A very nice build. Especially the case in which you could fit a rad for cpu or gpu cooling and keep the size small. Also a good choice to use the WC for the 480 instead of the cpu.
QUOTE "PCs running an air-cooled Radeon HD 5870 instead of the GTX 480 will not only be much cheaper, but will also perform very similarly in the majority of games."
And it's the end of it, imagine 5870 watercooled what it can deliver.
Originally Posted by blood69 QUOTE "PCs running an air-cooled Radeon HD 5870 instead of the GTX 480 will not only be much cheaper, but will also perform very similarly in the majority of games."
And it's the end of it, imagine 5870 watercooled what it can deliver.
Perhaps replace the GTX480 with a Asus Matrix HD5870, watercool it and clock the nuts off of it. Perhaps we could see way more than 1ghz on the core?
Heck I would love to see what a air of W/C Asus Matrix's could for eyefinity but thats a different thread altogether.
Perhaps I could make a suggestion to bit, could you please add the GPU to the gaming results? I know you have stated that the Prometheus comes with a HD5870 in the conclusion buts it would be useful to have this information when looking directly at the graph (especially considering you have 5 or 6 systems listed).
Overall this system seems pretty good by scan and comes at a reasonable cost, it does have a few drawbacks though. The PSU is potentially a bit weak (Hexus noted that absolutely maxed out the system can pull very close to the PSU's maximum rating - not leaving much wiggle room) and the lack of a SSD is a dissapointment.
A big thumbs up to cable management though, it really looks like they have thought about this build right from the start rather then building it and then trying to hide cables.
A quick query - given that the roof of the case appears to have enough room for the raidiator and the fans why couldn't they have fitted the fans in a push configuration (below the raidiator instead of above it)? - I don't know much about this case so I don't know if there is something that would block that sort of configuration.
Originally Posted by blood69 QUOTE "PCs running an air-cooled Radeon HD 5870 instead of the GTX 480 will not only be much cheaper, but will also perform very similarly in the majority of games."
And it's the end of it, imagine 5870 watercooled what it can deliver.
Perhaps replace the GTX480 with a Asus Matrix HD5870, watercool it and clock the nuts off of it. Perhaps we could see way more than 1ghz on the core?
Heck I would love to see what a air of W/C Asus Matrix's could for eyefinity but thats a different thread altogether.
Perhaps I could make a suggestion to bit, could you please add the GPU to the gaming results? I know you have stated that the Prometheus comes with a HD5870 in the conclusion buts it would be useful to have this information when looking directly at the graph (especially considering you have 5 or 6 systems listed).
Overall this system seems pretty good by scan and comes at a reasonable cost, it does have a few drawbacks though. The PSU is potentially a bit weak (Hexus noted that absolutely maxed out the system can pull very close to the PSU's maximum rating - not leaving much wiggle room) and the lack of a SSD is a dissapointment.
A big thumbs up to cable management though, it really looks like they have thought about this build right from the start rather then building it and then trying to hide cables.
A quick query - given that the roof of the case appears to have enough room for the raidiator and the fans why couldn't they have fitted the fans in a push configuration (below the raidiator instead of above it)? - I don't know much about this case so I don't know if there is something that would block that sort of configuration.
Hot air would be blown into the CPU cooler. Not exactly ideal.
Originally Posted by xaser04 A quick query - given that the roof of the case appears to have enough room for the raidiator and the fans why couldn't they have fitted the fans in a push configuration (below the raidiator instead of above it)? - I don't know much about this case so I don't know if there is something that would block that sort of configuration.
you can make out that the case's metal frame splits the top compartment in two. There's only room for fans in the top half under the plastic shroud, I cant' fit even the 34mm thick Swifty rad there.
Besides, there's general agreement that low rpm fans perform better in pull configuration anyways.
I feel the GTX480 was the only right choice for this build as it is the single card champ in the heavy weight division. The watercooling is like putting Mike Tyson in a Hannibal Lecter mask, all the awesome punch power but without the nasty earbite.
Originally Posted by blood69 QUOTE "PCs running an air-cooled Radeon HD 5870 instead of the GTX 480 will not only be much cheaper, but will also perform very similarly in the majority of games."
And it's the end of it, imagine 5870 watercooled what it can deliver.
Perhaps replace the GTX480 with a Asus Matrix HD5870, watercool it and clock the nuts off of it. Perhaps we could see way more than 1ghz on the core?
