PC_Advisor_Issue_264_July_2017

Group test: Gaming PCs
Conclusion
AMD’s latest Ryzen processors offer a worthy
challenge to Intel’s high-end enthusiast
socket 2011 v3 processors, but when it comes
to gaming a decent Intel quad core system is
still currently the configuration of choice.
Of course, this may change as software
and drivers are optimised to take better
advantage of Ryzen’s multiple cores.
An Intel Core i7-7700K processor such
as the one found in Chillblast’s Fusion
Adamantium 3 is still the one to beat
when it comes to the ultimate gaming
processor, although stepping down to the
Core i5-7600K can be very cost effective,
especially when overclocking is employed
as in YoyoTech’s BlackBox SP. Both of these
systems come highly recommended.
From the Ryzen camp, Overclockers UK
have built a formidable system in the form
of the Titan Falcon, which makes efficient
use of less expensive components through
overclocking, so deliver an excellent value
for money proposition – just configure it with
a more powerful graphics card if you want to
match the frame rates of the Nvidia-based
challengers in this group test. It also comes
with that superb three-year warranty.
Wired2Fire’s Pyro Ryzen DG cuts
no corners in its selection of premium
component and performs very well, but is
a little pricey, while Mesh’s Ryzen 7 Gaming
PC-A is probably the best looking system for
the bunch, but is let down by its slower SATA
SSD and choice of operating system.
How we test
To test general PC performance, we’re
use Futuremark’s PCMark 8 v2.0
benchmarking suite. Unlike the previous
PCMark 7 benchmark, the new version
doesn’t produce a single overall figure.
Instead, results are divided into Home,
Creative, Work and Storage tests. The
Home benchmark reflects common tasks
for typical home use with lower computing
requirements, such as web browsing, photo
editing and low-end gaming.
The Creative benchmark is aimed more
at enthusiasts and professionals working
with multimedia and entertainment
content. It is more demanding on the
processor and includes transcoding tests
as well as further gaming workloads.
The Work test is geared towards office
work tasks such as creating documents,
web browsing, spreadsheets and video
conferencing. It does not stress the gaming
and multimedia capabilities of the PCs.
Gaming performance
We’ve used three games to evaluate graphics
performance. We run our tests at 1280x720,
1920x1080, 2560x1440 and 3840x2160
pixels at various quality settings appropriate
to the performance level of the PCs or
graphics cards being tested.
Our current benchmark games are Thief,
Alien Isolation and Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
Most resolutions are tested in both High
and Ultra present modes with low resolution
720p tests occasionally conducted in low
quality modes on low-end devices which
would otherwise struggle with gaming. We
make no other tweaks to the game settings,
so if you want to run these tests for yourself,
you can just pick from the presets named in
our individual test results.
We also run Futuremark’s 3DMark
suite of benchmarks to help evaluate
gaming performance in eight different
usage scenarios. With these results,
we can get a good idea of the level of
quality and display resolutions a given
PC can run acceptably. In this group test,
the scores are all very close, due to the
similar hardware used. Results are given in
points and higher numbers are better.
VRMark – also from Futuremark
– stresses the PCs much further and
provides an insight into how they might
perform with more demanding Virtual
Reality titles in the future.
It consists of two benchmark tests: the
‘Orange Room’ test which will verify that
your PC meets the minimum performance
requirements for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
and a more demanding ‘Blue Room’ test,
which evaluates performance at the very
highest settings and is much trickier for
current PC hardware to pass (we’ve not
yet seen one pass the test).
To meet the bare minimum
specification for Oculus Rift, a PC must
score at least 3,716 points in the Orange
Room, while a PC Futuremark considers
to be VR-ready must score over 5,000.
In the Blue Room, corresponding scores
are much lower at 719 points and 1082
points respectively.
Power consumption torture testing
We measure the power consumption of
each PC base unit when idle, and again
while running at its performance limit.
During the idle test, the PCs hard drives are
still spinning and the power-management
features are not enabled. For the full-load
torture test, we run Prime 95 to force
all CPU processing threads to maximum
utilisation and stress system memory.
At the same time we run the Geeks3D
Furmark benchmark to stress any installed
graphics cards. We leave these tests
running for 10 minutes, then record the
power consumption and the maximum
CPU core temperature reached.
Power consumption will increase
with performance, and overclocking
will require significantly more power.
Greater power usage also required better
cooling, and these test allow us to verify
that the installed cooling systems are
up to the task of keeping temperatures
within safe limits.
Overclocking
Because gamers demand the best
performance from their hardware,
we allow vendors to overclock PCs in
this category. We require that the PC
vendor offers a comprehensive warranty
covering the overclocked system. Be
aware that if you overclock the PC
yourself, you may invalidate your warranty.
Subjective assessment
We pay close attention to the physical
characteristics of each PC, its noise output
and its build quality, delving inside the
case and taking note of the quality of
components used, cabling and airflow.
Support
Differences in warranty terms can impact our
scoring. Long warranties are sought after,
but we also look at the terms and conditions
– specifically, whether faulty PCs must be
returned to the vendor at your cost, and if
both parts and labour are included. J
72 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews July 2017
TEST CENTRE