Überclok Reactor: Balanced Performance
by Matt Campbell on October 10, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
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).
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).
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.
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….
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PClark99 - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
Looks to me that the PSU in the actual computer is a Coolermaster unit and not the Corsair 1000W modular that you have listed in your specs. Not that it should make much difference, 1000W is way overkill here.JarredWalton - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
Corrected. Unless Matt can state otherwise (i.e. they changed PSUs for currently shipping systems), this is definitely a Cooler Master PSU.Matt Campbell - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
My fault on that one, I just didn't check it closely enough. Currently shipping units definitely list the "Corsair CMPSU-1000HX 1000-Watt", as shown here: http://www.uberclok.com/rPSU.html">http://www.uberclok.com/rPSU.htmlap90033 - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
Holy crap those things are pricey...Christoph Katzer - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
And again, what use is the 1000 watts PSU? They can build in half of the size, maybe a little more to keep it quieter, but 1000 watts....nomagic - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
I personally would not mind getting a 1000W PSU because it leave more options open to future upgrades.After all, this is an enthusiast PC. There are many that are too lazy to build their own rigs from ground up, so instead they order one with all the basic parts assembled and cable management done. Then they can upgrade their rigs to their hearts' desire. (SLI, Crossfire, RAID...) They can even overclock it further if they like.
Therefore, having a 1000W PSU installed is a plus.
Souka - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
Might wanna take a read before buying a 1000w PSUDebunking Power Supply Myths
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3413">http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3413
JarredWalton - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
As stated below, at idle efficiency is likely to be somewhat poor, but at load it should get very good efficiency. I'm not saying it's an exact match (because I'm sure it isn't), but as an example the http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.a...">Zalman 1000W is above 83% efficiency with 120VAC from a load of 200W to 800W, and above 80% from around 150W to 1100W.If we take a baseline 80%, at 195W from the outlet the system idles at 156W, and at medium load it will use over 200W (so above 83%). That's of course assuming this is a good PSU, which I have no reason to doubt -- nearly all of the 1000W PSUs come from one or two ODMs, and with higher margins they also tend to use good components.
Is a 1000W PSU required? Absolutely not. Is it desirable? That depends on what you're doing. This system can go up to SLI GTX 280 cards if you want -- or even Tri-SLI I think? Probably to keep things simple Uberclok isn't giving a ton of PSU options. Now, if you were thinking of getting the Reactor with a GTX 260 and dual-core CPU, the 1000W PSU would drop below the 80% efficiency range at idle most likely. Personally, though, I'm not going to freak out about a 2-4% difference in efficiency. Features (i.e. number of connectors) are more important on a high-end PSU than rating and efficiency, IMO.
Souka - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
Might wanna take a read before buying a 1000w PSUDebunking Power Supply Myths
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3413">http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=3413
Christoph Katzer - Friday, October 10, 2008 - link
I guess at $3230 buying price you don't need to care about ~$200 less...