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Not everyone has the time or inclination to build their own system, so fortunately there are still a handful of companies in the United Kingdom selling custom builds. Today we look at the latest Fusion Ares system from Chillblast. This £1,399 build is equipped with an overclocked Core i7 5820k 6 core processor, R9 285 graphics card, Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5 motherboard, 16GB of fast DDR4 memory alongside a Samsung 840 EVO SSD. Is it worth the money?
Chillblast have been around for longer than a decade now, and while they initially supplemented their system builds by selling components, they have shifted their focus completely to creating custom rigs for a wide audience of enthusiast user.
The ChillBlast Fusion Ares System is targeting the gamer and features a checklist of award winning components. For peace of mind, Chillblast offer a 5 year Warranty with 2 years collect and return.
ChillBlast Fusion Ares Specification:
- NZXT H440 Black or White Case
- Intel Core i7 5820K Haswell-E 6-Core 3.60GHz Processor (Overclocked up to 4.2 GHz)
- Corsair Hydro Series H100i Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
- Generic thermal paste
- Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5 Motherboard
- 16GB Corsair/Crucial DDR4 2133MHz Memory (4 x 4GB sticks)
- AMD Radeon R9 285 X-Edition Video Card
- 250GB Samsung 840 EVO Solid State Drive
- 2000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk – 6Gbps
- Corsair CX 750W PSU
- Onboard High Definition Audio
- Windows 8.1 64 bit
- Standard Chillblast Cable Management
- 5 Year Warranty with 2 Years Collect and Return (UK only)
- Bullguard Internet Security 12 – Free 3 Month Trial!
Total Price £1399 inc VAT
The system is double boxed. The outer box contains the motherboard and graphics card box, along with extra padding for shipping. Inside, is the NZXT H440 chassis box with the system inside.
The NZXT H440 chassis is a beauty and the window panel shows off the system build nicely. We like how the case offers some sound proofing on the panels.
A ‘Chillblast' badge takes pride of place front of the case, at the bottom. Along the top of the case is a power button, and the connectivity panel. Its clean and attractive.
The Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5 Motherboard offers plenty of connectivity, especially if you have a plethora of USB devices. There are no less than 10 on the I/O panel at the rear.
The internal build is very tidy and we like the simplicity of the black and white colour scheme. Unfortunately the green PCB of the DDR4 memory is distracting to the eye.
The Samsung 840 Evo SSD is mounted neatly at the bottom of the system, just above the power supply.
The other side of the chassis hides most of the cabling – again the sound proofing is evident on the other panel as well.
Chillblast have opted for cost effective Crucial 2,133mhz DDR4 memory. (4x4GB sticks). Not the prettiest looking memory, and the green PCB somewhat ruins the overall appearance of the build, a little.
On this page we present some high resolution images of the product taken with a Fuji XT1 camera. These will take much longer to open due to the dimensions, especially on slower connections. If you use these pictures on another site or publication, please credit Kitguru.net as the owner/source.
The Chillblast Fusion Ares System is built around a Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5 Motherboard. The Intel Core i7 5820K Haswell-E 6-Core process is overclocked to 4.2ghz.
The install is clean, and we are pleased to note that Chillblast have not installed a ton of crapware on the system ‘out of the box'. (Ignore Grid Autosport, that was one of our own installs for testing).
Room ambient was held at 23c throughout testing.
