Overclockers UK Ultima Extreme Wrath Review

• Brand: Overclockers UK
  
• Model: Ultima Extreme Wrath
  
• RRP: £1856 (At time of the review)

Overclockers UK, or OcUK as they are also known need no introduction. They are one of the UKs biggest and most trusted retailers for everything such as computer components amongst other things. They are continuously going from strength to strength and over the last couple of months, they have been releasing new, high-end systems from the legendary UK overclocker 8Pack and have been causing quite a stir with their introduction.

With that being said, today I will be taking a look at one from their gaming range, more specifically, their Ultima Extreme Wrath system which features an Intel i7 4770k overclocked to 4.5GHz, 16GB of DDR3 memory rated at 2133MHz and the behemoth that is the AMD 7990 GPU. On paper this system looks sure to dominate the latest games but how does it actually perform? With a 2 year warranty and with this system being specially built to order, is it worth the near £2000 price tag? I aim to find out, so without further ado, let’s get on with the review…

What OcUK have to say about their Ultima Extreme Wrath Gaming PC:

Unleash your fury through the “Ultima Wrath”. Employing the power of the all new Intel Z87 chipset and built from the ground up to deliver a premium gaming machine that will send all who cast their eyes on it jealous with rage!! Equipped with an Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50GHz CPU tweaked & overclocked to a mega 4.50GHz! The overclocked quad core hyper threading CPU delivers a tidal wave of performance allowing for even the most intense applications to run with ease.

Built within the sturdy Corsair Obsidian 650D the “Ultima Wrath” wears an intimidating look. Adorned with Red LED fans and lighting, your friends and foes alike certainly won’t doubt your power! A huge 16GB of DDR3 memory runs at a rapid 2133MHz, making even the hardiest of multitasking, quick and simple.

The party piece of the “Ultima Wrath” is the powerful AMD HD 7990 6144MB Graphics card, pumping out next generation DX11 visuals with ease. Harbouring a huge 6GB of VRAM the HD 7990 smashes apart hard-core titles such as Far Cry 3, Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite without breaking a sweat.

System Specification
– Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D highlighted with Red LED’s and Fans
– Power Supply: Corsair TX 850W PSU
– CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K 3.40GHz @ 4.50GHz Haswell CPU
– Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus VI Hero Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Motherboard
– Cooler: Alpenfohn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler
– RAM: 16GB DDR3 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit
– Hard Drive: Your Choice of Primary and Secondary Hard Drive/Solid State Drives
– Graphics Card: AMD HD 7990 6144MB Graphics Card
– Sound: Realtek 7.1 HD Sound (Sound Card Optional)
– Optical Drive: OcUK 24x DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

The system itself comes packaged in a huge brown box, which has thick walls which is ample enough to avoid damage during transit. After opening the first flaps, I was greeted with another box (Corsair 650D) with a notice taped to it.

After navigating through all the padding and extra packaging, the case of choice in the Wrath is the Corsair 650D, which makes sense for them to put the full system back in the box. I feel the packaging would be adequate to stop all but the most brutal damage which shouldn’t really happen with a courier; if it does, there will be problems!

Taking an overall look at the Ultima Extreme Wrath Gaming PC, it is enclosed in one of Corsairs premium offerings, the 650D. This is a full tower system which is effectively a smaller version of the 750D, without some of the features. The 650D has a large windowed side panel and follows a straight edged design. With that being said, I really do like the Corsair 650D and feel it is a quality case and I applaud OcUK for choosing this case for their build and although there are many options available, the 650D looks clean and subtle.

On the flip side of the case, the other side panel as expected is solid, all black in line with the rest of the case and like the windowed panel, has 2 latches which are used to pull the case off. This is a nice alternative to thumbscrews and keeps the builds built inside of them nice and sleek looking.

On the front, we have the front I/O panel, which can be hidden when not in use with a swinging panel which secures via a latch. On the front I/O there are the following connections:

2 x USB 3.0
2 x USB 2.0
1 x Microphone 3.5mm input
1 x Headphone/speaker 3.5mm input
1 x Fire wire
1 x Reset switch

Plenty of connections available but I really do believe the build looks better when the panel is closed. Also in view is the DVD-RW which is included in the build and it features x24 speeds.

On the top of the case, we have a HDD dock which can accommodate 2.5” or 3.5” HDD/SSDs. This is effectively a hot swap dock and allows you to use on the fly storage drives; a nice alternative to using an external HDD, especially if you want to swap files from another PC without the need of an external caddy. When not in use the door slides closed, fitting in line with the straight edge look.

Here is an illustration of the rear of the case, which includes the rear I/O, two rubber grommets designed for water cooling, one 120mm exhaust, bottom mounted PSU and follows the same all black colour scheme as the rest of the chassis.

