Power

We measure power consumption using a Kill-A-Watt device at the wall outlet. Idle indicates a measurement taken in Windows with no applications running. Max indicates the maximum power draw with the system fully loaded (running four instances of Prime95 and 3DMark06 simultaneously).

System Power Draw

We can see that the Cooler Master power supply gives a lot of headroom for the current system configuration, which is a good thing.

Noise

We measured noise with a sound level meter, at distances of 24" and 48". The case fans and video cards dominate the noise produced. For reference, ambient noise was approximately 37.5 dB(A).

System Noise Levels

The Reactor does well here, scoring lower than two of the other high-end systems we've reviewed, even with the 200mm side case fan.

Temperature

We utilized CoreTemp 0.99.3 to measure CPU temperatures, which has incorporated the latest TjMax values for Intel processors. We loaded each core with Prime95 and ran Crysis in the background.

System Temperature

In our look at the Überclok Ion, that midrange system never climbed above 50C at full load. Here, we are almost at that point at idle, but this is a completely different class of system. We're satisfied with the load temperature and never experienced any stability problems whatsoever, but still find ourselves wondering what the Tuniq 120 could do….

Gaming/3D Performance Conclusions
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  • emilyek - Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - link

    You could buy these parts on newegg for close to a third of that.
    Maybe I should start my own company. I wouldn't even need a wholesale license.

    Why 1k watts? Because it's a Cooler Master PSU. You'll find lots of those in pre-builts on e-bay; they can be had cheap, and anyone foolish enough to buy that box will be totally impressed by the high number.
  • TheGoat Eater - Sunday, October 12, 2008 - link

    as you can tell by the subject line that pictured HSF (http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/system/2008/ub...">http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/system/2008/ub... is not the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...tem=N82E... the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 has 3 heatpipes and the one pictured clearly has 6 heatpipes.
    Just a FYI...
  • Uberclok - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - link

    Quite correct - sorry for the confusion. We built this unit for Anandtech ove a month ago, when we were using the Thermalright Ultima-90 HSF. Not long after we shipped it, we switched to the Xigmatek. Both are heatpipe-based air coolers, not a liquid/air hybrid as a previous poster suggested.
  • Matt Campbell - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - link

    Thanks for the catch!
  • Zebo - Saturday, October 11, 2008 - link

    Like any regular reader here is going to buy this overpriced computer.

    Whens Anandtech going to start reviewing the Bugatti Veyron or Caviar?
  • CEO Ballmer - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link

    These people are suing us over the "Vista Ready" stickers, this could solve the problem. All we need to do is send one of these to all of those cheap PC owners!



    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com">http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
  • Stas - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link

    so, aside from the fact that I can build the same system for almost half the price, the 1KW power supply is stupidity. The efficiency cannot be more than 75% even at max load. I would put a Corsair HX520 in it, maybe 600. Cheaper and more efficient. Probably hit 85% at max load, ~80 idle.
  • Stas - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link

    I guess it makes sense for the sake of marketing, as been said, that way customers could put 2xHD4870x2 in it. Which in my opinion is stupid, considering it comes with a $500 card already (just get another one of the same to match in SLI), but whatever. If it sells, it sells.
  • GaryJohnson - Saturday, October 11, 2008 - link

    I'm interested in how well it does sell. I really think these system reviews should be written from the 'here's what the competition is doing' perspective, as I think an AT reader is more likely to be selling pre-built systems than buying them.
  • mgmason - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link

    Is the CPU vCore really set to 1.44 volts as we see on the bios screen, or the more reasonable 1.37? Still seems a bit high, I'm getting a stable 3.2 Ghz out of my Q9450 using only 1.22 volts. I get CPU temps of about 60 degrees under load using air cooling with an Arctic Freezer Pro 7.

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