Aria Gladiator Sparta Haswell i5 4670K Nano Overclocked Bundle Review

Aria Gladiator Sparta i5 Nano Overclocked Bundle Review 

Introduction

Owning one of the lengthiest product titles in history,  the Aria.co.uk Gladiator Sparta i5 Nano Overclocked Bundle is the latest in a long line of pre-overclocked bundles. We’ve looked at a few of the Gladiator range before, and always found them to be a great balance of performance and features, without overcharging you too much for the pre-built nature. Certainly if you’re the type of person who finds their palms sweating at the thought of overclocking their own system, but doesn’t mind dipping their toe into the waters of building. Or perhaps you’ve already got the main components but need a refresh on your foundations, then this could be just the ticket.

Of the four major hardware items included in the Nano variant of the Sparta we’ve reviewed two. The Crucial Ballistix Elite is up to the usual high Crucial standards, and with low CAS9 timings should keep everything working smoothly. The Gigabyte Sniper M5 has loads of performance in a small package and for a very affordable price. We haven’t tested the Scythe Ashura yet, but it promises to ape the regulation single-tower design made famous in the Tuniq Tower, but with a huge 140mm fan.

Finally the thing we’re most looking forward to testing, the Intel Core i5-4670K. In the initial Sandy Bridge CPU range the one we loved most, and the one that outsold the rest by a huge margin, was the i5-2500K. A CPU that’s already achieved the legendary status reserved for such behemoths as the AMD Thunderbird and Intel E8400. The i5-4670K is a similar quad-core, non-hyperthreading effort with a base clock of 3.4GHz, 3.8GHz Turbo, and overclocked by the Aria technicians to a very healthy 4.4GHz.

We know that the i7-4770K is both a powerhouse and a toasty chip. Will the i5-4670K provide enough heft for the average user, and is the Sparta Nano a continuation of the excellent Aria Gladiator range? Read on.

Technical Specifications

One of the major benefits to buying a pre-overclocked bundle from Aria is the knowledge that your CPU will hit the rated speed, and the inclusion of their outstanding warranty. It takes the pain of uncertainty away from the whole buying process.

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz OC @ 4.40GHz
GIGABYTE Z87 Sniper M5 Micro-ATX Motherboard
8GB Crucial Ballistix Elite C9 DDR3 1866MHz Memory 
Intel HD 4600 Graphics
Scythe Ashura CPU Cooler
2 Year Warranty.

 

• Overclocking: Intel i5 professionally Overclocked to 4.40GHz from 3.40GHz included in the price – Optimised GLADIATOR Overclock profile saved in the BIOS provides unsurpassed processing power
• CPU: 4th Generation Intel Core (Haswell) i5-4670K Quad-Core Unlocked Processor – 6MB Cache
• Graphics: Intel HD 4600 GDDR3 DirectX 11 Graphics
• RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix Elite PC3-15000C9 1866MHz DDR3 (2x4096MB) Dual-Channel Memory (32GB Supported) – Delivers unparalleled bandwidth
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE G1.Sniper M5 Intel Z87 Express Chipset Motherboard – AMD CrossFire & NVIDIA SLI Ready.
• Cooler: Scythe Ashura High Performance Quiet CPU Cooler – 140mm PWM Fan
• Audio: Creative Sound Core3D Audio
• FREE GC-3 3.5g Extreme Performance Thermal Compound – Best thermal interface material on the market
• FREE Five Piece Comfortable Magnetic Tipped Screwdriver Kit – Easy upgrade your current PC
• FREE 8GB ARIAnet JetFlash 530 USB 2.0 Flash Drive – Back up GLADIATOR Overclock profile saved on the flash pen including instructions on how to install
• INCLUDED Full 24 Month Collect & Returns Warranty