Heck I would love to see what a air of W/C Asus Matrix's could for eyefinity but thats a different thread altogether.
Perhaps I could make a suggestion to bit, could you please add the GPU to the gaming results? I know you have stated that the Prometheus comes with a HD5870 in the conclusion buts it would be useful to have this information when looking directly at the graph (especially considering you have 5 or 6 systems listed).
Overall this system seems pretty good by scan and comes at a reasonable cost, it does have a few drawbacks though. The PSU is potentially a bit weak (Hexus noted that absolutely maxed out the system can pull very close to the PSU's maximum rating - not leaving much wiggle room) and the lack of a SSD is a dissapointment.
A big thumbs up to cable management though, it really looks like they have thought about this build right from the start rather then building it and then trying to hide cables.
A quick query - given that the roof of the case appears to have enough room for the raidiator and the fans why couldn't they have fitted the fans in a push configuration (below the raidiator instead of above it)? - I don't know much about this case so I don't know if there is something that would block that sort of configuration.
Hot air would be blown into the CPU cooler. Not exactly ideal.
How exactly? If you have fans on the underside of the raidiator in a push configuration they would be blowing air through the radiator and out of the top of the case. They would have to be in a pull config to pull air down through the case into the cpu cooler.
SlowMotionSuicide - Thanks for the response. I see now from the linked picture that my query wouldn't work as the case has the seperator at the top (and odd design in my mind).
Originally Posted by memeroot would be better with 2x stock gtx 470's
Performance properly yes, but noise and stability might suffer. If there are to be two cards, it should be 2x 5850 or 5870 as they are more quiet and use less power.
I'm Phil from scan and work as part of the 3XS team that spec and build these systems,
Thanks for the great feedback
To answer a few questions,
A 5870 is available in this system using our configurator, we decided on the 480GTX as it has better raw performance and with the watercooling we were able to tame the heat and noise and also provide a 21% overclock ;)
We decided on the Intel 920 over the 930 for the simple fact that from an end users point of view they are the same both will overclock to 4Ghz (Prime95 stable - 24hours) yet the 920 costs around £50 less, again you can select a 930 when ordering.
Feel free to fire any other questions across and I will do my best to answer them
Originally Posted by bob Isn't the PSU upside down?
Most cases bottom mounted PSUs have a vent in the floor with a dust filter so that the PSU can draw in cool air from underneath the case. It tends to be much better for PSU temperatures than it drawing in air that may be coming off the graphics card or cpu cooler for example.
Looks very tidy and pleasant, congrats to scan!
I agree with the lack of an SSD, even a 64GB, as also the mobo issue, you could have saved a few more pounds and get that SSD or go bananas on another component, as a sound card or something else.
One thing that got me curious.... Are the PSU cables stock from Corsair or are they after-market?? I really liked them a lot!
Originally Posted by Farfalho One thing that got me curious.... Are the PSU cables stock from Corsair or are they after-market?? I really liked them a lot!
Yup thats the standard Corsair cables.
While I'm aware that the GTX480 is fast, does it really matter to anyone who doesn't have a 30" screen? I bet a 5850 instead of the 480 and adding in a ssd in return would would be preferable.
Originally Posted by rollo Ssd doesn't do alot and you would be replacing the 5850 in 6 months
SSD doesn't do a lot?:| how many current gen ssds have you tried out?
Replace any current gen gpu in 6 month? why? the majority of games are just console ports and the 58x0 cards got everything you could want, low idle power consumption, high gaming performance, dx11, not too loud, there won't be more than a handful games in the next 1 -2 years that you can't run maxed on any current high end card no matter if from amd or nvidia.
Maybe it's because I wasn't properly caffeinated when I read this but my first thoughts when I say the picture and read the title was : "What? That's not a Scan 3XS Cyclone, that's a bloody Coolermaster 690 Advanced! Why don't they just design/build their own cases!?"
Like most people here, I tend to build my own PCs but this is rather good setup for people for people who doesn't/can't build there own PC. (I have no idea about UK pricing so I have no idea if that's expensive or not thought when converted to SA monies it doesn't seem expensive for what you're getting...)
@ rollo : I still have a GTX275 and I haven't had any problems running my games maxxed at 1920x1200 (Samsung T260) so I can't imagine that the 5850 will be a bottleneck in games any time soon....
Comments 1 to 25 of 36
ReplyAnd it's the end of it, imagine 5870 watercooled what it can deliver.
Perhaps replace the GTX480 with a Asus Matrix HD5870, watercool it and clock the nuts off of it. Perhaps we could see way more than 1ghz on the core?