Comparison Systems (for specific synthetic test compares):
CyberPower Achilles Pro
Case: InWin 904 Chassis
Power Supply: Corsair 750W Modular
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87 Gaming 3
RAM: 8GB DDR3 Kingston
SSD: 256GB Plextor PCI-E SSD
Graphics Card: Gigabyte GTX780 2GB GPU
Cooling: Cooler Master Seidon
AWD Ignis Aqua 290X 250D Mini ITX PC
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W Gold Certified Power Supply
CPU: Intel Core I5 4670K Overclocked @ 4.0Ghz (Liquid Cooled with XSPC Raystorm)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87N-Wifi Motherboard
RAM: 8GB DDR3 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit
Hard Drive: Seagate 1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive
SSD – Samsung 840 EVO 120GB Solid State Drive
Graphics Card: Radeon R9 290X (Liquid Cooled with R9 290x Block)
Sound: Realtek 7.1 High Definition Channel Sound (On-Board)
Optical Drive: N/A
Cooling: Custom XSPC Watercooling
Hazer Mini Gaming PC
Case: Bitfenix Colossus M Micro ATX Case – Black
Power Supply: Corsair VS450 450W Power Supply
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H81M-S2PV Motherboard
Processor: Intel Core i3 4130 3.4GHz Dual Core Processor
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 750 Ti 2GB Graphics Card
Audio: Onboard 7.1 Surround Sound Audio
Optical Drive: 24x DVD Re-Writer
SSD: Kingston SSDNow V300 60GB SATA3 6Gbs Solid State Drive
HDD: 1TB SATA3 6Gbs Hard Drive
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB 1600MHz Memory
Mesh Elite Mini Gamer Plus:
Power Supply: 750W Cooler Master GX RS-750, 85% Eff’, 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire.
Motherboard: MSI Z87I WIFI – Mini-ITX Motherboard Socket 1150.
Processor: i7-4770K Quad Core Processor (3.5GHz, 8MB Cache) @ 4.2ghz.
Memory: 16GB DDR3 1866MHz Memory (2x8GB) Kit.
Graphics: 4GB AMD Radeon™ R9 290 – 4GD5 Gaming Series Graphics.
SSD: 240GB SSD – Solid State Drive.
HDD: 2TB SATA III 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache, 8ms Hard Drive.
PCSpecialist Vanquish 230X:
Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K @ 4.2GHz
Memory: 16GB Kingston HyperX BEAST @ 2400MHz
Motherboard: ASUS Z87-A Motherboard
SSD: 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K SSD
HDD: 1TB SATA III 6Gb/s HDD
Graphics: 3GB AMD Radeon 280X Graphics
Cooler: CoolerMaster Seidon 120M Liquid Cooler
Power Supply: Corsair TX650M Modular PSU
Intel E5 2687W x 2
Motherboard: Asus Z9 PE-D8 WS
Coolers: Corsair H80 x2
Memory: 64GB Kingston Predator 1,600mhz 9-9-9-24 1T
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: Seasonic 1000W Platinum Modular
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li X2000FN
Monitors: Dell U3011, 3x Ilyama ProLite E2472HDD
Boot Drive: Corsair 240GB Neutron GTX SSD
Secondary Drive: Corsair 240GB Neutron SSD
Intel E5 2660
Motherboard: Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WIFI
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory: 16GB G.Skill ARES 2,133mhz @ 9-11-10-28
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li X2000a
Boot Drive: Intel 510 120GB
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB WildFire
Intel i7 3960X EE
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 WS WorkStation
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT8 2400mhz memory
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos 2
Boot Drive: Crucial C300 128GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB Pyro SE
Intel i7 3820
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme4-M
Cooler: Intel reference cooler
Memory: 8GB Corsair GTX8 @ 2133mhz
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: Lian Li PC60
Boot Drive: Crucial C300
Secondary Drive: Patriot Pyro SE 240GB
Intel i5 3570K @ 4.2 – OCUK Prodigy Arctic Gaming System
Motherboard: ASRock Z77E-ITX Intel Z77
Cooler: Coolit Liquid
Memory: Corsair Vengeance White 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750W PSU
Chassis: Bitfenix Prodigy Mini ITX Case – White
Boot Drive: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB
Secondary Drive: 1TB HDD
AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Processor: AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire
Intel Core i7 990X
Processor: Intel Core i7 990x
Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Assassin
Memory: Kingston HyperX 6GB
Drives: Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Chassis: Antec Twelve Hundred
Core i7 970 @ 4.6ghz
Graphics: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Memory: 6GB ADATA @ 2133mhz 9-10-9-32
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)
Intel Core i7 2700k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2700k
Cooling: ThermalTake Frio OCK
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Chassis: Silverstone Raven 3.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory
Storage: Intel 80GB SSD (boot) / Patriot Wildfire 120GB SSD.
