DigitalStorm BlackOps: Almost Too Fast
by Dustin Sklavos on December 29, 2010 12:45 AM ESTApplication and Futuremark Performance
It's not unreasonable to expect that given the blisteringly fast overclock on the Intel Core i7-950, the DigitalStorm BlackOps we have on hand should dominate our benchmarks. This is only made more apparent by the Corsair Force SSD (which PCMark Vantage is going to love) and the SLI'd GeForce GTX 580s. So just how much of a lead can the BlackOps pull?
And there it is. The BlackOps posts its only loss in Cinebench's multi-CPU test, but the score is so close to the i7-875K powering the CyberPower desktop that it's barely worth mentioning. To be fair, though, the CyberPower unit costs a little over half what the BlackOps does. Of course, when we move into 3DMark we can expect to see where that price difference really comes in.
While 3DMarks 06 and 05 seem to be almost CPU-limited, the BlackOps tears away from the pack in 03 and Vantage thanks to the massive performance of the SLI'd GeForce GTX 580s. The closest competition comes from the iBuyPower unit with the SLI GTX 470s, but it's nowhere near what the BlackOps is capable of. When we get into our gaming benchmarks on the next page, that's only going to be more apparent.
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purrcatian - Saturday, January 1, 2011 - link
The article mentions that they used a cheap power supply, but it never mentions which one. What is it? That really matters. From the pictures it kinda looks like the CoolMax one that ZZF has for $99.99 with free shipping (currently out of stock), but everyone on Newegg said that it wouldn't last more than a year, sometimes only lasting only few weeks with the average appearing to be a few months, and it would sometimes fry some parts when it died. That could be a real deal breaker if the PSU keeps dieing, especially if it takes your data with it.Jgg@0115 - Sunday, January 2, 2011 - link
I am the type of guy who would consider a boutique computer store. I do not know enough about computer to overclock. I have tried and it does not work. Maybe its parts on the pc, maybe its my general ignornace, and/or maybe it the guide I followed.My friends who can and do build systems all advise not to over clock under any circumstances. If I take them a bunch of parts they will not do it. Si I am left with the alternative of cobbling together systems that need upgrades every other year or I can buy a more reasonably priced overclocked DS Assasin for about $2.5k.
oldscotch - Sunday, January 2, 2011 - link
You can often buy pre-overclocked video cards with full warranty, eVGA, XFX, MSI, etc - look around for reviews on specific cards to see how the performance improves.As to processors, well you still have to do that on your own if you want. But it's dead easy if you buy a black edition AMD cpu. You literally adjust one setting and that's it.
akash1988 - Sunday, January 2, 2011 - link
This is pure wastage. You can buy 11 PlayStation 3, with this amount. So 11 gamers could benefit, and can play games in HD, and also enjoy exclusives like God of War 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain, etc.. which wont be on the PCs.So buying such a rig for PC gaming is pure foolishness.
mlambert890 - Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - link
Yes, good comment.. PCs are ridiculous. The pS3 is all anyone needs for gaming... Now why are you on Anand?Hrel - Sunday, January 2, 2011 - link
Nice to see 1080p used in the benchmarks. Can't wait for Bench to get fully upgraded. Hopefully, at least for the $200 and lower GPU's, you'll include results for 1600x900 and 720p.