HANDS-ON: Intel Core i7-980x desktop PC | Features | Techie.com.ph
2:33 AM | Saturday | 04 September 2010

We often get to play with the latest and greatest from big manufacturers, but in this case, we can't help but feel a special tingle inside our nerdy (read: out of shape) bods. In front of us stands a desktop PC that's equipped with the Intel Core i7-980x, the (current) world's fastest home desktop PC processor. So yeah, we have the world's fastest computer in our possession courtesy of Intel Philippines.

Encased in a server-large Thermaltake Element V chassis, this PC can intimidate even the most hardcore of gamers. Setup is a 2-person job, especially with the wingspan required to yank this beast out from its box. Looking for a place to set it on is also quite tasking as it could dwarf any ordinary computer table (or office cubicle, for that matter).

On a related note, a monster of this size needs at least a 22-inch LCD monitor as a partner. Go any smaller, and it would look like you spent all your money on the CPU, which isn't really surprising, given its P50,000 price tag. Fortunately for us, we still had the 40-inch Samsung 3D TV in our test lab.

Upon setting up everything, we wasted no time firing up this bad boy. We expected it to zip through the boot process in under 5 seconds, given that it is the fastest PC in the world. Sadly, that didn't happen, although we couldn't say that a boot-up time of less than 30 seconds was disappointing.

Once we were in Windows, we immediately installed a copy of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and proceeded to go down and dirty with the good stuff. Installation was briefly hampered by the pathetic P2,000 DVD drive (which is probably the cheapest component of this utopian rig), but once installed, nothing stood in the way of us and pure gaming bliss.

With the settings maxed out, we played until our fingers fell off. The PC showed no signs of slowing down (the auxiliary fans only spun for 10 minutes in our 3-hour-long session) even with the room A/C turned off. Load times took less than 10 seconds, whereas an ordinary PC, as the game's owner would attest, could take as long as 5 minutes.

Such powers, however, are not reserved (and should not be reserved) just for gaming, which is why we also used this desktop to edit a few raunchy clips for our sister site FHM.com.ph. Using an old version of Adobe Premiere Pro, we quickly found out that even with the super specs, you will still need newer software to take advantage of the multicore and 64-bit features of the 980x. Rendering time was no faster than on a significantly weaker Core 2 Duo PC.

Any self-respecting techie knows that processors alone do not a great desktop make, which is probably why Intel Philippines threw in 2 neat extras into this pompous package. Assisting the Core i7-980x is a Sapphire Radeon HD 5970 CPU, one of the fastest video cards ever made, 6GBs of OCZ PC3 12800 DDR3 RAM, and an Intel Solid State Drive. Such a combination of parts could reach well over P100,000 if you were to assemble this system, piece by piece. Also, given our video-editing experience, you will need to spring extra cash for new software.

Is assembling such an overpowered rig worth it? No, but you have to consider the fact that this is a high-end system with high-end parts. Such components are never made to offer terrific value to customers. Rather, they're made to offer the best performance regardless of the cost. If a savings account means nothing to you (which we sincerely doubt), then by all means assemble a similar PC. If not, however, then you'll have to live in 2010 with the rest of us.