Xotic PC
Xotic PC’s Recon distinguishes itself by straddling a few lines. It’s not as massive as some of the other PCs in our contest, and it’s not small. It’s neither specifically affordable nor obscenely-priced. It’s not the highest-end system on display, but it's still very well-balanced for gaming.
How so? On the previous page we mentioned some of Nvidia's fastest GPUs. This platform leverages two GeForce GTX 780 Ti graphics cards in SLI, which drop onto Gigabyte's X99-Gaming-G1 motherboard. They're complemented by Intel's Core i7-5930K processor sporting six cores, an unlocked multiplier, and a 15 MB L3 cache. While we consider the -5820K to be a savvier value, the -5930K does offer 40 lanes of PCIe 3.0 connectivity compared to the -5820K's 28. As a result, the GeForces get their own 16-lane links, leaving plenty of PCI Express left over for high-speed storage or networking via add-in cards.
All of that hardware slides into a Corsair 600T chassis with side windows. The host processor is topped by the same company's H55 closed-loop liquid cooler. Corsair additionally provides power in the form of its AX1200i, rated for up to 1200 W. That's more than enough for an aggressively-overclocked Haswell-E CPU and two potent graphics cards.
Of course, we’re still missing a few parts. Xotic PC also includes a 256 GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD and a 4 TB hard drive, creating a smartly-tiered storage subsystem. You get 8 GB of DDR4-2666 memory in a dual-channel arrangement, a 16x Blu-ray burner, and Windows 8.1, too. This Recon is covered by a three-year platinum warranty with lifetime labor and lifetime 24-hour phone-based tech support. The price as-configured is $5541, and you can read more about the Recon on Xotic PC's site.
Vote, And Enter To Win!
You've seen the specs, the pricing, and the pictures. Now it's time to choose your three favorites. Click here to go to our contest page. Read the rules and select the three builds that you'd like to see receive Tom's Hardware Approved recognition.
