1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

News Overclockers UK launches 8Pack Asteroid mITX gaming rig

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 24 Mar 2016.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,066
    Likes Received:
    6,610
  2. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

    Joined:
    5 Dec 2010
    Posts:
    4,266
    Likes Received:
    865
    Parvin? :D

    As for the system itself, it looks about as good as a £4k PC ever will, which is to say it's utterly ludicrously priced and definitely one for the "more money than sense" crowd. Would be interested to see how many of these they sell - I suspect it'll be a very small number.
     
  3. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    4 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    17,066
    Likes Received:
    6,610
    Typo - funnily enough, I'd already corrected it. Guess you clicked on the story quicker than I made the edit!
     
  4. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

    Joined:
    30 Aug 2015
    Posts:
    14,851
    Likes Received:
    3,654
    Hmm. Not sure what to think of this really. I think if I were to drop four bags of sand on a ITX rig I would want a 5960x/Asrock X99.

    It's nice though. Good to see OCUK finally onto hard tubing.
     
  5. fix-the-spade

    fix-the-spade Multimodder

    Joined:
    4 Jul 2011
    Posts:
    5,482
    Likes Received:
    1,267
    I would guess these have as much to do with the product guys getting to do something cool every once in a while and generate a lot of cheap-ish clicks as it does selling these things.
     
  6. GiantKiwi

    GiantKiwi What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    6 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    427
    Likes Received:
    6
    Simple cost cutting measure, take out the superfluous 1kW PSU and replace with a 600-650W instead, without the overclocks, even the top options system needs a mere ~400W..

    Edit: Also, minus a reasonable overhead, they are claiming the case + fittings are worth a couple of grand? Jog on OCUK.
     
  7. Maki role

    Maki role Dale you're on a roll... Lover of bit-tech

    Joined:
    9 Jan 2012
    Posts:
    1,724
    Likes Received:
    151
    I don't think many people really understand how much work goes into those acrylic pass-through plates.
     
  8. Jimbob

    Jimbob Minimodder

    Joined:
    2 Jul 2009
    Posts:
    205
    Likes Received:
    7
    Whilst very nice I would have preferred a Fury X instead of the 980ti, that way they could have reduced the overall size by a fair amount. Not only that but 1kW PSU is just silly.
     
  9. GiantKiwi

    GiantKiwi What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    6 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    427
    Likes Received:
    6
    If they were "hand" crafted, I could totally understand, but most companies absorb their research costs, not dump them onto the customer. Also, the only way in hell they could justify that price is if it takes 3-4 weeks to build each case, which I highly doubt courtesy of CAD & CNC (and hopefully common sense), and the fact that it would be practically impossible to produce the machines to a reasonable timescale.
     
  10. Maki role

    Maki role Dale you're on a roll... Lover of bit-tech

    Joined:
    9 Jan 2012
    Posts:
    1,724
    Likes Received:
    151
    Ding ding ding! Found the person who doesn't know how much work it is.

    Since when do companies "absorb" research costs? No that's passed onto the consumer, hence why bespoke items are so expensive, you're paying for a lot of time and expertise.

    This is Parvum Systems we're talking about, it's 4 guys with a CNC at a farm. Not Corsair or Lian-li with their big factories in China. The amount of time that goes into making a decent plate like that is considerable. You have to measure, design, prototype, then finally cut the real thing, then there are the costs of altering the case to make it fit etc.

    That price doesn't pay for pure materials costs, there are a lot of other factors, the overclocking is a big one. The rig is assembled and fine tuned by one of the best overclockers in the world, which will include hefty levels of part binning knowing Ian. Not only that, but you have a personal line to him for if things go wrong, that's his time he's putting on the line there, should he just do that for free?
     
  11. Taua

    Taua What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    20 Sep 2014
    Posts:
    87
    Likes Received:
    0
    If you can afford that, then money lost any semblance of meaning after you won the lottery, the spec is also 'questionable' for such an outlay, but the spice, I mean cash, must flow....

    Seriously, though, did someone tell m8 8/8 wud r8 no db8 pack this isn't what they meant when they asked him to design a 4k gaming rig? :p
     
  12. SMIFFYDUDE

    SMIFFYDUDE Supermodders on my D

    Joined:
    22 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    2,898
    Likes Received:
    104
    I don't understand why the Parvum case gets so much attention, it looks like something a kid made for a CDT project at school. (Is CDT still a lesson?)
     
  13. Maki role

    Maki role Dale you're on a roll... Lover of bit-tech

    Joined:
    9 Jan 2012
    Posts:
    1,724
    Likes Received:
    151
    Personal preference. They're fantastically well made and look great in person, but if you don't like the look there's not much that can be done about it. I have similar reservations about Caselabs, I know they're good cases, but I can't get over how I think they look like filing cabinets. However, many swear by them, so who am I to judge?
     
