Review: PC Specialist Vortex

Intel’s latest Core i7 CPU technology and supporting chipset architecture will bring some of the most powerful multi-core processing ever seen to the desktop space.

With Hyperthreading-enabled quad-core processors supported by tri-channel memory, it’s a wake-up call to the software developers to produce multi-threaded applications that can take advantage of all the cores and bandwidth that are now available.

The Vortex from Yorkshire-based company PC Specialist is the first system we have seen based on the new architecture. While you may look at the price tag and swallow hard, this is a system crammed with plenty of up-to-date hardware.

First and foremost it uses the fastest processor in Intel’s new line up, the i7 965 Extreme, which has a clock speed of 3.2GHz; each of the four cores has 256KB of L2 cache. The CPU sits in one of Asus's P6T Deluxe motherboards. Built around Intel’s new Socket 1366, the P6T uses an Intel X58/ICH10R chipset combination and provides six Dimm slots to support the new tri-band memory architecture. The Vortex comes with three 2GB modules of fast Corsair XMS3 DDR3 memory but if this isn’t enough for you the board can support up to 12GB of memory.

The combination of fast processor, fast memory, very quick graphics card and hard drive gives the Vortex stunning performance, with a PCMark05 score of 12,732 sending it straight to the top of our PC performance charts.

Powering the graphics is not one but two ATI HD4870 X2 graphics cards, set up in a Crossfire configuration that gives stunning graphics performance: 22,335 3DMark06 marks, 16,501 marks in the latest, more demanding, 3DMark Vantage, again the fastest we have seen. When tested with Crysis Warhammer it produced an average frame rate of 32fps, which may not sound much but that was at a 1,280x1,024 resolution with all the in-game details set to very high.

PC Specialist has given the Vortex plenty of storage space, not only do you get one of Western Digital’s blisteringly fast 150GB Velociraptor drives just for the Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit OS and applications, but there’s a separate 1TB Samsung drive for your own files. For backup there’s an LG Blu-ray and DVD-RW drive, which supports Lightscribe technology.

All this hardware is packed into a massive Coolermaster Cosmos case, so if you feel the need to add extra drives at a later date you have plenty of room to install them. Indeed about the only problem with the Vortex is trying to find a home for the case. The size and design of the case internals and the use of a modular power supply also helps with the very tidy build.

Talking of power supply, PC Specialist has installed a 1,200W unit giving you plenty of power for all the components. Despite the amount of hardware and cooling fans in the Vortex it is pretty quiet – by no means silent but quieter than you might expect for a system like this.

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