Intel Core i7 2600k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600k
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen 3
Cooler: Intel XTS-100H
Memory: ADATA 1600mhz DDR3 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
Boot Drive: Intel 510 SSD 250GB
Intel Core i5 2500k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2500k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Boot Drive: Patriot Pyro 120GB SSD.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire.
Software:
3DMark 11
3DMark
Cinebench R11.5 64 bit
Cinebench R15
FRAPS Professional
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11
Cyberlink MediaEspresso
Atto Disk Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark
SiSoft Sandra
Games:
Tomb Raider
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor
Grid AutoSport
All the latest BIOS updates and drivers are used during testing. We perform generally under real world conditions, meaning KitGuru tests games across five closely matched runs and then average out the results to get an accurate median figure. If we use scripted benchmarks, they are mentioned on the relevant page.
3DMark 11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista the benchmark includes six all new benchmark tests that make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading.
After running the tests 3DMark gives your system a score with larger numbers indicating better performance. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.
The overall score is quite high, although the R9 285 does lower the average a little.
3DMark is an essential tool used by millions of gamers, hundreds of hardware review sites and many of the world’s leading manufacturers to measure PC gaming performance.
Futuremark say “Use it to test your PC’s limits and measure the impact of overclocking and tweaking your system. Search our massive results database and see how your PC compares or just admire the graphics and wonder why all PC games don’t look this good.
To get more out of your PC, put 3DMark in your PC.”
The Fire Strike test is very demanding and we can see that while the overclocked 5820K produces some wonderful results, the R9 285 does score much lower – effectively dropping the overall score significantly.
Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset.
A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.
Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.
Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:
- Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
- Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
- Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
- Multicore CPU support
- Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
- Powerful C++ API
- Comprehensive performance profiling system
- Flexible XML-based data structures
We test at 1080p with Quality: High, Tessellation: disabled, Anti-Aliasing x2.
Performance is decent, although enabling Tessellation does drop the frame rate noticeably.
Valley Benchmark is a new GPU stress-testing tool from the developers of the very popular and highly acclaimed Heaven Benchmark. The forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains amazes with its scale from a bird’s-eye view and is extremely detailed down to every leaf and flower petal. This non-synthetic benchmark powered by the state-of-the art UNIGINE Engine showcases a comprehensive set of cutting-edge graphics technologies with a dynamic environment and fully interactive modes available to the end user.
We opted to run at 1080p with the following settings. Quality: High, Anti-Aliasing off.
Frame rates are good, although the engine did drop to around 25 frames per second on a couple of instances.
SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.Sandra is a (girl’s) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.
It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.
Native ports for all major operating systems are available:
- Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x86)
- Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x64)
- Windows 2003/R2, 2008/R2* (IA64)
- Windows Mobile 5.x (ARM CE 5.01)
- Windows Mobile 6.x (ARM CE 5.02)
All major technologies are supported and taken advantage of:
- SMP – Multi-Processor
- MC – Multi-Core
- SMT/HT – Hyper-Threading
- MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2, AVX, FMA – Multi-Media instructions
- GPGPU, DirectX, OpenGL – Graphics
- NUMA – Non-Uniform Memory Access
- AMD64/EM64T/x64 – 64-bit extensions to x86
- IA64 – Intel* Itanium 64-bit
The 5820k is a powerful processor, and with the added overclock – the results are excellent. The 2,133mhz DDR4 memory delivers decent results, hitting close to 40GB/s of bandwidth.
CINEBENCH R11.5 64 Bit is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation.
MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more. CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms (Windows and Mac OS X). And best of all: It’s completely free.
