Origin PC Chronos: Two GeForce GTX 780 Tis In A Mini Gaming Cube

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Origin PC proves you can get two GeForce GTX 780 Tis and a heavily overclocked Core i7-4770K into a microATX form factor using BitFenix's popular Phenom M chassis. Yes, the combination is expensive, but it's also oh-so fast. We deconstruct it for you.

Test Settings And Benchmark Configuration

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Test Hardware Configurations
Row 0 - Cell 0 Origin PC Chronos AVADirect Mini Gaming PC Lenovo Erazer X700 ASRock M8 $1535 Build SBM $2550 Performance PC
Processor (Overclock) Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5 GHz, Four Physical Cores O/C to 4.70 GHz, 1.17-1.28 V Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5 GHz, Four Physical Cores O/C to 4.20 GHz, 1.15-1.25 V Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2 GHz, Six Physical Cores O/C to 3.90 GHz, 1.41 V Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5 GHz, Four Physical Cores O/C to 4.10 GHz, 1.08 V Intel Core i7-3930K 3.20 GHz, Six Physical CoresO/C to 4.20 GHz, 1.25 V
Graphics (Overclock) 2x Nvidia GTX 780 Ti: 889-941 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-7000, O/C to 1078 MHz, GDDR5-7400 Asus GTX 780: 889-941 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-6008 AMD Radeon HD 8950: 925 MHz GPU, GDDR5-5000 EVGA GTX 760: 980-1033 MHz GPU, GDDR5-6008 O/C to 1200 MHz GDDR5-7200 3x EVGA GTX-760: 980-1033 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-6008 O/C to 1130 MHz GDDR5-6680
Memory (Overclock) 16 GB Corsair DDR3-1866 CAS 9-10-9-27, 1.50 V 8 GB Kingston DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-27, 1.50 V 16 GB Hyundai DDR3-1600 CAS 11-11-11-28, 1.50 V 8 GB Kingston DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-24, O/C to DDR3-1600 8-9-8-21, 1.50 V 16 GB Mushkin DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-24, Not Overclockable
Motherboard (Overclock) MSI Z87I: Mini ITX, LGA 1150 Intel Z87 Express, Stock 100 MHz BCLK MSI Z87I: Mini ITX, LGA 1150 Intel Z87 Express, Stock 100 MHz BCLK Lenovo 10122: Micro ATX, LGA 2011, Intel X79 Express, Stock 100 MHz BCLK ASRock Z87 M8: Mini ITX, LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express, Stock 100 MHz BCLK ASRock X79 Extreme6: ATX, LGA 2011, Intel X79 Express, Stock 100 MHz BCLK
Optical None LG BH16NS40: 16x BDR / DVD±R PLDS DH12B2SH 12X BDR 16x DVD±R Lite-On DC-8A2SH 8x DVDRW Pioneer BDR-2208: 15x BD-R
Case BitFenix Phenom-M Lian Li PC-Q28B Lenovo X7 series Mid Tower ASRock M8 Lian Li PC-9NA
CPU Cooler Origin Frostbyte 120 Cooler Master Seidon 120M Asetek 120 x38 mm Closed Loop Liquid Cooler Xigmatek CAC-EXAI6-U01 With Noctua NF-F12 Fan Noctua NH-D14 SE2011
Hard Drive Samsung 840 MZ-7TE1T0BW 1 TB SATA 6Gb/s SSD 2 x Kingston HyperX 3K 120 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD Samsung 830 MZ7PC128HAFU 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD Samsung MZ-7PD256BW: 256 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD Mushkin Chronos Deluxe DX 240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD
Power Corsair 850TX: 850 W Modular, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Bronze Corsair 650TX: 650 W Modular, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Bronze AcBel FS8003: 625 W, 80 PLUS Gold FSP450-60GHS(85)-R: 450 W, SFX, 80 PLUS Bronze Corsair HX850: 850 W Modular, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OS Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64
Graphics Nvidia GeForce 331.82 Nvidia GeForce 331.65 AMD Catalyst 13.9 Nvidia GeForce 320.49 WHQL Nvidia GeForce 326.80 Beta
Chipset Intel INF 9.4.0.1017 Intel INF 9.4.0.1017 Intel INF 9.3.0.1026 Intel INF 9.4.0.1017 Intel INF 9.3.0.1026

Origin PC’s overclocks look fairly impressive, so we took a few screen shots to prove them. Though CPU and GPU frequencies are particularly high, the firm stuck with the DRAM’s XMP configuration.

