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The Gladiator SuperNova system arrives well-packaged in the NZXT S340 case.
Also included is the Gigabyte Z270 Gaming K3 motherboard box – in here are a few extra SATA cables, power supply cables and manuals that could be useful down the line.
Here we get our first look at the system itself.
The NZXT S340 is the case used for the SuperNova, which we reviewed over HERE. Gladiator actually mentioned to us that a lot of entries in the competition also used the S340, so it is clearly a popular case that will help the SuperNova's appeal. It is also worth pointing out the SuperNova uses the original version of the case, not the Elite model, so it features an acrylic panel rather than tempered glass.
On the top panel there is an unfiltered 120/140mm fan mount, while the I/O is right at the front of the top panel.
Incidentally, the I/O consists of headset jacks and 2x USB 3.0 ports.
Once the side panel is removed, we get a look at the innards of the system.
Gladiator have done a great job with cable management – everything is routed out-of-sight and the cables are all-black (other than the very end of the motherboard 24-pin connector.) The build is also monochromatic as there is essentially no colour at all. This helps the SuperNova to look very clean – all-in-all, I think it looks great.
There is one slight issue on the aesthetic side of things, though – the motherboard's PCB is brown. It is not very noticeable once the system is powered on and the LED strips have lit up (see below), but you can definitely tell it is not black, which is a shame. In 2017 we would really hope any gaming motherboard using the Z270 chipset would at least have a black PCB.
Taking a look around the case, I like to start with the cooling apparatus.
At the front, one of the 2 stock NZXT 120mm fans intakes fresh air into the chassis.
The other stock NZXT fan is in the roof, while there is 3rd fan at the rear of the case. This is a 120mm Game Max Galeforce fan, fitted with white LEDs.
Cooling the i5-7600K is a be quiet! Pure Rock cooler. This a lovely-looking piece of kit thanks to its brushed aluminium heatsink, while the Silent Wings fan should be very quiet. I should also mention the i5-7600K is not overclocked, despite it being one of Intel's unlocked, K-SKUs. This is a bit disappointing, as the only real benefit of Kaby Lake over Skylake is that the former can overclock higher. As we will see later in the review as well, there is definitely some thermal headroom for at least a 4.4GHz overclock, so it is a bit disappointing to see the i5-7600K left at stock speeds.
Elsewhere, the memory used here is 2X8GB of HyperX's 2133MHz Fury DDR4 RAM.
Positioned below we find the graphics card. A GTX 1060, the SuperNova uses the ASUS Dual OC model. This card has just received a BIOS update as well which enables the fans to stop spinning under low loads.
The white shroud matches the system's colour scheme very nicely, too, though the card is lacking a backplate – something I always like to see.
Sitting atop the PSU shroud is the SK Hynix SL308 SSD. A 250GB model, it not only looks great but offers a good amount of storage space for Windows as well as a few choice applications.
Behind the motherboard tray Gladiator have done a great job with cable management. Everything is neatly tied-down, and there are no unsightly bulges.
We also get a glimpse of the Corsair CS650M power supply. The CS-series is one of Corsair's more basic product lines, but it is 80+ Gold certified and should provide more than enough power for our needs.
Tucked away in the bottom-left corner is also a 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD for mass-storage duties.
Lastly, here we get a look at the system when it is powered on. Gladiator have included two 30cm white LED strips which do a great job of illuminating the components. There is also some red lighting coming from the motherboard which adds some colour once the system is switched on.