If you need a system for 3D rendering duties, and are working to a budget – the 5820k is an excellent choice. The overall score of 13.39 points gives a good indication that the Fusion Ares is an ideal partner for more serious demands.
CINEBENCH 15 is a cross-platform testing suite that measures hardware performance and is the de facto standard benchmarking tool for leading companies and trade journals for conducting real-world hardware performance tests. With the new Release 15, systems with up to 256 threads can be tested. CINEBENCH is available for both Windows and OS X and is used by almost all hardware manufacturers and trade journals for comparing CPUs and graphics cards.
Again, fantastic performance from the powerful, overclocked Core i7 5820k processor.
Crystalmark is a useful benchmark to measure theoretical performance levels of hard drives and SSD’s. We are using V3.0.1 x64. We test the Samsung 840 EVO, and 2TB Hard Drive.
The Samsung 840 EVO performs exceptionally well, and the 2TB HDD delivers over 200 MB/s sec in both sequential read and write tests.
ATTO DiskBench mirrors the findings with CrystalDiskMark. No concerns with either drive that Chillblast has installed.
Today we test USB 3.0 performance with the class leading Corsair Flash Voyager GTX drive which we reviewed back on July 15th.
424MB/s+ in the sequential read test is an exceptional result, pushing close to the real world limits of the USB 3.0 interface.
CyberLink MediaEspresso 6 is the successor to CyberLink MediaShow Espresso 5.5. With its further optimized CPU/GPU-acceleration, MediaEspresso is an even faster way to convert not only your video but also your music and image files between a wide range of popular formats.
Now you can easily playback and display your favourite movies, songs and photos not just on your mobile phone, iPad, PSP, Xbox, or Youtube and Facebook channels but also on the newly launched iPhone 4. Compile, convert and enjoy images and songs on any of your computing devices and enhance your videos with CyberLink’s built-in TrueTheater Technology.
New and Improved Features:
- Ultra Fast Media Conversion – With support from the Intel Core i-Series processor family, ATI Stream & NVIDIA CUDA, MediaEspresso’s Batch-Conversion function enables multiple files to be transcoded simultaneously.
- Smart Detect Technology – MediaEspresso 6 automatically detects the type of portable device connected to the PC and selects the best multimedia profile to begin the conversion without the need for user’s intervention.
- Direct Sync to Portable Devices – Video, audio and image files can be transferred in a few easy steps to mobile phones including those from Acer, BlackBerry, HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Palm, as well as Sony Walkman and PSP devices.
- Enhanced Video Quality – CyberLink TrueTheater Denoise and Lighting enables the enhancement of video quality through optical noise filters and automatic brightness adjustment.
- Video, Music and Image File Conversion – Convert not only videos to popular formats such as AVI, MPEG, MKV, H.264/AVC, and FLV at the click of a button, but also images such as JPEG and PNG and music files like WMA, MP3 and M4A.
- Online Sharing – Conversion to video formats used by popular social networking websites and a direct upload feature means posting videos to Facebook and YouTube has never been easier.
For our testing today we are converting a 3.3GB 720p MKV file (2h:12mins) to Apple Mp4 format for playback on a portable device. This is a common procedure for many people and will give a good indication of system power. We are using the newest version which has been optimised for Sandybridge processors.
Full hardware acceleration is enabled.
A final time of 6 minutes and 24 seconds is one of the fastest we have recorded for this task. The overclocked 5820k is a great CPU to buy if you need to do a lot of intense video editing.
Tomb Raider received much acclaim from critics, who praised the graphics, the gameplay and Camilla Luddington’s performance as Lara with many critics agreeing that the game is a solid and much needed reboot of the franchise. Much criticism went to the addition of the multiplayer which many felt was unnecessary. Tomb Raider went on to sell one million copies in forty-eight hours of its release, and has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide so far.
The R9 285 runs out of Steam at 4k resolutions, we we only test at 1080p today.
