Value for Money |
|
| Warranty | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 1yr collect and return |
| Basic specifications | |
|---|---|
| Total hard disk capacity | 2,120GB |
| RAM capacity | 8.00GB |
| Screen size | 24.0in |
| Processor | |
|---|---|
| CPU family | Intel Core i7 |
| CPU nominal frequency | 3.40GHz |
| CPU overclocked frequency | 4.80GHz |
| Processor socket | LGA 1155 |
| HSF (heatsink-fan) | Corsair H70 water-cooling |
| Motherboard | |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | Asus P8P67 PRO |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel P67 |
| Conventional PCI slots free | 0 |
| Conventional PCI slots total | 2 |
| PCI-E x16 slots free | 0 |
| PCI-E x16 slots total | 3 |
| PCI-E x8 slots free | 0 |
| PCI-E x8 slots total | 0 |
| PCI-E x4 slots free | 0 |
| PCI-E x4 slots total | 0 |
| PCI-E x1 slots free | 2 |
| PCI-E x1 slots total | 1 |
| Internal SATA connectors | 4 |
| Internal SAS connectors | 1 |
| Internal PATA connectors | 1 |
| Internal floppy connectors | 0 |
| Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec |
| Memory | |
|---|---|
| Memory type | DDR3 |
| Memory sockets free | 2 |
| Memory sockets total | 4 |
| Hard disk | |
|---|---|
| Hard disk | Corsair CSSD-F120GB2 |
| Capacity | 120GB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 111GB |
| Internal disk interface | SATA/600 |
| Spindle speed | N/A |
| Hard disk 2 make and model | Samsung Spinpoint F3 |
| Hard disk 2 nominal capacity | 2,000GB |
| Hard disk 2 spindle speed | 7,200RPM |
| Hard disk 2 cache size | 32MB |
| Hard disk 3 make and model | N/A |
| Hard disk 3 nominal capacity | N/A |
| Hard disk 4 make and model | N/A |
| Hard disk 4 nominal capacity | N/A |
| Drives | |
|---|---|
| Optical drive | LG CH10LS20 |
| Optical disc technology | Blu-ray reader/DVD writer combo |
| Optical disk 2 make and model | N/A |
| Optical disk 3 make and model | N/A |
| Graphics card | |
|---|---|
| Graphics card | AMD Radeon HD 6970 |
| Multiple SLI/CrossFire cards? |
|
| 3D performance setting | Low |
| Graphics chipset | Asus EAH6970 DCII/2D14S/2GD5 |
| Graphics card RAM | 2.00GB |
| DVI-I outputs | 4 |
| HDMI outputs | 2 |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 2 |
| Number of graphics cards | 2 |
| Monitor | |
|---|---|
| Monitor make and model | BenQ XL2410T |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,920 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 1,080 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Pixel response time | 2ms |
| Contrast ratio | 1,000:1 |
| Screen brightness | 300cd/m2 |
| DVI inputs | 1 |
| HDMI inputs | 1 |
| VGA inputs | 1 |
| DisplayPort inputs | 0 |
| Rear ports | |
|---|---|
| USB ports (downstream) | 8 |
| FireWire ports | 2 |
| eSATA ports | 2 |
| PS/2 mouse port |
|
| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 1 |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 1 |
| Modem |
|
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 6 |
| Additional Peripherals | |
|---|---|
| Speakers | N/A |
| Speaker type | N/A |
| Sound card | Realtek HD Audio |
| Peripherals | N/A |
| Case | |
|---|---|
| Chassis | Corsair 650D |
| Case format | Full tower |
| Dimensions | 229 x 546 x 521mm (WDH) |
| Power supply | |
|---|---|
| Power supply | Cooler Master 850HX |
| Power supply rating | 850W |
| Free drive bays | |
|---|---|
| Free front panel 5.25in bays | 3 |
| Front ports | |
|---|---|
| Front panel USB ports | 2 |
| Front panel FireWire ports | 1 |
| Front panel memory card reader |
|
| Mouse & Keyboard | |
|---|---|
| Mouse and keyboard | Razer Arctosa keyboard, Razer Abyssus mouse |
| Operating system and software | |
|---|---|
| OS family | Windows 7 |
| Noise and power | |
|---|---|
| Idle power consumption | 102W |
| Peak power consumption | 508W |
| Performance tests | |
|---|---|
| 3D performance (crysis) low settings | 242fps |
| 3D performance setting | Low |
| Overall Real World Benchmark score | 1.26 |
| Responsiveness score | 1.18 |
| Media score | 1.30 |
| Multitasking score | 1.30 |
Frankly, I never understood the fashion to place graphics cards in the adjacent slots - common sense dictates that upper card will start choking under the workload, and this review just proves it.
By Lomskij on 3 May 2011 
@ Lomskij
Don't think it's possible to install the cards in any other way due to the triple slot design employed by Asus.
By Duggie on 3 May 2011
@Duggie
Maybe, however they can use double-slot cards from different manufacturer, they can use another mobo with different PCI-E spacing, or add water cooling for video cards, or pick a chassis with higher airflow - there are so many options to get this right and it's not the current one.
By Lomskij on 4 May 2011
advertisement
- How the UK risks missing out in graphene economy
- The Intel coffee machine that puts a face to a drink
- Dell: Surface hasn't hurt relationship with Microsoft
- Government is "bonkers" to wait for IPv6
- With 4G, could you ditch your ISP?
- Q&A: the app that keeps your mobile data from the snoops
- Q&A: Driving apps to Windows 8
- Q&A: £49 light bulbs you control with an iPhone
- Q&A: EE defends its 4G price hikes
- Q&A: Britain's 5G "playground" gets £35m funding
- Flickr redesign: is it enough to tempt photographers back?
- Hands on with the new Google Maps
- Nokia Lumia 925 review: first look
- Why I won't subscribe to Creative Cloud
- GoPro camera strapped to a remote-control helicopter: the ultimate boy's toy
- Acer Iconia A1 review: first look
- Acer Aspire P3 review: first look
- Acer Aspire R7 review: first look
- How we produce the PC Pro podcast
- Google Now draining iPhone battery
advertisement
Software Store
Competitions
There are dozens of exciting prizes up for grabs on PC Pro Competitions. All our competitions are free to enter. Try your luck.
ENTER NOW
