Scan 3XS Vengeance GTX680 Z68 OC System Review
Packaging
Published: 22nd March 2012 | Source: Scan | Price: £1450 |
Packaging
We always talk about the importance of good packaging because we know that most of us buy our parts online these days. Partly because of the huge savings, but equally because not many of us are fortunate to live near a genuine enthusiasts hardware store and PC World tend to think a Riva TNT is still a high-end card.
Of course nowhere is the importance of packaging better highlighted than when buying a prebuilt system. With all the parts installed in the motherboard the need to keep things safe and secure is enormous. Scan have understood this and the Vengeance Z68 OC comes in a very sturdy box with loads of air-bags. At the bottom is enough bubble-wrap to keep an elephant safe, and between the two is yet another sturdy box that holds the system itself.
That warning is important as we're about to see.
As the Vengeance comes in a 650D it makes sense to deliver it in the same box to ensure a snug fit. Remember that notice above? Look at the amount of bubble-wrap in the case.
It's absolutely stuffed to the gunwales with the anti-static pink stuff in every conceivable crevice. There is absolutely no doubt at all that your system will arrive in mint condition. The only thing we might worry about is that if you're the kind of person who is so hardware illiterate that the sight of a PC case full of candy floss doesn't stop you wanting to turn it on, then perhaps it might be wise to issue a larger notice about being careful when removing the bubble-wrap. Sure you shouldn't just yank at it, but if you did just grab a handful and pull the likelihood of also grabbing a hose from the CPU cooler or a power cable is pretty high.
Most Recent Comments
A good quality system but I would expect a more powerful Cpu Cooler, Say a H100 and a PSU of at least 750 watts
actuallythe 650 is more than enough to power the given parts. It doesn't allow for much headroom but for a pre-built system this looks to be very very decent.
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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.
The cable management on the back is amazing but the cables on the front could be put round the back for a tighter look IMO; however, compared to most pre-built systems I have seen, this is one of the best for cable management.
At first I was stocked to see 650Watt PSU, abut after reading whole review, I would say, not bad.
I know 650watts is adequate chaps, what I'm saying is for the price I would wish for some headroom 
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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.
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.
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.
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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. |
Nice one Scan .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 !)
.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 !)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
I know several people that have had their CPU's degrading when they've pushed over 1.4v over time.
/D
I appreciate that the cables could be routed round the back and there are obviously areas in which it could be tweaked. However the presentation score takes into account more than just the pure looks of it, but also cooling, noise, how it compares relative to other products available in the price-range and similar things.
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.
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.
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.
more so when oc3d have reviewed cheaper systems which was built to a much higher standard than this is.
it looks pretty sweet to me wish i had the cash maybe oneday...
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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. |
yes, the review is as good as ever i just cant get my head around the scores.
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.
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.
Edit: Just realised that the price at the top of the review is not including VAT so by building yourself you'd save ~£290
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.
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.
I can't help but admire that 8pin
Awesome system except for price. (tells himself one day son one day...)
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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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