By including some of our older benchmarks, we’re able to compare Origin PC’s $4215 machine to our five most recent “top builds”. We’re working on some benchmark updates, but it will take some time before we once again have a collection of same-setting data across five systems.

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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Battlefield 3 Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" 90-Second Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Quality Defaults (No AA, 4x AF) Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Defaults (4x AA, 16x AF)
F1 2012 Steam Version, In-Game Test Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Update 1.5.26, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25 Seconds Fraps Test Set 1: DX11, High Details No AA, 8x AF, FXAA enabled Test Set 2: DX11, Ultra Details, 8x AA, 16x AF, FXAA enabled
Far Cry 3 V. 1.04, DirectX 11, 50-sec. Fraps "Amanaki Outpost" Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA, Standard ATC., SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 4x MSAA, Enhanced ATC, HDAO
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe After Effects CS6 Version 11.0.0.378 x64: Create Video which includes 3 Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 Version 6.0.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes Version 11.0.4.4 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format
Lame MP3 Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
Handbrake CLI Version: 0.99: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile)
TotalCode Studio 2.5 Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Productivity
ABBYY FineReader Version 10.0.102.95: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Adobe Acrobat 11 Version 11.0.0.379: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption
Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 Version 15.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080
Blender Version: 2.67b, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1
Visual Studio 2010 Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted
File Compression
WinZip Version 17.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
WinRAR Version 4.2: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
7-Zip Version 9.28: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11 Version: 1.0.3, Benchmark Only
PCMark 8 Version: 1.0.0 x64, Full Test
SiSoftware Sandra 2013 Version 2013.10.19.50, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Cryptography, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
35 Comments Comment from the forums
  • envy14tpe
    But that price tag. Yikes!
    Reply
  • sbudbud
    Price is stupid, kill it with fire!!!
    Reply
  • Kingpin007
    great one would love to have one... if i had the money
    Reply
  • outlw6669
    Ouch, that is expensive!
    Loving the small form factor and performance though.

    How loud does this system have to get to handle all that heat?
    I am guessing that it will be pretty noisy; probably the biggest downside to putting so much performance in such a small package.
    Reply
  • bemused_fred
    21+73=94.That's a 94c peak CPU temp! Jay-soos! I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing.....
    Reply
  • Crashman
    12551434 said:
    Ouch, that is expensive!
    Loving the small form factor and performance though.

    How loud does this system have to get to handle all that heat?
    I am guessing that it will be pretty noisy; probably the biggest downside to putting so much performance in such a small package.
    Nope, it's quiet. The reason it's quiet is that it uses GeForce 780 Ti's. They use what's probably the best GPU cooler ever devised.

    12551444 said:
    21+73=94.That's a 94c peak CPU temp! Jay-soos! I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing.....
    Ah, but 17+73=90. It never reached max fan speed :)
    Reply
  • outlw6669
    12551478 said:
    Nope, it's quiet. The reason it's quiet is that it uses GeForce 780 Ti's. They use what's probably the best GPU cooler ever devised.

    Quiet, powerful and a small footprint.
    That is a great combination in my book :)
    Reply
  • Zeh
    I'd rather not have a 1 TB SSD. It's expensive as it is and 256gb is more than enough, at least for me. Heck, I have a 60gb and I'm fine with it.
    Reply
  • quilciri
    I have a pair of 120gb ssd's in raid0, and it's nearly full with about 1/4 of my steam library, I'd like a 1tb ssd, but really don't want to shell out for one. the Hybrid drives are looking prety good, though. I'm suprised, with all the other money they dumped into this system that the storage drive wasn't a hybrid.
    Reply
  • larsoncc
    The internals are just amazing. Look at how beautifully compact it all is. I bet it's surprisingly heavy for its size; those 850W power supplies have some heft to them.
    Reply