Gaming System Review: Überclok's Ion

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Hardware Continued: Internal Components

The Ion PC configuration Überclok delivered was only a moderate step up from the brand’s base model, relying on overclocking rather than expensive components to provide optimized performance. Let’s take a closer look at the parts.

Überclok gets its overclocking advantage by starting with an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor, its Wolfdale core famed for reaching clock speeds in excess of 4.0 GHz with proper cooling.

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The Xigmatek HDT-S1284 uses a 120 mm fan and direct-contact heat-pipes to keep the overclocked E8400 cool and stable. Überclok assures high contact pressure by using Xigmatek’s optional ACK-I7751 screw-down mounting brackets, rather than the cooler’s standard push-pin clips.

Gigabyte’s EP35-DS3L is already a favorite among Tom’s Hardware readers for budget overclocking systems, so Überclok’s choice was easy.

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Corsair’s DDR2-800 XMS2 CAS 4 offers top performance at a lower cost than the same brand of DDR2-1066, but offers similar overclocking potential.

Seagate’s 500 GB Barracuda 7200.11 series is fairly fast, and Überclok chose the most potent version with 32MB cache.

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The most important part of a mainstream gaming system is the graphics card, and AMD has released a clear value leader in the HD 4850. Überclok wouldn’t settle for just any HD 4850 however, and the company picked Sapphire’s overclocked Toxic Edition for its 675 MHz clock speed and 512MB GDDR3-2200 memory.

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.
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kitsilencer
    Sensible, still-under-warranty overclocking. Those words don't belong together.

    Overclocking should be about using liquid nitrogen, pushing pash 5.5GHz, and shortening the lifespan of the chip to 3 hours. Not years.

    But still, I'd buy this PC.
    Reply
  • ap90033
    Uh why worry about Three Year Warranty? WHat you do is build it then sell it after a year or two and put that $600 you would have had to use on the Above system and you have a brand new latest and greatest system.

    I do this every year or two and end up paying out of pocket $300 or so and for around 8 years now I always have a very current system in warranty...
    Reply
  • ap90033
    Oh and kit, overclocking is so much more accepted and used. A lot of people overclock a little for say a 10% gain but keep it safe...

    Why would you only want your chip to last three hours anyway? Thats STUPID! Goof...
    Reply
  • randomizer
    ap90033Why would you only want your chip to last three hours anyway?E-peen of course!
    Reply
  • kitsilencer
    Of course E-peen. Plus I'd get featured as an article.
    Reply
  • kittle
    kitsilencerOf course E-peen. Plus I'd get featured as an article.15min of fame for a chip with a 3hr lifespan?

    each to their own....
    Reply
  • ThePatriot
    Entertaining a niche market...... clever move.
    Reply
  • guyladouche
    kitsilencerSensible, still-under-warranty overclocking. Those words don't belong together.Overclocking should be about using liquid nitrogen, pushing pash 5.5GHz, and shortening the lifespan of the chip to 3 hours. Not years.But still, I'd buy this PC.
    It's warrantied by Uberclock, not by the component manufacturers--hence the addition of $600 to the price tag for the insurance (aka warranty). So if something like the CPU dies, getting it replaced (for free apparently) has nothing to do with the manufacturer.
    Reply
  • guyladouche
    It's a nice idea, but I don't see this going anywhere because of the terrible problems they could likely encounter with need for support/returns. One simple BSOD loop would require the entire rig to be shipped back for analysis (if the user isn't computer-savvy, which is likely the demographic they're aiming at). I wonder if the $600 overhead (in addition to whatever profits they make on the system as a whole) will recoup it? I remember "back in the day" when monarch computers would custom-build systems (no overclocking) and they went belly-up with all the returns and warranty-service (granted, if things are built carefully, there are rarely any needs for services after sale).
    Reply
  • skalagon
    $600 security for $1100 components is retarded. This is only usefull if the entire pc dies. However its likely that only maybe 2 parts will die completely within the 3 year warranty time and even that is a long shot. So lets say two parts die,the cpu and the hardrive and Uberclock replace them. That means youve paid $600 for two parts worth about $270 together.
    Granted the stock parts would not be overclocked but with the spare $600 you can buy a quadcore, a better gpu, a larger hardrive and better ram, so it will probly be faster. There is no point buying this pc except if you plan on spilling a pint of water onto it. (or i suppose just so you can say "it's overclocked man!")
    Reply