3DMark Vantage
As we mentioned in previous reviews, 3DMark Vantage has replaced 3DMark06 in our test suite, and though the new payment scheme is inconvenient, it is still user reproducible. Vantage runs on Windows Vista only, and has four different default test settings: Entry, Performance, High, and Extreme.
The Gamer Paladin is only equipped with one HD 4870, and it simply can't keep up against systems with twice the GPU power like the CyberPower and the Edge Z55. The Maingear F131 (a Core2 Duo E8400 at 4.0 GHz with an NVIDIA GTX 260) matches the Paladin at High and Extreme levels where the GPU becomes the overriding bottleneck.
Crysis
Crysis is getting old, but it still stresses even the most recent PC hardware. This demo has two built-in benchmarks in the "bin32" folder, one "CPU" and the other "GPU". We ran all benchmarks three times, discarding the first result and averaging the other two. We ran all tests at "High" quality unless otherwise specified.
As indicated in 3DMark, we see the F131 and the Gamer Paladin neck and neck at high resolution without any anti-aliasing. However, with 4XAA enabled, the Paladin takes a solid lead. The CyberPower system has an HD 4870X2 2GB card, so comparing those results to the Paladin along with Derek's excellent article on two-GPU options should give a good feel for the performance boost possible with a GPU upgrade or SLI configuration.
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2 is a new addition to our test suite. It's a fun game with great ratings, and has a fantastic built in benchmarking tool (located in the "bin" folder with the executable, or right-click on the shortcut in Games Explorer and select "Benchmark"). We've chosen to run our system tests with the reproducible settings shown below:
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Far Cry 2 has good performance scaling in general, and AMD's new drivers have significantly improved stability and performance. The system is very playable at 1920x1200, but is completely trounced in the numbers by the CyberPower system.
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Hxx - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
You're basically paying $255 for the commodity of having it aseembled for you.san1s - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
don't forget paying for the building the computer was assembled in, the worker's wages, power/water bills...$255 over is a very good deal
Rasterman - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
I totally agree, in fact its quite a good deal IMO, if you are building a similarly specced machine you would be crazy not to just get a pre built one with being fully tested, warranty, etc, although I think the case is quite ugly in this one IMO. I was astonished how little markup there is, I thought it would be well over $400.What I would love to see is Newegg or Zipzoomfly offer a build option, order all your parts from them, and pay them $200 or whatever to completely assemble, test, and warranty the build, that would be awesome. Probably the biggest bonus I can see to this is getting a known working system, I can't stress how infuriating it is to get all your parts and build your system only to find out one component is bad then having to wait to get another. With a build option they could handle all of this for you and more quickly. And even worse is getting a glitchy product that causes intermittent problems.
Hxx - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
FYI u can get a glitchy product that causes intermittent problems with a prebuilt computer too. They're just "testing" it - whatever that means.vol7ron - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
i agree. and not only that, moved into an apartment where i dont really have space to build anymore. this is what i'm looking at doing next.MadMan007 - Monday, April 20, 2009 - link
How much space do you need to build a PC?poohbear - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
why do u guys even bother reviewing these pre-built fully loaded systems? most of us are enthusiasts that like to MAKE our own comps, it takes all the fun out of it if u pay someone else to build it for u. Seriously, just review parts, who cares what some company that caters to rich folks can offer.snookie - Monday, June 1, 2009 - link
"most of us are enthusiasts that like to MAKE our own comps,"Most of us? Who are most of us?
Check their prices. Hardly catering to "rich folks".
Hxx - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
I agree, however unfortunately not everybody can follow a walkthrough on "how to build ur own computer in a few easy steps".vol7ron - Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - link
it's not a waste of time. putting my own parts together was fun when i had time (and excess parts to test). it's no fun when you have multiple dead parts all at the same time and you don't know what it is, with no voltmeter to check.this is exactly as someone else said, taking newegg, putting it together, and charging a premium for the service. it's like getting a dell, with actually good parts. not to mention, if it's not working when you get it, just send it back; no need to hassle with the testing.
i also would like to see other "competitors" in this genre as cyberpower seems to be the only one and they're a little pricey.