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
Gaming Performance
It's actually a beautiful world we live in these days. With the 600 series, NVIDIA cards now support three simultaneous displays and single-GPU surround. This is practically necessary to get the most mileage out of today's high end GPUs; it takes a Far Cry 3 to really punish a modern GPU.
We'll start with the 1080p benchmarks, but you'll see the Revolt really has no trouble handling these games. For reference, it bears mentioning that the more "entry level" GeForce GTX 660 available in the Revolt is comparable in performance to the GTX 580. So while you can certainly spend up and get a model like our review configuration, the GTX 660 will be absolutely fine for 1080p gaming.
More than anything, what we're seeing here is a combination of the Revolt (and other review systems) being CPU limited and the strides forward NVIDIA has made with their driver updates for the 600 series. There's also a slight stock overclock on the 670 that iBuyPower chose, but note that this is still the least powerful 670 they offer for the Revolt. Since the 670's only deficiency compared to the GTX 680 is fewer shaders (all other specs are essentially equal), it's at times competitive with its senior brother.
Jump to surround and we can't really run Battlefield 3 with anti-aliasing anymore, but everything else is still totally playable.
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rRansom - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
Say what?danjw - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
I just went did a configure on their website. If I go with Windows 7, they insist on installing Microsoft Office on it. I say no to spamware! Just plain old no! I thought they were a boutique, there is no place for spamware from a boutique!damianrobertjones - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
Is your post a joke? MS Office isn't spamware and if you don't like it then un-install it?Netscorer - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
At least they allow you to configure this PC with no OS. If you have a Windows license that can be recycled from previous built (like most self-respecting people would have in drones), you can have your wish of spam-free install and save some money too.bah12 - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Really most self-respecting people have a full retail copy of Windows? I find it odd that very many people would shell out $199 for the full retail copy.Technically speaking Microsoft only has 1 version that you can install on your own "naked" box. That is the full retail. OEM is not legal for personal use, though everyone does it (as do I).
freedom4556 - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - link
Hogwash, OEM is perfectly OK for personal use, you simply give up Windows support from Microsoft. You're taking on the role of OEM yourself when you build your own machine, which makes you resposible for your own support. Just how Dell supports Windows on Dell machines, you support Windows on machines you build from scratch if you use the OEM version. Full retail gets you direct phone/chat/email support from Microsoft, which is why the added cost.kyuu - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
I like the case design and the fact that a boutique is actually approaching being price-competitive with building your own rig.I'm not going to buy one when they don't give the option of anything but Intel for CPU (not that I'd use anything but Intel for a desktop CPU at the moment, admittedly) and, more importantly, don't offer any AMD graphics solutions whatsoever.
da_cm - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
I guess the reason for Intel only CPUs is the custom motherboard. They would have had to design an other version for AMD CPUs to fit.That said, personally, I would love to see a configuration with an FX-6300 and a 7850/7870 with a reasonable price tag as it's better CPU-GPU balance than a 3570k and a GTX660 or 650.
tim851 - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
So you want them to offer an AMD CPU although you wouldn't buy one... yeah, they'll really want you as their customer. What other options you would't consider should they offer?karasaj - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
I'd rather have something like an i3-3220 (or the updated version with slightly better clock?) instead of an FX-6300. Similar price (if not less expensive), but enormously higher single threaded performance = better for most and competitive for all games.http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/699?vs=677&...
Note: There is an i3-3240 with an extra 100mhz on the clock compared to the 3220. So that would be a tiny performance boost to what you see here. The 3220 slots in 10-20$ less than an FX-6300, but the 3240 is 10$ more. BUT the 6300 also consumes more than twice as much power, which would almost definitely make up that 10$ in a year.