Scan Value G35 review

It’s very easy for a bright white case to look cheaper than the usual black, as systems have demonstrated over the years, and that makes Scan’s choice of a white NZXT Source 210 chassis a bold move - but few could deny it has a certain appeal.

As usual, Scan’s attention to the build is immaculate. A black fabric covering helps the cables stand out against the white interior, and they’re routed in regimented lines. That’s if they’re even visible, with most hidden behind the motherboard tray, appearing only as they approach their relevant ports.

The six free hard disk bays and two larger 5.25in bays can be accessed without tools, although they’re not side-facing, and the MSI Z77A-G45 motherboard has two free PCI Express x16 slots. It’s an extremely quiet PC, too – as good as silent when idling and on a par with the Chillblast Fusion Thunderbird when stress tested. You’ll be hard-pressed to hear it during gameplay or movies.

The interior isn’t without problems. The huge Thermalright HR-02 Macho heatsink dominates the top half of the case and hangs over one DIMM socket, and it also renders the top PCI Express x1 slot inaccessible.

Like the Chillblast, the processor is a Core i5-3570K, overclocked to 4.6GHz. The resulting benchmark score of 1.15 is a little behind the Chillblast's 1.18 – but in real terms, you’ll rarely notice any difference in most applications.

On to the graphics, and Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 670 guided the Scan to a decent set of benchmark scores. An average of 70fps in Crysis is four frames better than the Chillblast, although the Fusion Thunderbird was marginally faster in Crysis 2, Just Cause 2 and DiRT 3. That means the Chillblast just edges is as a choice for gaming.

The 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD is a proven quantity when it comes to super-fast storage. and the 2TB Seagate Barracuda hard disk also proved quicker than most. It excelled when writing files: its 331.8MB/sec pace with large files is one of the best scores we've seen from a hard disk, and its 213.3MB/sec with small files is good too.

The Scan is frugal with power and runs relatively cool. The processor hit a peak temperature of 82°C during our stress tests, and the graphics card’s peak of 79°C – while a little high – is nothing to worry about.

So the Scan’s performance is good, its build quality is solid, and we can find few things to fault. It also looks a little less garish than the Chillblast, which may be the deciding factor for some people.

Comparing the full package side by side, however, the Chillblast packs slightly more into its budget, and so by the thinnest of margins takes the crown here.

Author: Mike Jennings