[section_title title=Introduction & Closer Look]
Introduction &Â Closer Look
Brand: Vibox
Model: Element X Blue
UK Price: £649.92 @ Vibox (At time of review)
US Price: N/A
When people talk about buying a gaming PC, one could be ignorant in thinking they are talking about a £3000 megalithic quad SLI 20 core equipped beast. To some, that could be true (minus about 12 cores), but the revealing truth is that gamers just don’t need to spend that much to get a gaming system capable of playing the latest games on offer today. The console vs. PC debate long rages on and causes communities to fold into chaos and the like, but the harsh reality is that nowadays, you don’t need to spend £1500+ to buy a capable system which competes with a games console; today we will be proving that and then some.
We are firm believers here at Play3r that the #PCMasterRace is forever strong and companies like Vibox help ensure this to be the case; consoles games are expensive, locked to 30fps in most cases and let’s be honest, will never have the flexibility of a PC. So what’s so special about today’s system? Well Vibox have equipped the Element X Blue system with a multitude of budget components to give consumers a viable gaming system, without destroying their budget. Vibox are currently offering this particular system for £649.92 and is based on the AMD 990FX chipset. This is complimented by an AMD R9 380 2GB graphics card and 8GB of DDR3 memory. To top this off, it’s entombed inside one of Vibox’s striking Tactician Blue PC cases; lots of blue, blue and bluer!
Now Vibox are well known for their aggressively styled PC cases and the Tactician is no different in this regard. It features multi tonal black finishes with LEDs built into the panels to provide an ominous blue glow which should please those who favour bling over everything else. One thing I don’t actually like is the sheer amount of Vibox logos; sometimes being subtle has a better effect in terms of style, although this is of course down to each person’s personal preference.
The case itself has a fairly standard and basic front I/O which consists of 2 x 3.5mm audio jacks (headphone and microphone respectively), 3 x USB 2.0 ports and set of reset/power switches. The lack of USB 3.0 is a little bit disappointing as even cheaper sub £30 budget cases now come with USB 3.0.
One thing I do like about this chassis however is the front panel door which opens and shows off the included DVD-RW/Optical drive; useful for watching films and installing drivers by disc.
If you love blue LED’s, then you will love the Vibox Element X Blue system…
There is even a temperature monitor built into the front panel for good measure; we love this…
Taking a look with the side panel off, great care has to be taken due to the cables connecting up the LEDs to the Molex connectors at the front of the case; one swift tug could damage this and it won’t be covered under warranty.
A full list of the components/specifications can be found below:
- 4.4GHz AMD FX-6300 6-Core CPU *Overclocked*
- MSI 990FXA-GD65 Motherboard
- MSI R9 380 2GB Graphics Card
- Patriot Blast 120GB SSD
- [AMD] 8GB Patriot 1600MHz DDR3
- Microsoft Windows 10 Home + Installation
- Vibox Tactician Blue Gaming Case
- Thermaltake Water 3.0 Performer C Water Cooling System
- Vibox 600W 80Plus Certified PSU
- 24x DVD-RW Optical Drive
As you can already see, the Element X Blue is based on the AMD 990FX chipset which is powered by the AMD 6 core FX-6300 CPU which has been overclocked to 4.4GHz and is driven forward by the AMD R9 380 2GB graphics card; the MSI Gaming Twin Frozr 5 version from MSI to be exact which is a stonkingly good card for the money.
The OEM of the PSU is unknown to us, but 700w is certainly enough headroom to power this particular system and with an 80 PLUS Bronze rating, it certainly can’t be that bad. No point adding stupidly overkill parts inside this system as it will ruin the entire point, budget focused gaming.
The CPU is cooled by one of Thermaltake’s popular Water 3.0 120mm AIO coolers which not only looks good, but actually performs well too.
One element which lets a lot of system builders down is their ability to work with cable management options inside of cases. This isn’t a problem for Vibox as you can see as all the cables are neatly bundled away and organised properly; one of the best examples we have seen here at Play3r in all honesty, bravo!
I think the question on everybody’s mind is how does this system actually perform? Well I’m glad you asked and if you didn’t, tough, let’s see if this system throws down…
