Dino PC Dark Reign Review

1. Introduction2. The Dino PC Dark Reign3. Overview & Testing Methodology4. System: PCMark 75. System: 3DMark Vantage6. System: 3DMark 117. System: AllBenchmark Catzilla8. System: Unigine Heaven Benchmark9. System: Unigine Valley Benchmark10. Processor/Memory: SiSoft Sandra11. Processor: Cinebench R11.5 64 bit12. SATA 6Gbps Testing13. Real World: BluRay Playback14. Real World: Media Encoding15. Battlefield 3 (DirectX 11)16. Far Cry 3 (DirectX 11)17. Tomb Raider (DirectX 11)18. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon19. Thermal Dynamics20. Acoustics Performance21. Power Consumption22. Conclusion23. View All Pages

Our review sample of the Dino PC Dark Reign shipped with Windows 8 pre-installed. The operating system has proven very unpopular with our audience, based on poll results on our Facebook page and home page. Dino PC do offer the option to ship the system with Windows 7 installed or without an operating system.

 

A breakdown of the system in CPU-Z and GPU-Z shows the i5-4570 running at 3.5 GHz and the 8GB Corsair Vengeance  memory is running at 1,600MHz.

We have seen a number of systems using the GTX 770 in recent times and it has proven to be a fantastic card.

CPU-Z validation for the system is available here.

 

The Windows Performance Index score is an early indication that we are dealing with a well balanced system and there is no bloatware whatsoever.

Comparison Systems (for specific synthetic test compares):

DinoPC Asusinator 4670K OC
Processor: Intel Core i5 4670k @4.2ghz.
Motherboard: ASUS Z87-K
Coolers: Corsair H60 2013 Liquid cooler
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1,866mhz
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX770
Power Supply: 600w Corsair CX
Optical Drive: 10x Bluray RW SATA
Chassis: Fractal Design ARC Midi R2
Boot Drive: Plextor 128GB M5S SSD
Secondary Drive: 2TB SATA

Intel E5 2687W x 2
Motherboard: Asus Z9 PE-D8 WS
Coolers: Corsair H80 x2
Memory: 64GB Kingston Predator 1,600mhz 9-9-9-24 1T
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: Seasonic 1000W Platinum Modular
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li X2000FN
Boot Drive: Corsair 240GB Neutron GTX SSD
Secondary Drive: Corsair 240GB Neutron SSD

Intel E5 2660
Motherboard: Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WIFI
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory: 16GB G.Skill ARES 2,133mhz @ 9-11-10-28
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Lian Li X2000a
Boot Drive: Intel 510 120GB
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB WildFire

Intel i7 3960X EE
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 WS WorkStation
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT8 2400mhz memory
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Optical Drive: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos 2
Boot Drive: Crucial C300 128GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB Pyro SE

Intel i7 3820
Motherboard: ASRock Extreme4-M
Cooler: Intel reference cooler
Memory: 8GB Corsair GTX8 @ 2133mhz
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: Lian Li PC60
Boot Drive: Crucial C300
Secondary Drive: Patriot Pyro SE 240GB

Intel i5 3570K @ 4.2 – OCUK Prodigy Arctic Gaming System
Motherboard: ASRock Z77E-ITX Intel Z77
Cooler: Coolit Liquid
Memory: Corsair Vengeance White 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750W PSU
Chassis: Bitfenix Prodigy Mini ITX Case – White
Boot Drive: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB
Secondary Drive: 1TB HDD

AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Processor: AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire

Intel Core i7 990X
Processor: Intel Core i7 990x
Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Assassin
Memory: Kingston HyperX 6GB
Drives: Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Chassis: Antec Twelve Hundred

Core i7 970 @ 4.6ghz
Graphics: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard: MSI X58A-GD65
Chassis: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Memory: 6GB ADATA @ 2133mhz 9-10-9-32
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)

Intel Core i7 2700k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2700k
Cooling: ThermalTake Frio OCK
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Chassis: Silverstone Raven 3.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory
Storage: Intel 80GB SSD (boot) / Patriot Wildfire 120GB SSD.

Intel Core i7 2600k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600k
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen 3
Cooler: Intel XTS-100H
Memory: ADATA 1600mhz DDR3 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
Boot Drive: Intel 510 SSD 250GB

Intel Core i5 2500k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2500k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Boot Drive: Patriot Pyro 120GB SSD.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire.

Software:
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
PCMark 7
AllBenchmark
Cinebench 11.5 64 bit
FRAPS Professional
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
Unigine Valley Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11
Cyberlink MediaEspresso
Atto Disk Benchmark
SiSoft Sandra

Games:
Battlefield 3 (Direct X 11)
Far Cry 3 (Direct X 11)
Tomb Raider (Direct X 11)
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (Direct X 11)

Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
30-130 dbA Digital Sound Level Meter
Plug-in Power & Energy Monitor
Canon 1100d with Canon 18-55mm lens.

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