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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mariush - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
Too bad you're not actually posting some pictures of the actual motherboard and case internals.You say it's custom but it would be nice to see who exactly makes it or what model of motherboard is the base this motherboard was customized from.
Surely it's not a 100% custom design.
RDO CA - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
Sooooo when do you read the article?secretmanofagent - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
Too bad I'm not putting together words that represent a thoughtful contribution.You say it's custom, and then you go into detail exactly what it is in the conclusion.
Surely I should have read the article 100% before bitching.
arnavvdesai - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
I was hoping the author can answer some of the following questions1) Is there space for one more 3.5" HDD?
2) Is there space for one 2.5" SSD and one 3.5" HDD?
While I understand that most of the system is accessible by removing a phillips screws, can I at some point change the Video Card personally when a new one comes out or is it in some way fixed permanently with the system when I purchase one.
I am really interested in the system size and the MB they provide and would like to get something this small, so is there something case/MB wise that I can get to put below my TV? The mITX cases I have seen so far on NewEgg or Amazon all seem to be towers and largish (roughly the size of a large AV reciever).
Is there an option to get a BD drive instead of a DVD drive?
DanNeely - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
You can configure it with an SSD and an HDD. The wizard won't let you pick 2 HDDs (throws an error message) so the second bay is almost certainly only 2.5". Surprisingly it doesn't have an option for two SSDs; since in the past I've read that butiques were claiming it was a customer demanded config when they sent raid 0 SSD review systems out.jnemesh - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
It has one 3.5" bay, one 2.5" bay, and one mSATA slot. It would not let me configure all three filled, but you should be able to have 3 drives internal if one is a SSD using mSATA.tipoo - Saturday, February 16, 2013 - link
Shame they killed it rather than continuing to upgrade it. They were early to this segment and instead of capitalizing on their lead they let it die off. Sounds familiar for them.Earthmonger - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
Not interested much, but I did read it. Thanks for the work Dustin. Kept me occupied for fifteen minutes on this boring Sunday, and I appreciate that.This isn't for PC Gaming enthusiasts; they would want the security of an upgradable machine.
This is just for console gamers who'd like to expand their options to PC games. With a disposable machine.
I keep wondering why they want to shrink these "living room boxes". You could accomplish so much more in something the size of a HT subwoofer enclosure without grossly scandalizing the living room.
I'd like to agree with the earlier comment complaining about the MS Office inclusion. It should be the consumer's option to receive the product with a completely blank drive, if they wish it. These back-office deals have always PO'd me, I don't need a bloated, ghost'ed drive. But in this case I have to remember the demographic this was built for, which isn't me. Can't deduct for that.
The case design is hideous. I've seen it before, on an $8 plastic clothes hamper at Wal*Mart. Reminiscent of something the new Johnny Hou would draw up.
Dustin Sklavos - Sunday, February 17, 2013 - link
Uh...this is upgradable.Earthmonger - Monday, February 18, 2013 - link
Is it? Swap out the PSU, GPU, toss in an AMD CPU, motherboard? Hmm. I was under the impression that space was limited, and PSU/GPU length and mainboard config would be an issue.