Scan 3XS Vengeance GTX680 Z68 OC System Review
Introduction and Technical Specifications
Published: 22nd March 2012 | Source: Scan | Price: £1450 |
Introduction
As I'm sure you saw with yesterday's review, the GTX680 is upon us and every bit as powerful as we hoped. The question on a lot of peoples lips is whether it's worth the upgrade, and if their current system is up to the task. After all, gradually drip-feeding your system new parts is fairly cost-effective but eventually you reach the point when it's a lot cheaper to just scrap and start afresh. Or, more likely, you're one of those people who hasn't got the time, or desire, to buy a load of parts and deal with building your system, possible RMA dead parts, endless tweaking to get the best overclock, cable tidying etc etc. It's probably fair to say that all of us started our hardware lives off with an 'off the peg' model.
To call the Scan 3XS Systems range of PCs 'off the peg' is quite wide of the mark. Of course they do sell a host of PCs for general use but it's their high-end gaming range that have always captured the imagination thanks to a great choice of parts and outstanding build quality and after sales support. So often companies sell a 'gaming' PC but cut many corners and leave you with a rig that has the heart of something good, but is let down by a raft of stuff you don't need or would prefer to upgrade.
Today's review is looking at a system that has everything you could hope for in a system with, and we'll cover this as we go, no extraneous parts of bizarre choices.
So what exactly are the specifications of the Vengeance Z68 OC?
Case : Corsair Obsidian 650D
PSU : Corsair TX 650 Modular
Motherboard : Asus P8Z68-V Gen 3.0
CPU : Intel Core i7 2700K @ 4.7Ghz
Memory : 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance RAM 1600Mhz
GPU : 2GB EVGA GTX 680, 1006Mhz GPU, 1536 Cores, 6000MHz GDDR5
SSD : 120 GB Corsair Force 3
HDD : 2TB Seagate Barracuda, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache
CPU Cooler : Corsair H80 Hydro Water Cooler
Optical : LG BH10LS38 Blu-ray & DVD, Reader & Writer
Soundcard : Asus Xonar DG 5.1 PCI Sound Card & Headphone Amplifier
OS : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1 Operating System
Other : Back Up Software (Optional) Acronis® True Image Home 2012 HDD Backup & Restore Software
As always with Scan 3XS Systems you have a system image on a hidden partition so you can take your rig back to factory fresh if you desire along with a 2 year warranty (1 year on-site, 1 year return to base) and the system delivered and set-up by the 3XS delivery team should you so desire.
Let's take a rather lengthy look at the system itself.
Most Recent Comments
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Originally Posted by MutleyUK
A good quality system but I would expect a more powerful Cpu Cooler, Say a H100 and a PSU of at least 750 watts |
Sure you couldn't go SLI without the upgrade, but if you're planning on that then you can configure it before purchase.Quote
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Originally Posted by MutleyUK
I know 650watts is adequate chaps, what I'm saying is for the price I would wish for some headroom |
Officially I don't know if that's correct, but obviously they'd be thinking of stock running rigs.Quote
VB 10/10 for presentation?
really?
cables all tied down on the front equals a perfect score on presentation?
sorry dude but no.
"The Obsidian 650D definitely helps as there are so many places to tuck cables away, but even still we just can't get over how neat and tidy everything is."
so why no tuck those away?
8/10 in any rate my build thread for that alone.Quote
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Originally Posted by marsey99
guys this gpu core was meant to be the 660 core and as such is only a low draw part so it doesnt need a monster psu, unlike the gk110 core which is coming later in the year, hat will dull the lights in the house VB 10/10 for presentation? really? cables all tied down on the front equals a perfect score on presentation? sorry dude but no. "The Obsidian 650D definitely helps as there are so many places to tuck cables away, but even still we just can't get over how neat and tidy everything is." so why no tuck those away? 8/10 in any rate my build thread for that alone. |
Quote .A well turned out rig. I have dealt with them numorous times. This sort of quality is just what I personally would expect from them (their customer relations reflect this...unlike a certain retailer I can think of !)QuoteI know several people that have had their CPU's degrading when they've pushed over 1.4v over time.
/DQuote
It's not just about meeting the demands of enthusiasts who'll spend a week braiding and routing, but relative to the needs and expectations of somebody who will buy a pre-built system. And we can't give halves.
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Originally Posted by Daewin
Seeing the system needing a 1.44vCore leads me to believe that they haven't really tested that for a long amount of time. After all, 1.4 is the highest you should go on a SB. I know several people that have had their CPU's degrading when they've pushed over 1.4v over time. /D |
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Originally Posted by VonBlade
It's not just about meeting the demands of enthusiasts who'll spend a week braiding and routing, but relative to the needs and expectations of somebody who will buy a pre-built system. And we can't give halves. |
I can't imagine they'd be terribly happy if they just got BSODs one day and didn't know what was wrong with it.
Good review as usual though.Quote
more so when oc3d have reviewed cheaper systems which was built to a much higher standard than this is.Quote
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Originally Posted by marsey99
VB i could understand your points if this was a more, well budget machine but this is the best part of £1500 this system and for that money i would expect them to take that kind of care you speak of when building it yes. more so when oc3d have reviewed cheaper systems which was built to a much higher standard than this is. |
i mean i think this is very well priced for the kit you get and should score higher than 7 as i dont think you can spec a system for this price but also what i said above on the presentation.Quote
I have to agree with others in that the score for the price is too low, I just put all the parts together (as close as I could, same ram and optical drive wasn't on the list) on pcpartpicker (which is a site that grabs the best prices from many sites):
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/66TU
Part price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/uk/p/66TU/by_merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-2700K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£251.98 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80 92.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£69.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard (£120.99 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4G
DDR3-1600 Memory (£82.99 @ Scan.co.uk) Hard Drive: Corsair Force Series 3 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£107.94 @ Scan.co.uk)
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£92.64 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Video Card (£409.99 @ Dabs)
Case: Corsair 650D ATX Mid Tower Case (£129.99 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£74.98 @ Dabs)
Optical Drive: Sony BD-5750H Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer (£65.39 @ Scan.co.uk)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) (£69.89 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1476.14
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-03-26 19:43 BST+0100)
This is also not including the sound card (~£20) which means unless you already have a copy of windows or some of the other parts you can use then it would be cheaper to buy it from scan than to build it yourself.Quote
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In need of bringing your system up to day and fancy a GTX680 based behemoth? We take a look at the Scan 3XS Vengeance Z68 OC which has all you need.
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