Scan 3XS X58 Core i7

Verdict:

[+] CORE i7

Pre-overclocked; immaculate cabling; exceptional performance for the price

[-] CORE 2

Nothing to report

The arrival of Core i7 has been eagerly awaited, and many enthusiasts in the market for a new PC have delayed that particular purchase accordingly. Well, finally Core i7 is with us and we have our hands on one of the first PCs to hit the shelf that features a Core i7 chip. Here are the core specifications of the incredible Scan 3XS X58 Core i7:

SPECIFICATION

• Case: Antec Twelve Hundred
• PSU: Corsair HX620W
• Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe
• Graphics card: 512MB XFX GeForce GTX 260
• Processor: 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 overclocked to 3.5GHz
• Memory: Corsair PC3-1333MHz TR3X3G1333C9 @ 1.4GHz
• Hard disk: 1TB S-ATA II Samsung F1 SpinPoint HD103UT
• Optical drive: Samsung WriteMaster SH-223F
• Cooling: Thermalright Ultra 120mm CPU cooler; 5 x 120mm case fans (3 x intake, 2 x exhaust), 1 x 200mm case fan (exhaust)
• Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

The Scan X58 Core i7 has been built in Antec’s Twelve Hundred chassis, an excellent case for cool. With plenty of room for future expansion and enough cooling to keep a carton of milk fresh for several weeks, it’s the ideal case for the job.

THE OVERCLOCK

The Asus P6T Deluxe (reviewed here) forms the basis for the overclocked system, housing a 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-920 overclocked to 3.5GHz. Scan has managed this by raising the QPI from 133MHz to 175MHz. To accommodate the faster CPU frequency, the vcore has been raised slightly to 1.275V, the PLL to 2.0V and the QPI/DRAM voltage to 1.3V.

The memory also benefits from the overclock, with the divider pushing the frequency of the 3GB of DDR3 memory up to 1.4GHz. To keep the memory running stably, Scan has applied 1.6V

POWER AND DRIVES

Powering all the hardware is a Corsair HX620W PSU, the black cables of which blend in nicely with the rest of the black internals. The fans, XFX GeForce GTX 260 graphics card and black ionisation of the Antec Twelve Hundreds make for a clean looking interior.

Samsung makes a couple of appearances in the Scan X58 in the form of optical drives and hard drives. The excellent Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB provides lightning speed plenty of storage while the DVD writer is also a Samsung model.

The cable execution of the cabled management in the Scan X58 is nothing short if immaculate. The cable management and simplicity of the build contribute to a solid overall build quality. The components of the PC have been selected with tremendous care, and are of a very high standard for such a keenly priced system.

PERFORMANCE AND OVERCLOCKING

Click here to see the benchmark graphs (opens in new window)

For some comparison for out of the-box performance, we took at look at the sort of numbers you might expect from a stock-speed Intel Core 2 Quad Q9770-based system. Overclocked Intel Core i7-920 ready armed and ready, the Scan X58 produced some accordingly impressive numbers in our Media Benchmarks.

The biggest improvement was in the multithreaded Handbrake H.264 video encoding test. The QX9770 was capable of notching up an impressive 1,830 but the might of Core i7 walked all over this score by almost 1,000 points with a score of 2,776 points. Multitasking also saw a massive increase, with the Scan X58 hitting 1,989 compared with the QX9770’s 1,341.

To gauge gaming performance we used Crysis and Farcry 2. Both games were played at resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 with 4x AA. Crysis teetered on the edge of what we considerable playable with a minimum frame rate of 24fps still a very respectable performance for such a demanding benchmark.

Far Cry 2 proved a little easier, with the minimum of 27fps. Both games looked stunning at such a high resolution, demonstrating that hardware has finally caught up with modern games.

DIY OVERCLOCKING

Core i7 processors are highly capable overclockers we set about squeezing more performance out of our review system. We managed to tease another 300MHz out of the Core i7-920, getting it up to 3.8GHZ by upping the QPI to 190MHz. We needed to add a little more vcore to the chip to benchmark stably, upping it to 1.4V.

Comparing the results to a QX9770 running at 4GHz, the Core 2-spanking speed of the Scan X58 continued. The machine hit 3,003 points in the Handbrake H.264 test, 705 points faster than the QX9770. This massive number contributed to an overall score of 2,003 points, almost 20 per cent faster than the previous fastest PC we’d ever seen.

CONCLUSION

The PC industry moves forward at an often frightening speed but sometimes huge jumps in performance occur. With the arrival of Core i7, we are witnessing such a jump. Given that the Scan 3XS X58 Core i7 doesn’t cost much more than any other high-performance PC and is so much faster, you’d do well to place an order as quickly as possible.

Ludicrous speed combined with the Jedi Master-like cable management and quality components make the 3XS an awesome first Core i7 PC.

The Scan 3XS X58 Core i7 costs £1,500 inc VAT.

To buy the PC, visit Scan' website or phone 0871 472 4747

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