The engine runs smoothly at 1080p, holding an average of 55 frames per second.
Wolfenstein: The New Order is played from a first-person perspective and its levels are navigated on-foot. Players control Blazkowicz as he attempts to halt the Nazi operation and recover justice in the world. The story is arranged in chapters, which players complete in order to progress through the story.
We max every single graphics setting and select a 1080p resolution. 4K proved to difficult to power effectively.
A smooth enough experience, holding an average frame rate just over 40.
In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the player plays as a ranger with wraith-like abilities by the name of Talion.The game is an open world video game and players will have the freedom to pursue side quests and roam around the world.
We test at 1920×1080 with high/ultra image quality settings, as shown above.
The R9 285 handled the engine quite well throughout, but in a couple of the more intensive sections of the environment, the engine would drop below 30 frames per second.
The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 23c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this. Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by playing Tomb Raider 2014 for 60 minutes and measuring the peak temperature.
The system runs relatively cool under load, although the GPU hits a peak of 75c.
Ambient noise in the room is around 20-25dBa. We measure from a distance of around 1,5 meters from the closed chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation.
We use a calibrated meter.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
The system is quiet when idle, although the slight hint of a fan spinning is always evident. When gaming, the noise levels rise to 36.5dBa which is clearly audible.
The Chillblast Fusion Ares System is a nicely built, powerful system which is well suited for 3D rendering and video editing duties.
First impressions of the Fusion Ares are positive. The NZXT H440 chassis in white is pleasing to the eye, showcasing clean lines and uncluttered panels. It may not be the quietest case we have tested, but there is plenty of airflow on hand to cool hot running components inside.
The choice of Core i7 5820k is difficult to fault. My colleague Luke reviewed the 5820k earlier this week and it walked away with our highest MUST HAVE award. This processor is only £40 more expensive than the ever popular 4790k, and with 2 extra cores available for demanding multi tasking environments, it seems like a no brainer to us. If you want to game exclusively however, then the 4790k with the savings invested into a more powerful graphics card seem a better choice.
The Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5 motherboard proved rock solid over the last week of testing. I didn't experience a single hard lock, freeze or performance related issue often associated with a new platform. It would appear that X99 is entering into the first phases of platform maturity. USB 3.0 controller performance is as fast as any board we have tested to date.
Other areas tick the right boxes. Chillblast have incorporated a quick Samsung 840 Evo Solid State drive for boot/OS duties, alongside a fast 2TB 7,200 rpm mechanical drive for backup and storage demands. Both perform as well as we would expect.
The primary concern we have with this system is the slightly unbalanced performance by pairing up a powerful overclocked i7 5820k with the modest R9 285 as the primary discrete solution. We appreciate the need to hit a specific price point however I would much rather have a new GTX970 to partner up with the overclocked i7 5820k. The R9 285 is ideally suited for a 1080p resolution, however if you want to game at 1440p or 1600p then the GTX970 is much more capable. It is also quieter, cooler running and consumes less power under load (around 50-70 watts less in our own tests).
Everything considered, there is a lot to like about the Chillblast Fusion Ares system. If you are spending £1,400 on a system you will want some headroom for future games – so budget a little extra to upgrade the graphics cards to the new mid range class leader – Nvidia's GTX970.
Buy direct from Chillblast, over HERE.
Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE.
Pros:
- fantastic build quality.
- 5820k offers great value for money.
- price point is competitive.
- fast SSD.
- 16GB of DDR4 memory.
Cons:
- Not the quietest system we have tested.
- R9 285 lets the system down a little.
- Crucial DDR4 is without heatspreader and the green PCB is ugly.
Kitguru says: The Chillblast Fusion Ares is a fantastic system based around the formidable 5820k processor. If you take gaming seriously and want some future proofing then we do recommend you upgrade the R9 285 to the GTX970, at a little extra cost.
Some game descriptions edited with courtesy from Wikipedia.
