Scan 3XS Performance GTX - The Most Powerful Gaming PC

Housed in an unassuming and deceptively compact Corsair Carbide 300R case, the 3XS Performance GTX from Scan is one of the most powerful gaming PCs in this round-up.

The case’s minimalist good looks are combined with good airflow and convenient drive-bay caddies for easy upgrades. Inside, a 3.4GHz Intel Core i5-3570K has been pushed right up to 4.6GHz. It’s cooled by a huge Thermalright Macho cooler, fitted with multiple heatpipes and a single fan. Scan has also squeezed in a factory-overclocked EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 680 graphics card and an Asus Xonar DG 5.1 sound card, which provides EAX effects for gaming, and Dolby Headphone for surround processing via a headset.

Scan 3XS Performance GTX

The motherboard is the popular Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H, also employed by Braebo and Computer Planet. It’s powerful, but it lacks the Wi-Fi and nVidia SLI support of the board selected by Quiet PC.

 GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-Z77-D3H

Performance-wise the 3XS lives up to its name, and it delivered very high scores in PCMark 7 and across all our gaming tests. However, it’s also the third most expensive system on test.

Some of this budget has been spent on a superb Asus PB278Q monitor with delicious IPS panel, a height adjustable pivoting stand and a pin-sharp 2560x1440-pixel resolution. It outclasses every single display in this round-up.

Asus PB278Q

Completing the package is a bundle of Corsair gaming goodies: you get a Vengeance K60 keyboard, a Vengeance M70 mouse and a Vengeance 1300 headset. The K60 features a brushed aluminium housing and uses Cherry MX Red mechanical switches. The W, A, S, D keys are red and feature a grippy soft touch, as do the weapon- selecting number keys 1-6. They keyboard also provides a 20-key rollover via the USB interface.

The Vengeance K60 keyboard

The M60 mouse is constructed from aluminium and features a sniper button, which will temporarily change the dpi setting to allow for better controlled aiming.

Information ·         Price: $2,774 ·         Model: 3XS Performance GTX ·         Processor: 3.4GHz (OC @4.6GHz) Intel Core i5-3570K ·         CPU cooler: Thermalright Macho ·         Memory: 8GB DDR3 1,600MHz ·         Storage: 240GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD + 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD ·         Power supply: 600W Corsair GS600 ·         Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H ·         External USB ports: 6x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0 ·         Display: 27in Asus PB278Q (2560x1440) IPS panel with HDMI, DVI, VGA, DisplayPort, Component, Composite ·         Graphics card: EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 680, 2GB VRAM ·         Sound: Asus Xonar DG 5.1 ·         Networking: Gigabit ethernet ·         Other ports: HDMI, 2x DVI, DisplayPort ·         Case: Corsair Carbide 300R ·         Keyboard & mouse: Corsair K60 keyboard, Corsair M60 mouse ·         Optical drive: Pioneer DVD ± RW ·         Operating system: Windows 8 ·         Extras: Corsair Vengeance 1300 headset ·         Case dimensions: 522x565x285mm ·         Warranty: 1-year collect-and-return, 2-year return-to-base (parts and labour) Verdict ·         PCMark 7 score: 6,485 ·         Hard Reset: 149, 129 ·         Lost Planet 2: 93, 77 ·         Stalker CoP: 254, 121 ·         Alien vs Predator: 112, 60 ·         Sniper Elite V2: 94, 23 ·         It may be pricey, but excellent performance, high build quality and an amazing 27in monitor make for fluid and immersive gameplay that’s hard to match. ·         This is a great all-round gaming system that won’t take up a huge amount of space. ·         Build: 4.5/5 ·         Features: 4.5/5 ·         Performance: 5/5 ·         Value: 3.5/5 ·         Overall: 4.5/5