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Crank That S#!T Up! Contest July 10, 2010 |
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Summary: Interested in winning a liquid-cooled, 3-Way SLI GeForce GTX 480 Maingear PC with 22" 3D display? We've partnered with NVIDIA and Maingear to bring one lucky FiringSquad reader this top-of-the-line system. Benchmarks and pictures inside!
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 5 ) |
We here at FiringSquad have partnered with NVIDIA and Maingear to bring you the Crank That S#!T Up! Contest. Here’s what you could win:
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- A massive (literally) Ephex Elite gaming system from Maingear, featuring an Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 graphics, assembled with care and exquisite attention to detail
- A 22” ViewSonic FuHzion 3D-ready LCD monitor, with a 120Hz refresh rate and built-in stereo speakers
- An NVIDIA 3D Vision kit, including glasses and everything else you need to play any of the hundreds of existing compatible DirectX games in 3D
This stuff has been in my possession for the past week, so I’ve been able to put it through its paces a bit and throw this article together. The aim is to help you guys see what the fuss is about and convince you to go enter the contest (as if the chance to win a free first-class gaming rig wasn’t enough). Just reading about this computer will probably knock your socks off, so go ahead, turn the page!
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| Specifications | Page:: ( 2 / 5 ) |
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The first thing you see, of course, is Maingear’s Ephex chassis, made of sleek, brushed black aluminum. Aside from a couple of blue LEDs, the etched window spanning almost one half of the side panel is about as flashy as this case gets. The insides are definitely cool-looking enough to warrant it, showcasing very tidy cabling and additional lights on the motherboard. There are holes built into the back to accommodate liquid cooling tubes, but they aren’t needed here because the whole system is contained internally. I won’t get ahead of myself though…
There is a nice solid door on the front that opens up to reveal the 5 drive bays, as well as a set of vents on all sides to promote airflow about the four 120mm fans that are in the case. Also on top is a neat little hub with USB, audio, and firewire ports that you can pull out like an artillery launcher, then snap back in again when you don’t need it. All the moving parts are pleasantly sturdy because they’re made of metal, instead of plastic like I’ve seen on other cases.
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This particular system has an Intel Core i7-950 quad-core CPU in it – running stock at 3.07GHz -- as well as 6GB of Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600 memory, a 150GB Western Digital Raptor hard drive, and Sony Optiarc 24x DVD burner with Lightscribe. Everything is powered by a beast of a power supply, the 1500W Silverstone Strider. So beastly, in fact, that it requires an extra strength power cable! The ones we are used to using for computers and monitors have a limit of 1250W, which is obviously not enough for this application.
If you’re wondering just what sort of machine would merit such a powerhouse under the hood, I refer you to the next page of this article, where I go into detail on its graphics capabilities.
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| Graphics subsystem | Page:: ( 3 / 5 ) |
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The GeForce GTX 480 graphics card is the new flagship GPU from NVIDIA. Based on the Fermi architecture, it has 480 stream processors, 1.5GB of GDDR5 memory, full support for DirectX 11, three display outputs (2 DVI, 1 mini-HDMI), and requires both a 6-pin and 8-pin power connector be plugged in for it to operate. This Ephex Elite computer has – wait for it… – three of those in a tri-SLI configuration, providing more graphics power than you can shake a stick at! Since a 600W power supply is recommended for supporting a single one of these, you might begin to understand why there is a 1.5 kilowatt PSU involved.
The folks at Maingear decided to fit a 360mm Koolance liquid cooling system on these top-of-the-line GPUs. This way, the trio of GTX 480s stays cool while making less noise than the stock heatsink/fans would. Keep in mind, however, that the radiator fans and pump themselves are not silent. As I mentioned earlier, the entire thing is self-contained within the chassis; no radiator hanging off the rear or anything like that.
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I didn’t mess around with any overclocking, but there is certain to be at least some headroom for that since GPU temperatures usually peak in the 70 degrees C range. That applies to the CPU, as well, since it is also connected to the liquid circuit and will hover around a similar or slightly lower number. You can’t go too crazy with it, though, since there is only a finite amount of heat the fluid can dissipate, being not so much a super-high performance setup as it is a quieter replacement for stock air cooling. Overclocking anything would be a matter of finding a safe balance that the cooling system can handle effectively, just like it always is.
Though all of this graphical horsepower will scoff at even the most demanding of games, it will truly be put to the test when you decide to run them in stereoscopic 3D. Since we’re talking NVIDIA here, there is full support for 3D Vision using their slick wireless LCD shutter glasses. The nature of this technology dictates that the GPUs will need to work twice as hard to maintain a smooth framerate for both eyes, so all of that extra muscle is sure to come in handy. All you need to do is connect a 120Hz display to one of the video cards, attach the IR control sensor via USB, charge up the glasses (also via USB), and you’re good to go!
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| Benchmarks | Page:: ( 4 / 5 ) |
I could go on and on about the theoretical capabilities of Maingear’s Ephex Elite gaming rig, but instead I’m going to let some numbers do the talking. I ran a mix of gaming and synthetic benchmarks highlighting the DX11 capabilities of the system, as well as its sheer horsepower: 3DMark Vantage, Unigine “Heaven,” Crysis: Warhead, Metro 2033, STALKER: Call of Pripyat, and Aliens vs. Predator.
System Setup
Intel Core i7-950 @ 3.07GHz
3x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 in 3-way SLI
6GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600
150GB Western Digital Raptor
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
ForceWare 257.21 drivers
No doubt you agree that the results are impressive across the board. However, I feel I must comment on the Unigine demo in particular. We have all seen the screenshots and videos of it before, but I’m telling you, it in no way compares to seeing it with your own eyes. Watching it rendered in real-time, being able to manipulate the camera, toggling the wireframes and tessellation to see the difference DX11 makes with virtually no performance hit… It is the most amazing thing I have ever seen on a computer monitor, and I really do think it represents the next generation of graphics in games.
| Conclusion | Page:: ( 5 / 5 ) |
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As you can see, you’d have to be out of your mind to pass up an opportunity like this. It doesn’t really matter what sort of computer you use now, this Ephex Elite from Maingear and NVIDIA will take your game to the next level. Whether you use its power to enjoy buttery smooth framerates in every game or to further immerse yourself in your favorites through the magic of stereoscopic 3D, your life will never be the same. At least as far as our favorite hobby goes, that is…
So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the contest page and learn how you could win. Good luck!
www.firingsquad.com/crankitup
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