iBuyPower Revolt System Review: Closing the Boutique and Opening the Store
by Dustin Sklavos on February 16, 2013 12:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
- Mini ITX
- iBuyPower
- Mini-Tower
Introducing the iBuyPower Revolt
At CES 2013, the PC boutique iBuyPower announced a product that's in many ways much more than the sum of its parts. They announced the Revolt, a small form factor gaming PC that's riding the same wave of small gaming PCs that includes Alienware's X51, DigitalStorm's Bolt, and the review pending Steiger Dynamics LEET. These products are essentially about the move of PC gaming into the living room, something arguably predicated by the continued miniaturization of PC hardware, a very mature gaming platform that's had time to sand off its harsh edges just as gaming consoles continue to develop more and more of their own, and the convergence of games for all three main gaming platforms.
The iBuyPower Revolt isn't just another indicator of a sea change in gaming and an upswing in interest in PC gaming, though. What iBuyPower has done with the Revolt is create a PC product that is almost wholly their own, from the chassis to—and this part is crucial—the motherboard. That makes the Revolt notable both in terms of how it falls into the larger PC gaming landscape, but also in how it establishes iBuyPower not as a boutique, but as a legitimate vendor with the potential to compete with heavyweights like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, and Toshiba. That means that more than just balance sheets hinge on the Revolt's success; to an extent, iBuyPower's very nature in the market hinges upon it. The question becomes: can the Revolt possibly live up to expectations?
In much the same fashion as Alienware's X51, the iBuyPower Revolt is essentially designed to continue the trickle down progress of PC gaming hardware. This isn't another system on shelves marketed as a gaming system but shipping with anemic graphics kit; the Revolt starts at a GeForce GTX 650 for just $649. That's significant when you take into account the already aggressive Alienware X51, which presently starts at $649 but only offers a GeForce GT 640. DigitalStorm's Bolt doesn't even really show up to compete in this price range, to say nothing of other boutiques.
It's also important to again note that the Revolt is designed completely in house by iBuyPower. Their traditional close partnership (putting it mildly) with NZXT doesn't come into play here; the Revolt is entirely their baby. The fact that they use their own motherboard design is significant as well; it allows them to remove the motherboard video outputs from Z77 entirely, a smart change for usability's sake. It's also in many ways the defining characteristic of the Revolt; over the past year we've seen boutiques design their own cases, but the actual electronics are another matter entirely.
iBuyPower Revolt Specifications | |
Chassis | Custom iBuyPower |
Processor |
Intel Core i7-3770K (4x3.5GHz, Turbo to 3.9GHz, 22nm, 8MB L3, 77W) |
Motherboard | Custom Z77 Board |
Memory | 1x8GB G.Skill DDR3-1600 (maximum 2x8GB) |
Graphics |
eVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB GDDR5 (1344 CUDA Cores, 1002MHz/1084MHz/6.2GHz core/boost/RAM, 256-bit memory bus) |
Hard Drive(s) |
Intel 330 120GB SATA 6Gbps SSD Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gbps SSD |
Optical Drive(s) | Optiarc Slot-loading DVD+/-RW |
Power Supply | FSP 500W 80 Plus Gold 1U PSU |
Networking |
Broadcom NetLink Gigabit Ethernet Realtek RTL8723A 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz Wireless Ethernet Bluetooth |
Audio |
Realtek ALC899 Speaker, line-in, mic, and surround jacks |
Front Side |
Power button LED lighting toggle Slot-loading optical drive SD card reader 2x USB 3.0 Mic and headphone jacks |
Top Side | - |
Back Side |
PS/2 4x USB 3.0 Clear CMOS button 2x USB 2.0 eSATA Gigabit ethernet Mic, line-in, headphone, and surround jacks Optical out 2x DVI (GTX 670) 1x HDMI (GTX 670) 1x DisplayPort (GTX 670) |
Operating System | Windows 8 64-bit |
Dimensions |
16.2" x 4.6" x 16" (412mm x 117mm x 407mm) |
Extras |
Card reader 80 Plus Gold PSU 140mm CPU radiator |
Warranty | 1-year limited parts and labor |
Pricing |
Starts at $499 Review system configured at $1,553 MSRP of review system: $1,199-$1,299 |
When you configure the Revolt, you can opt for a little bit less of the awesome stuff. The entry-level $499 configuration isn't a gaming system, and features an i3 with HD graphics and an ASRock B75 motherboard. It's the $649 configuration featuring the IGP-free Intel Core i5-3350P and GeForce GTX 650 that's more impressive. Our review system is much beefier, and I'll admit to being skeptical about that MSRP when the custom price tag comes in so much higher.
iBuyPower's BIOS will actually let you overclock the CPU yourself (or you can order it overclocked directly from them), and they charge an amusing $44 premium for the NZXT Kraken X40 over the Asetek 550LC liquid cooler (itself $35 more than the stock cooler). The 550LC is a 120mm closed loop cooler, while the Kraken X40 is really just a rebranded Asetek unit with a 140mm radiator instead.
