PCSpecialist Onyx Desktop Review (i5-14400F/4070)

Out of the box, the ASUS Performance Enhancement 3.0 setting is disabled in BIOS. This applies default stock Intel power limits of 65W PL1 and 145W PL2.

This setting makes a noticeable difference to the results when running a Cinebench Multicore benchmark. Enabling this setting and therefore removing the very cautious power limits saw the score increase by roughly 2400 points.

Moving through the remaining tests, the system was returned to its ‘out of the box' state to better reflect the performance any potential buyer would encounter. This saw the i5-14400F land at the bottom of the pile in Cinebench single-core when compared to various other Intel processors.

Comparing the Onyx desktop to some previously reviewed PCSpecialist machines in 3DMark Time Spy also sees the system come up at the bottom of the pile, though it is very close indeed. For full details, specs and pricing of these systems, check our full review over on YouTube.

The DDR5 memory in the Onyx desktop performed quite well during our AIDA64 benchmark. Read speeds were 76923MB/s and write speeds came in at 72740MB/s.

Finally, in PC Mark 10 the Onyx shows a clear strong point in the content creation category – thanks no doubt in part to the RTX 4070 graphics hardware.

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