  14. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

    Joined:
    30 Aug 2015
    Posts:
    14,851
    Likes Received:
    3,654
    I agree about Caselabs. I guess it all depends on what you want to see from a computer. I'm sort of from the days when the serious computers looked like Caselabs. Intel chassis for example had a very similar look, as did Super Micro. However, I'm just utterly sick of seeing Caselabs now. I tend to read a lot of build logs (it's cheaper than doing it myself :D ) and I certainly don't feel the wow factor that I used to when I see one now. It's more of a "Oh, a Caselabs" rather than me feeling excited.

    And it's the same way with Parvum really. I really liked the look at first but I've just seen so many of them now that I feel they need to change direction slightly if they want to stay current.

    I'm also less fussy about mid plates filled with liquid and all about the performance, so whilst I laud the fact that this OCUK PC has a Titan X I just feel the 6700k is a bit puny, especially for four grand. I understand the binning process and all of that but it would get its ass handed to it by a 5960x which would have been completely feasible in a machine like this so I would always go with performance.
     
  15. SchizoFrog

    SchizoFrog What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    5 May 2009
    Posts:
    1,574
    Likes Received:
    8
    As a promo video I am surprise no one has commented on how poor the cables look...

    While I understand both sides of the argument going on above, I have to admit that I don't find it anything special, especially for that price. It would be way down on any 'Extreme PC' list for specs, looks and build quality...

    I have also seen regularly, PCs in MOTM that wipe the floor with this thing and I just wonder, are they all £4k+ machines? Somehow I don't think so...
     
  16. Maki role

    Maki role Dale you're on a roll... Lover of bit-tech

    Joined:
    9 Jan 2012
    Posts:
    1,724
    Likes Received:
    151
    I guess that's the pain of becoming more successful and having a signature look. You see the same happen with everything depending on where you look. Reddit, for instance, is so flooded with Corsair 750Ds and Fractal R4/5s that I never want to see a build in one again, but then that right there also says that those cases strike home with said audience.

    We see loads of Parvums over here thanks largely to how they're a small, home-grown business and their cases are very modding friendly thanks to their construction. Those are qualities that really mesh well with communities like bit and OCN etc. They're practically a non-entity on a place like reddit, where the big boys rule the roost.

    Would it though? The 5960X is a beast, but it does have a number of qualities that would mean it wouldn't stack up against the 6700k in a system like this. For a start, the IPC of Skylake is a little higher, but the clock rate is also much higher. To achieve similar clocks on a 5960X you need absurd amounts of power and an even higher quality chip. Add to that there's only one ITX X99 board, I'm not sure how well it would handle that sort of overclocking either. Even with the power (since the PSU is huge), that's a whole lot of extra heat, so you'd want to beef up the cooling a bit more. Suddenly we get into the territory of just making everything bigger, which sort of never ends.

    Interesting you mention going with performance though, as I think I've steadily been heading in the opposite direction rofl. I've had all the performance I could want, my current rig has ridiculous specs, but it just plain doesn't interest me anymore. I now focus entirely on the aesthetics, with the function taking the back seat. I just need it to be fast enough for what I want it to do, I think it's a bit like comparing a La Ferrari to a souped up Dodge Viper. The Viper could attain a higher top speed, but the Ferrari has something else, an enigmatic quality that oozes from every ounce of the vehicle.
     
  17. SexyHyde

    SexyHyde Minimodder

    Joined:
    24 Jul 2009
    Posts:
    609
    Likes Received:
    11
    I'm a budget gaming kind of guy and I think it's pretty decently priced. Yeah I can get the parts and knock it together myself, I could even buy an 8Pack bundle, all for a fraction of the price here, but, it would not have that expert build quilty with guarantee and after sales service by a guy known to be one of the best at what he does.
     
  18. GiantKiwi

    GiantKiwi What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    6 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    427
    Likes Received:
    6
    Go you, unfortunately, that would be you wrong. I do know how much work it is, and it STILL doesn't justify the crazy cost. This isn't a bespoke item. By its nature, a bespoke case would be one made to order with specifics set by the consumer, these are being made to be sold as a repeatable product.

    As for overclocking as another reason justifying the cost? Or support? Really? Trial and error can get those results with novice levels of experience, and the support. No support contract is worth that much on consumer parts.

    Excuse me whilst I don't subscribe to the "expert builder" crap.
     
  19. SexyHyde

    SexyHyde Minimodder

    Joined:
    24 Jul 2009
    Posts:
    609
    Likes Received:
    11
    Parvum are expensive as their cost of operation has to be spread over a small range. A big company spreads the cost over a larger range. You're also paying for the limited supply, having something that not everyone has.

    How much would you charge for personal support? I know what the multinationals charge for a generic call centre based service. This is not that. Oh and how many world overclocking records have you had?
     
  20. GiantKiwi

    GiantKiwi What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    6 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    427
    Likes Received:
    6
    None, because outside of the niche OC community, nobody gives a flying f*** about them.
     

Share This Page