PC_Advisor_Issue_264_July_2017

Group test: Gaming PCs
In keeping with the cool and quiet concept,
the Fusion Adamantium 3 makes use of the
motherboard’s built-in fan control options
room use, rather than aggressively overclocking the processor to get
the absolute maximum performance.
Storage
Two separate drives each provide a sensible combination of superfast
and high-capacity storage. The super-fast storage comes in the
form of a 256GB Samsung SM961 NVMe SSD. This is the OEM version
of Samsung’s ‘Polaris’ PCI-Express SSD product line, capable of
around six times the performance of the best SATA SSDs.
Because 256GB isn’t enough disk space on its own, Chillblast has
also included a roomy 2TB hard drive for less performance-critical
storage. These core components, plus 16GB of DDR4 memory, are
all installed in an Asus Prime Z270M-PLUS motherboard.
This mATX form factor motherboard, is itself the source of some
of the LED lighting, which can be seen through the side of the case.
The PCI-Express slots pulse with a warm glow, offset by the cool
blue lights from the graphics card and main case fan.
The motherboard supports up to two M.2 SSDs in SATA or NVMe
mode and is also ready for Intel Optane memory. It comes with PS/2
mouse and keyboard sockets at the rear as well as two each of USB
3.0 and 2.0 ports and single 5Gb/s USB Type-C connector. There’s
also eight-channel analogue audio and a single Gigabit LAN port.
In keeping with the cool and quiet concept, the system makes
use of the motherboard’s built-in fan control options, which tie in
with Asus’s optional overclocking and management software.
Performance
As you’d expect from a PC fitted with a high-end CPU and a GeForce
GTX 1080, the Fusion Adamantium 3 delivers gaming performance in
spades. Older games such as Thief and Alien: Isolation benchmark
at over well over 60fps at 4K resolution in High or sometimes even
Ultra quality settings. With a more demanding title such as Deus
Ex Mankind Divided, you’ll be hitting 30fps in 4K Ultra mode, which
is fine for playing on the living room TV and if you do want super
smooth 60fps action, you’ll be able to get that by stepping down
to 2560x1440 on your PC monitor.
The Core i7-7700K may not be overclocked, but it still delivers a
lot of performance for all your non-gaming needs. You’ll be able to
achieve workstation-like performance in tasks such as photo and
video editing, which is excellent across the board. The CPU is helped
here by the super-fast NVMe storage.
If you’re still hungry for a little more speed, you can purchase the
PC factory overclocked by Chillblast to 4.6GHz at no extra charge.
This will however affect noise and power consumption.
The only area where the CPU may lose out is in extremely parallel
processing environments, where an eight-core processor, such as
an AMD Ryzen 7, may pull ahead. You can see this effect in our
Cinebench R15 tests, where the single-core test is excellent, but the
multi-core test lags a long way behind Ryzen chips. This does not
affect games however, which still currently benefit much more from
high performance per core rather than multi-core power.
Intel-based PCs currently achieve better performance from NVMe
storage devices than AMD-based systems, too.
Warranty
The Fusion comes with Chillblast’s excellent two-year collect and
return warranty which extends to five years for labour only. It also
comes with lifetime phone support.
Verdict
The Fusion Adamantium 3 Gaming PC delivers high performance
in a compact form factor, while making the minimum noise.
Higher performance is available at no extra charge via an optional
overclocking option, but not without compromising it’s ‘cool and
quiet’ design philosophy. You won’t be expanding it with dual graphics
cards, but it’s also reasonably priced for a PC of this specification.
If you’re still hungry for a little more speed,
you can purchase the PC factory overclocked
by Chillblast to 4.6GHz at no extra charge
TEST CENTRE
January 2017 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 63