Heck I would love to see what a air of W/C Asus Matrix's could for eyefinity but thats a different thread altogether.
Perhaps I could make a suggestion to bit, could you please add the GPU to the gaming results? I know you have stated that the Prometheus comes with a HD5870 in the conclusion buts it would be useful to have this information when looking directly at the graph (especially considering you have 5 or 6 systems listed).
Overall this system seems pretty good by scan and comes at a reasonable cost, it does have a few drawbacks though. The PSU is potentially a bit weak (Hexus noted that absolutely maxed out the system can pull very close to the PSU's maximum rating - not leaving much wiggle room) and the lack of a SSD is a dissapointment.
A big thumbs up to cable management though, it really looks like they have thought about this build right from the start rather then building it and then trying to hide cables.
A quick query - given that the roof of the case appears to have enough room for the raidiator and the fans why couldn't they have fitted the fans in a push configuration (below the raidiator instead of above it)? - I don't know much about this case so I don't know if there is something that would block that sort of configuration.
That GTX480 is a beast though.
Hot air would be blown into the CPU cooler. Not exactly ideal.
If you look closely on the pic below,
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2010/02/cooler-master-cm-690-ii-case-review/1.jpg
you can make out that the case's metal frame splits the top compartment in two. There's only room for fans in the top half under the plastic shroud, I cant' fit even the 34mm thick Swifty rad there.
Besides, there's general agreement that low rpm fans perform better in pull configuration anyways.
How exactly? If you have fans on the underside of the raidiator in a push configuration they would be blowing air through the radiator and out of the top of the case. They would have to be in a pull config to pull air down through the case into the cpu cooler.
SlowMotionSuicide - Thanks for the response. I see now from the linked picture that my query wouldn't work as the case has the seperator at the top (and odd design in my mind).
Just one other little niggle... why a 920 rather than the newer 930 ...that just seems a little mean.
Cost I imagine.
Cynical but probably true.
Performance properly yes, but noise and stability might suffer. If there are to be two cards, it should be 2x 5850 or 5870 as they are more quiet and use less power.
I'm Phil from scan and work as part of the 3XS team that spec and build these systems,
Thanks for the great feedback
To answer a few questions,
A 5870 is available in this system using our configurator, we decided on the 480GTX as it has better raw performance and with the watercooling we were able to tame the heat and noise and also provide a 21% overclock ;)
We decided on the Intel 920 over the 930 for the simple fact that from an end users point of view they are the same both will overclock to 4Ghz (Prime95 stable - 24hours) yet the 920 costs around £50 less, again you can select a 930 when ordering.
Feel free to fire any other questions across and I will do my best to answer them
Its good to know that all of that can run on a Corsair hX650 psu.
Most cases bottom mounted PSUs have a vent in the floor with a dust filter so that the PSU can draw in cool air from underneath the case. It tends to be much better for PSU temperatures than it drawing in air that may be coming off the graphics card or cpu cooler for example.
I agree with the lack of an SSD, even a 64GB, as also the mobo issue, you could have saved a few more pounds and get that SSD or go bananas on another component, as a sound card or something else.
One thing that got me curious.... Are the PSU cables stock from Corsair or are they after-market?? I really liked them a lot!
Yup thats the standard Corsair cables.
While I'm aware that the GTX480 is fast, does it really matter to anyone who doesn't have a 30" screen? I bet a 5850 instead of the 480 and adding in a ssd in return would would be preferable.
Ssd doesn't do alot and you would be replacing the 5850 in 6 months
480 can max anygame at the min at just about any rez 5850 struggles at 1920x1080
SSD doesn't do a lot?:| how many current gen ssds have you tried out?
Replace any current gen gpu in 6 month? why? the majority of games are just console ports and the 58x0 cards got everything you could want, low idle power consumption, high gaming performance, dx11, not too loud, there won't be more than a handful games in the next 1 -2 years that you can't run maxed on any current high end card no matter if from amd or nvidia.
Like most people here, I tend to build my own PCs but this is rather good setup for people for people who doesn't/can't build there own PC. (I have no idea about UK pricing so I have no idea if that's expensive or not thought when converted to SA monies it doesn't seem expensive for what you're getting...)
@ rollo : I still have a GTX275 and I haven't had any problems running my games maxxed at 1920x1200 (Samsung T260) so I can't imagine that the 5850 will be a bottleneck in games any time soon....
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