Origin's Genesis: Flagship Bling
by Dustin Sklavos on April 2, 2011 2:00 PM ESTConclusion: Good Value, Mixed Results
One thing that's important to keep in mind is that for what's fundamentally a boutique desktop gaming machine, the Origin Genesis (at least in our review configuration) delivers. The performance is there to do what you need to and then some, and the SLI GeForce GTX 560 Ti proves to be the right call for getting a good balance of price and performance.
That's really the tack I want to take with the Genesis, too: the price is right. Our configuration is pretty beefy and uses a lot of the latest and greatest, but I don't feel like the pricetag is particularly onerous. Origin will overclock the i7-2600K to these speeds basically for free, and none of their upgrade prices are particularly outlandish. Paying north of $2,500 for a machine feels steep, but everything in this build is quality. Putting together a similar configuration on NewEgg runs roughly $2,200 (including the Windows 7 license), so Origin's markup on the Genesis feels reasonable for what you get.
Well, everything except the processor in our review unit and the cooler, apparently. The overclock was properly tuned to use an offset voltage, but there seemed to be no fan control on the cooler, which just ran like a maniac and made reviewing the Genesis less than enjoyable. The push-pull fan configuration just meant two fans making a racket. And then the voltage the processor needed resulted in high power consumption and thermals. We can't really ding Origin for that since overclocking is a crapshoot to begin with and even their techs told us the processor was a little more power hungry than the norm, but we can ding them for the mediocre cooler.
As a whole, though, the Genesis is easy enough to recommend given the quality case and otherwise optimal components Origin chooses to use in the build. The bling of the LEDs isn't going to be for everybody (remotes are included to change the colors!) but the Graphite 600T's more austere appearance makes up for the gaudiness to an extent and prevents the machine from looking full-blown spinning-rims crazy. Of course, you can choose another case for your build, too, and Origin's selection doesn't have a weak link among them.
But when you order, be sure to have a power screwdriver and someone with good upper body strength on hand to help you open that wooden crate.
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JarredWalton - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - link
And I've got an i7-965 Extreme that won't run reliably at 4.0GHz without excessive voltage. It's very likely in my experience overclocking that they needed the voltage boost to get 4.5GHz stable.I remember the old Celeron 300A days: "All of these can overclock to 450MHz just by changing the bus, and then you have the equivalent of a Pentium II 450 for less than half the price!"
Guess what? Between myself and a couple friends, we bought about ten 300A CPUs. One would do 504MHz (112MHz FSB), one more would run at 450MHz without trouble. Two would boot 450 but were unstable if you wanted the PC to run 24/7. The remaining six all topped out at 374MHz (83 FSB). I've seen similar things on a lot of "guaranteed overclocks" during the years, and never mind the "100% stable" overclocks I've had that started having problems after 6-12 months.
Actually, that last is one reason to buy a system from some place like Origin. If you get their 3-year warranty and the system overclock starts going AWOL after a year or 18 months, you're still covered. I've had at least five somewhat recent CPUs peter out and die on me after running apparently fine for a year or more. (Pentium D 820, Pentium D 920, Athlon 3200+, Athlon X2 3800+, and Athlon X2 5000+ all come to mind.) So basically, I support what Assimilator said, which is in essence: YMMV.
tsekh - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - link
As you said, yours is a i7-965. For the i7-2600k's, 4Ghz OC is like a walk in the park in gneral.erple2 - Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - link
Sometimes, the park is filled with dog poo, however. So that walk isn't so easy to do without being very careful, and upping the voltage.Again, not all i7-2600k's will run at 4 GHz with stock everything. Statistics tells me quite well that you can't say "all" without testing every single last one out there. Which I'm pretty sure you haven't. Unless you're that jerk that broke into my house the other day to test my i7-2600K.
If you continue to claim how it's easy to do for "most" of these SB chips, then I'll continue to pick nits about how "most" or "many" or "almost all" does not equal "all".
Chris Simmo - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - link
@tsekhI have built 4 i7 2600K systems @ 4.8GHz and have been able to build them with as little as 1.28v peak and load line on regular as well, but yes there are difficult chips. The worst 1 has had to have 1.42v with load line on high. 4 aren’t very many, but they are fluctuating a bit in voltage with high overclocks applied. The CPU’s had all power saving features enabled too. All C states
I work for a little computer shop and our flag ship 'off the shelf' system uses a Sabertooth P67, 16GB RAM, 120Gb Corsair SSD, 2TB Storage drive, Bluray combo, a HD6970 in an Antec 900 2 case with a GW 900w PSU and a Corsair H70.
If the Asetek cooler is the OEM cooler, those temps don't seem to compare to the Corsair H70. Even on the 1.42v i7 2600k system under Linx load only got to 68c max Core temps (not package) I'm guessing there is something different somewhere then......May not have to do with the cooler, maybe aircon or something
BigBadBiologist - Saturday, April 2, 2011 - link
I'm not sure why, but the Rosewill card reader sticks out like a sore thumb to me.tipoo - Saturday, April 2, 2011 - link
Its brushed metal whereas everything else is matteheadbox - Saturday, April 2, 2011 - link
So what exactly is a computer boutique? A shop that assembles off the shelf parts? Does Origin manufacture anything original at all? And $2,000+ for a cheap plastic case with kiddie windows and bling lights? Wow... PC makers just haven't caught on yet.wumpus - Saturday, April 2, 2011 - link
If I really want to feel old, I'll just think about how long Alienware has been in business. I think back when I bought an 386sx from ALR, they actually designed the thing, and often had some of the fastest machines around (whitebox computers caught up within a year or so).KoolAidMan1 - Saturday, April 2, 2011 - link
The Corsair 600T is actually a really good case. What case do you suggest that they use? I personally have a hard time recommending much outside of the Corsair and Silverstone cases.rscoot - Monday, April 4, 2011 - link
Personally, I'm more of a fan of the Corsair 800D than the 600T.