Verdict: Still stunning, but not particularly innovative

Every time a Voodoo PC system arrives in the Custom PC lab, it always causes a bit of a stir. This isn't just because every Voodoo PC system we've seen so far has been so well designed, but also because of the amazing attention to detail and effort that Voodoo PC gives when building its high-end systems.

For example, each system is supplied with a large koe-skin folder (a koe is a type of African deer, apparently), which contains a complete history of your PC, from the moment of conception to it arriving at your door. Most PC manufacturers perform some form of burn in testing before they despatch a PC, but Voodoo PC actually benchmarks each PC before it leaves its factory in Canada, and lists these benchmark results for you, instantly giving you an idea of how fast your PC is. You also get a Windows recovery CD individually tailored to your particular system, and other useful gubbins, such as a full 6-channel software DVD player, and even some Voodoo PC-branded coffee sweets to fuel late-night gaming sessions.

Externally, the OMEN i121x is remarkably similar to the OMEN Extreme Gamer AMD X2 that Voodoo PC submitted for last year's Dream PC competition, as it's built inside the same MAGA chassis. This makes the OMEN i121x by far and away this year's best-looking Dream PC. Our review PC was painted in a stunning chrome colour, as was the keyboard and mouse, but you can order the OMEN i121x in any one of 20 different colour schemes.

The interior of the OMEN i121x is kept cool by two 120mm fans that draw in air through the fully ventilated front panel and a third 120mm fan that blows hot air out the back. The two front fans are mounted on a massive radiator that's responsible for cooling the CPU and GPUs.

The CPU waterblock is the rather tall Danger Den TDX UNI, which sits on top of the awesome 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 CPU. Voodoo PC has overclocked this mighty CPU to 3.46GHz by raising its multiplier from 11 to 13. This simple adjustment will provide plenty of extra performance, although the OMEN i121x would perform even better if the CPU had been overclocked using a combination of FSB and multiplier adjustments, which would increase CPU and memory bandwidth too. This would allow the system to take greater advantage of its 2GB of highly overclockable Corsair CM2X1024-8500 DDR2 memory, which is guaranteed at speeds of up to 1,066MHz (effective). Bizarrely, Voodoo PC has set this RAM to run at 333MHz (667MHz effective) at sluggish 5 - 5 - 5 - 15 latency timings - much slower than the speed of which it's capable.

Perhaps Voodoo PC didn't overclock the CPU by raising the FSB because it was worried about how hot the 975X Northbridge on the Intel D975XBX motherboard would become. As it is, the Northbridge is fitted with a bog-standard aluminium heatsink, but this could have been easily replaced by a waterblock, as it was in the Scan and Vadim Dream PCs.

No Dream PC would be complete without a killer graphics setup, and the OMEN i121x certainly has plenty of gaming horsepower, thanks to a pair of overclocked Radeon X1900XT graphics cards configured together in CrossFire mode. Once again, the choice of overclock is rather strange. This is because, while the GPUs have been overclocked from 625MHz to 655MHz, the RAM runs at its stock frequency of 725MHz (1.45GHz effective). As high-end GPUs are constrained by a lack of memory bandwidth, particularly at high resolutions, this is a strange choice to make, especially as the massive Danger Den Tyee waterblocks that Voodoo PC has fitted to each card cools both the GPU and memory modules.

Games and applications can be quickly installed from the Pioneer DVD writer onto the 150GB Raptor X drive, or one of the two massive 750GB Seagate hard disks. As with all of the Dream PCs, the OMEN i121x is supplied with a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card, along with a set of the floor-thumpingly loud Logitech Z-5500 Digital surround-sound speakers. The Samsung SyncMaster 244T 24in widescreen TFT is even more impressive than the Dell 2407WFP bundled with some of the other Dream PCs, and offers the same razor-sharp native resolution of 1,920 x 1,200. However, we're not sure why Voodoo PC supplied us with the black version of this monitor, rather than the more colour-coordinated silver one.

In the past, we've found Voodoo PC systems to be the quietest production PCs in the world, but this year, the Vadim Cepheus gave the OMEN i121x a serious run for its money, thanks to its awesome fan management. The OMEN i121x is still very quiet, though, and a good deal quieter than the beastly Scan Black Rhino. The whole system is powered by a 600W Enermax PSU, and is supplied with the unusual choice of Logitech DiNovo keyboard and mouse.

PERFORMANCE

Any PC with an overclocked Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor and pair of Radeon X1900XT graphics cards in CrossFire is going to be incredibly fast, and the OMEN i121x is no exception, as it raced through our Media Benchmarks and games tests. However, because Voodoo PC hasn't overclocked the CPU as far as the CPUs in the Scan and Vadim PCs, and has also set the RAM to run far slower than it's capable of, the OMEN i121x isn't in the same performance league. The small overclock on the graphics cards also lets the OMEN i121x down in games.

In fact, the only test in which the OMEN i121x proved fastest was 3DMark06, which just goes to show how little value this synthetic benchmark has, as the Voodoo PC proved to be slower than the Vadim and Scan Dream PCs in every game we played on it.

CONCLUSION

While there's no denying that the Voodoo PC OMEN i121x is an incredibly stylish and powerful PC, there's also no getting away from the fact that its MAGA chassis is nearing the end of its lifespan. Perhaps Voodoo PC didn't water-cool the 975X Northbridge (which would have allowed for some FSB overclocking) and overclock the graphics cards further because it was worried that the dual 120mm-fan radiator couldn't cope with the extra heat load. After all, the Vadim is cooled by two triple 120mm-fan radiators and a single 120mm radiator, and the Scan a combination of 120mm-fan radiators and an external waterchiller.

The Voodoo PC OMEN i121x isn't the most technically impressive Dream PC, nor is it the most innovative in terms of its cooling design, but it's clearly the most stylish, thanks to its striking looks and luscious chrome finish. Ultimately, though, being the most stylish PC just isn't enough.

Dell Vostro 200 DT Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.20GHz

Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.2 GHz, 2048 MB, 500 GB

dell business

• Cases - 21st November 2008
• Motherboards - 24th October 2008
• Gaming Headsets - 26th September 2008
• Dream PCs - 24th September 2008
• Headphones - 12th September 2008
• Media PC components - 22nd August 2008
• PSUs - 14th July 2008

• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - Hard disks / storage
• Asus EAH4870 TOP - Graphics cards
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Sound cards
• Multiwinia - Games
• Zotac GeForce GTX 260² - Graphics cards
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 - Graphics cards
• Scan 3XS X58 Core i7 - Desktop PCs