Suffice to say, our review configuration is a powerful gaming system in a fairly smaller form factor (I'll discuss build quality later on), and if they can hit their MSRP they'll undercut everyone else. As it stands, the most expensive stock configuration they have available employs an i5-3570K, stock cooler, an abnormally short 4GB of DDR3-1600, a 1TB hard disk, no wireless connectivity, and a GeForce GTX 660 2GB for $899. Pre-order the $999 retail model from NewEgg, and you gain a small overclock on the i5-3570K, a liquid cooler, and 8GB of RAM, but you get cut down to a 500GB HDD.
How does that $899 model compete with Alienware's X51? Fairly favorably, actually. It slots in between their anemic $799 configuration, which features an i5-3330 and a paltry GeForce GT 640, and their robust $1,099 configuration, which features an i7-3770 and OEM version of the GTX 660. Alienware's OEM GTX 660 enjoys more shaders at lower clocks via a cut-down GK104 chip, while the retail GTX 660 iBuyPower uses features less shaders at higher clocks via a full-fat GK106. You can get an X51 in the Revolt's neighborhood by upgrading an i5 model with a GTX 660, but generally iBuyPower enjoys a price advantage.
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Dustin Sklavos - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
The PSU is server size 1U.The GPU is a garden variety card.
The motherboard is mini-ITX.
Space is limited, but they're not using nonstandard parts.
HisDivineOrder - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
...seems ill advised. In a few months, a CPU designed from the ground up for this kind of low-power, low-heat, optimal performance is going to come out and make all these power/heat numbers look high.Plus, I HOPE Intel is smart enough with the GT3 configuration that they enable PC's that can run 720p/1080p at good enough to mostly match a GF630/640. At that point, if that were to happen, prices will drop out the bottom of NUC-like devices that incorporate that.
Suddenly, it won't be $1k for a HTPC that can game, it'd be $500. Sure, it won't be high end and it ain't meant to be. It'll be HTPC-level quality with the option to take console ports and put them up on the big screen at acceptable framerates, which is all the nascent HTPC industry needs to shove consoles out of the value picture altogether.
DanNeely - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
I've seen rumors that GT3 will be a mobile only config which might slow the availability a bit; but previous generations of mobile parts have found their way onto miniITX sized boards before.ShieTar - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Somehow I doubt that the ~15W that Haswell reserves for its GPU will achieve the same performance as a 640 which can draw more than 100W under load.There is a distinct chance that Haswell manages to exceed the current A10-5800K performance, and thus get to call itself "Good enough for certain games".
I think it will be completely sufficient if Haswell can play current Console-Ports on Full-HD, and then only have Broadwell or even Skylake be as capable as the next Gen consoles.
Netscorer - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
To call original Xbox 360 tolerable in terms of noise pollution is an understatement of the year. The only way to drown that noise was to play games even louder. If this thing is as noisy, I personally don't want it in my living room.beepboy - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
I think the faceplate could be improved. Matte look, or even interchangeable colors/design will greatly improve the aesthetics. The base doesn't look very stable either.jnemesh - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
I found the Revolt to be an excellent value compared to Alienware, Falcon NW, and other "boutique" shops offering compact gaming systems! I priced out an i7 3770K, Kraken cooling, 8GB Gskill RAM, 240GB Corsair SSD, 2TB storage drive, Nvidia "Signature Edition" GTX680, 500w power supply, and Windows 7 (I'm NEVER running 8!) for just under $2000 (it was about $2100 when I added a wireless "Phantom" keyboard and mouse).I priced similar systems from Falcon NW and Alienware, and ended up paying about $500 more for a similar configuration! I also tried various shops with "standard" mini-tower case configurations, and they always were more expensive.
ibuypower seems to be offering a truly competitive price for the hardware they are including. Yes, I could build it myself and save a couple hundred dollars (with a regular case, mind you), but I doubt I would get the reliability and performance (or the warranty!) that I will get with their product. I am saving up now to buy mine! (probably pull the trigger in April)
unhappyibuypowercustomer - Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - link
DO NOT buy from ibuypower.com The absolute worst customer service, hidden clauses not allowing no cost service repairs returns. Rude customer service person on the phone, interruting, called me a liar. Unity did not work out of the box. no shipping damage. They said it went through quality control but many mars scratches, things lose inside, rattling noise. I would spend more money at wal mart if i had to in order to avoid ibuypower.comDrittz121 - Friday, February 28, 2014 - link
Just do yourself a favor. STAY AWAY from this company. Yes they look good. But when it breaks and it WILL. All they do is give you the run around. They have had my system for over 2 months trying to fix the garbage they sell. Worse company out there for support. DONT BUY