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The Chillblast Fusion Centauri Ryzen Threadripper Ultimate is a stunning system, but it’s not without its frustrations.
First, the good: the Chillblast looks incredible, with its orange water-cooling and huge case, and it offers near-unbeatable performance in gaming benchmarks. Few systems are able to match its gaming pace, and it won’t struggle with any game or task – even at 4K, even at high settings, and even in a VR headset.
It’s got a fast SSD, the motherboard is packed with features, and the stock-speed AMD Threadripper processor is fast in virtually every scenario.
Indeed, this machine can handle basically anything: hard-nosed professional applications will run well thanks to the new AMD chip, and graphical software will be swatted aside by the dual GPUs.
The stock-speed Threadripper chip is fearsomely quick, but its rival machines are faster still. Both of Armari’s machines have overclocked processors that regularly deliver a little more performance, and the AMD chip in particular is impressive in Adobe’s applications – key for content creators.
Those Armari machines are smaller and quieter than the Chillblast, too, and they’re also cheaper – their more conventional motherboards, single graphics cards and lack of custom waterloops keep the cost down.
And, in the case of Armari’s AMD-based machine, the Vega graphics card has the kind of professional certifications that aren’t present on the two GTX 1080 Tis in the Chillblast machine.
The Chillblast looks fantastic, has enviable power, and has almost every feature we could ever want, then – but few people will genuinely need this level of performance, and even fewer people will have the sort of money required for this rig.
If you need want a machine that holds nothing back when it comes to looks and power, and if you have got a bottomless pit of money, the Centauri is a stunning option. But, if you’re just interested in productivity and would like to spend a little less, the two Armari machines are more sensible alternatives.
The model we’ve reviewed here is available from Chillblast for £7,500.
Pros
- Incredible design and water-cooling.
- Fantastic AMD Threadripper processor.
- Dual graphics cards are great in games.
- Fully-featured motherboard.
- Huge SSD, vast storage and plenty of memory.
Cons
- Overclocked rivals are a little faster in some applications.
- Larger and louder than rival machines.
- Competitors are cheaper.
- No professional GPU certification.
KitGuru says: The Chillblast looks the part and offers incredible performance across a wide range of tasks. It’s expensive, though, and other machines are both cheaper and a little better in work applications. If you want a no-holds-barred machine that looks good and gets the job done, this is an expensive and worthwhile rig – but other systems are better if pure productivity is preferred.
