Scan 3XS Vengeance GTX680 Z68 OC System Review
Components
Published: 22nd March 2012 | Source: Scan | Price: £1450 |
Components
The heart of the Vengeance Z68 OC is the Intel i7-2700K and the ASUS P8Z68V Gen3. Although it might not have the immediate name recognition of something like the Maximus, the quality of the Intel Z68 Chipset is such that it's more than adequate.
Powering the system is the Corsair TX650M, a modular PSU which, with the excellent power efficiency of the GTX680, is more than enough to power the whole of the system.
Keeping everything cool is a Corsair H80 with push/pull fans making sure that the 4.7GHz overclock doesn't get too warm. Just to the right of the hoses you can see the 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM. What else would you expect to find in a system called Vengeance?
Storage is handled by a Corsair Force 3 120GB SSD which handles the OS side of things, with enough room leftover for some apps and games. If you need even larger amounts of storage then a 2TB Seagate Barracuda helps meet even the most demanding user, as well as being very speedy thanks to the SATA 6Gbp/s interface. The drives are mounted as high as possible in the Corsair 650D to make the most of the airflow available from the front intake fan.
Of course the main event in any system is the graphics card, and the Vengeance Z68 OC is no exception thanks to an EVGA GTX680. Bask in its magnificence. Just below that is the ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 soundcard. No matter how good onboard sound has got in recent years there is no replacement for a genuine soundcard.
Round the front we have an e-SATA connector on the top of the 650D, and behind a flap hidden above the LG Blu-Ray optical are the always useful USB ports as well as front audio and a Firewire port. Anyone who has an older case where you're stuck fumbling around the back to make the most of your USB 3.0 stick will appreciate this (that'll be me then).
At the rear we have all we'd expect to find on a modern system. The twin-DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs from the GTX680 as well as the audio jacks from the Xonar DG. The ASUS P8Z68V Gen3 gives us an array of USB ports alongside IGP outputs and the like.
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.
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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.
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. |
.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 !)I know several people that have had their CPU's degrading when they've pushed over 1.4v over time.
/D
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.
more so when oc3d have reviewed cheaper systems which was built to a much higher standard than this is.
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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.
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.
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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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