Previews - Phenom II X3 AM3 @ 3.7GHz: CyberPower sticks it in a system

[HEXUS]

Worth £1,200 for a base unit?

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[MadduckUK]

no of course not, but it means ill be looking at 3.7+ without a huge amount of fuss when i get one. which is nice

[Infinite]

for £1200 you could easily get a Corei7

[scaryjim]

no of course not, but it means ill be looking at 3.7+ without a huge amount of fuss when i get one. which is nice

And since the CPU in here is basically identical to the 710 bar the multiplier, it also bodes very well for AMD overclocking in the midrange My problem is I'll have to shell out over £150 on a new monitor to make it worth building a system around one!!

for £1200 you could easily get a Corei7

True, but could you get a Core i7 system that's prebuilt, watercooled, overclocked, with otherwise identical specs (and presumably only 3GB RAM instead of 4)? The cost / value of a computer isn't solely based on the processor at it's heart, regardless of what Intel's marketing team would like you to believe Besides, based on the rest of this spec a Core i7 wouldn't actually make a significant difference to gaming performance, so what's the point?

On the other hand, I'm concerned at the total price given that the CPU, mobo, memory and graphics card together shouldn't set you back more than £600 at retail prices...

[Vulcanite]

Considering you can get 3.6 out of an i7 on air with no problems it will be interesting to read the full review and see if the water cooling is worth it. Also if you're going to add the GPU into the loop they will need to add a second rad and that's probably not them market they are targeting?

Cable management looks a little shocking from those pics

[teh_masterer]

Anyone know the specs for the watercooling system in that?

[kingpotnoodle]

Looks flawed to me...

The chipset/VRM coolers looks as though would expect some airflow spilling off the CPU fan but has none, there is a huge air bubble in the tube at the top and the cable management isn't great.

[scaryjim]

The chipset/VRM coolers looks as though would expect some airflow spilling off the CPU fan but has none

As long as there is airflow through the case (and with at least 2x120mm fans there should be plenty) that shouldn't be a huge issue - I'd be very worried about chipset heatsinks that *required* CPU fan airflow to work effectively...

there is a huge air bubble in the tube at the top

Assuming that's the inflow back to reservoir that's not an issue either, as the bubble will be pushed into the reservoir and will vent out - remember this isn't a closed system! However, if that is the case I'm worried about the flow direction, because that tube comes straight from the CPU block, which means that you're pumping hot water into your reservoir before it goes through the radiator! Surely that can't be right?

[Brewster0101]

Considering you can get 3.6 out of an i7 on air with no problems it will be interesting to read the full review and see if the water cooling is worth it. Also if you're going to add the GPU into the loop they will need to add a second rad and that's probably not them market they are targeting?

Cable management looks a little shocking from those pics

Not sure you can compare the X3 720 against the i7 as there is a 100% price difference.... Also that rad with some fast fans would cool CPU and GPU, just not that brilliant (but its not a pro build) but the cable do look dam untidy. Stupid considering the case has good cable management.