Origin Chronos Review: The Ultimate LAN Box?
by Dustin Sklavos on July 27, 2012 3:01 AM ESTGaming Performance
We're at the point now with high end graphics hardware where even surround resolutions are typically more than playable in all but the most taxing games. As such, 1080p gaming doesn't pose much of a challenge to the GTX 670 in the Origin Chronos, and in many instances we're actually going to be CPU bound even at these very high settings.
You see what I mean. The most taxing game here is Battlefield 3, and even then we're looking at framerates north of the magic 60fps mark. Everything else is basically trying to maximize both CPU and GPU power as much as possible, and bottlenecks shift from benchmark to benchmark instead of just being consistently GPU limited.
Our surround testing hammers the graphics cards and the result is almost every card falls neatly in line. Notice how the GTX 680 has a very hard time separating itself from the 670, while the 670 in turn hangs with the Radeon HD 7970. If you want to do surround gaming, you can easily do it on the Chronos and will only have to really turn settings down in Batman: Arkham City and Battlefield 3; everything else runs pretty fluidly.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
32 Comments
View All Comments
dman3k - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
Can someone tell me what psu they are using in here?I got a Silverstone SFF PSU like Anandtech recommended, and now I have to buy molex to SATA power adaptors because it does not have enough SATA power plugs and that the cable is too short if you have an ODD and three HDD.
HCAIT - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
They say it in the specs on the first page. 550W Corsair TX550MHisDivineOrder - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
Also shows you what PSU in the picture of the layout.zero2dash - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
Looks very clean and nicely built.headbox - Saturday, July 28, 2012 - link
you mean "Looks like an Apple PowerMac G3 from 13 years ago"sulu1977 - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
I'd prefer to have most of the USB 3.0 and eSATA ports in the front, not the back or the side. Messing around the back of the case is usually a pain in the donkey.xweb - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
The one thing I look for in these reviews that is missing is sound measurements. Does this thing sound like a blow dryer under load?cknobman - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
I would buy this thing in a heartbeat!!!It really does look like one of the most well designed, thought out, and executed LAN builds I have ever seen.
No signs of cost cutting anywhere and IF you can really get that configuration for $1499 it really is sold at a reasonable price.
WOW
ImSpartacus - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
Grabbing everything from Newegg (except the disk drive, OS & OOS case) comes to $1248 (using coupons). Toss in $80 for the case and about $30 for the LG GT60N disk drive. and we're past $1350. Then add in a $40 Windows 8 (or retroactive 7) license with the double upgrade method and we're at $1400.So Origin gets about $100 to build, overclock and warranty this machine. If I had the money, this would be a tempting purchase.
graf1k - Saturday, July 28, 2012 - link
Well, they are going to get a better price on all those parts than you or I would buying @ retail from a company like Newegg, but still it's a competitive price either way.