Taking a closer look at the I/O of the ASUS Maximus VI Hero Z87 Motherboard, there are the following connections:

4 x USB3.0 ports
4 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x PS2 port for mice/keyboards
1 x BIOS Flashback button via USB
1 x Gigabit LAN connection (RJ45)
6 x Audio connections powered via the Supreme FX chip
1 x SPDIF (Optical connection)
1 x HDMI port

Also in view, there is a closer look at the 120mm exhaust, which comes supplied with a Corsair fan.

On the I/O of the powerful AMD 7990 and the ASUS DGX sound card, there are the following connections on the 7990:

1 x DVI-I
4 x Display port

Plenty of options with support for up to 6 displays, something the 7990 was designed for from a gaming point of view.

Taking a general overall view of the interior of the OcUK Ultima Extreme Wrath Gaming PC, the first thing I noticed was the behemoth Alpenfohn K2 Mount Doom CPU cooler, which we previously reviewed and won our design award as well as performing very well. Good choice? I think so!

Just below the CPU Cooler, there is the beast that is the AMD 7990. Powerful enough to max literally any game currently on the market at 1080p and even pretty much any title at 1440p, this is a serious GPU with oodles of power and 3GB (6GB mirrored) VRAM which copes with all but the highest 4k resolutions with MSAA turned up to the max.

On the floor of the case, we have the Corsair TX850 850watt power supply, which isn’t modular but Overclockers UK have done an amazing job with the cable management as you can see. Everything looks tidy and which the cable management being as good as it can be, it should also help keep the temperatures down (albeit by a degree or two).

Also included is a single 2TB Seagate Barracuda storage drive and a 120GB Samsung 840 SSD boot drive which harbours the Windows 8 64bit operating system. This can be customised on the website if you would prefer to have Windows 7 pre-installed. Alternatively, you can change which storage solutions which can also come without an OS if required.

On the flip side to get a better idea of the hidden cable management, as you can see OcUK have done another sterling job and great care has been taken to hide and neaten all the provided cables. With the Corsair TX850 being non-modular, this can be a tedious task as system builders know but given this, this particular system builder at Overclockers UK has clearly taken his time and this results in a job well done.

Here is a closer look at the AMD 7990 which is included in the Ultima Extreme Wrath, which is monsterous in size. The 7990 is a dual GPU card consisting of 2 x 7970 cores on a single PCB and it is cooled by a reference AMD triple fan cooler. To power the AMD 7990, it requires two 8pin power connectors meaning this card requires some serious power and for those conscious about power draw, this might not be the best solution for them but in terms of performance, try finding something better for the price which takes up only one PCI-E x16 lane!

Here we have a more detailed look at the K2 Mount Doom CPU cooler, which due to its size, hides the beauty that is the ASUS Z87 Maximus VI Hero motherboard which I personally reviewed and it received our performance and value award.

At the top of the case, there is a 200mm exhaust fan to aid in the cooling of the components which has red LEDs, like the majority of the case.

Conclusion

Now it’s time for my final thoughts on the Ultima Extreme Wrath system from Overclockers UK, but in the grand scheme of things I have to ask: has it impressed me?  Or is it a mish mash of performance and overpriced components?  Let’s start with the performance…

The performance of the Ultima Extreme Wrath is superb and if you are looking for a top end gaming system to play games that require silly specifications. If you like all the fancy settings such as maximum MSAA for example, the Wrath is more than up to the job!  The system performs great in benchmarks and given the components, the 4.5GHz overclock on the i7 4770k really drives this system forward.  The 7990 is a powerhouse of a graphics card and combined with the Intel Haswell i7 4770k overclocked to 4.5GHz, both complement each other really well and I have to give kudos to OcUK for a very nice system.  The only niggle however is the memory; I feel 2133MHz CAS11 is very poor for a system of this calibre and would expect much tighter timings given the £2k price tag.  I have spoken to OcUK regarding this and they have assured me this will be updated to reflect what I have said.  Another thing I would have liked to see is the inclusion of an AIO CPU cooler; the performance is neither here nor there but it would have looked so much better given the aesthetics of the Ultima Extreme Wrath.

Moving onto the systems aesthetics, the blend of red LED lighting can be a bit much for those that aren’t interested in the “bling bling” but I feel it works really well and has a powerful illumination.  This matches the ASUS Z87 Maximus VI Hero and the AMD 7990 in colour scheme but I do feel the CPU cooler slightly overshadows everything as it is so big; there is no doubt in my mind that an AIO liquid CPU cooler would have looked much better and although the performance wouldn’t be too different, there would have been more space for air to travel through the 7990 as these cards can run quite hot when constantly blitzed with 3D tasks such as long gaming sessions.  The Corsair 650D is a stunning case in my opinion and I am a huge fan of cases that follow a straight edged design, this chassis is no different and has a large viewing window so not only you, but your friends can see inside your system and be envious.

Taking a look at the price, it is very reasonable given the spec, quality and look of the system.  All the parts used are top quality, the sound card is from ASUS, the motherboard itself won our performance award, the cooler is a great performer etc.  The only component that hinders this system winning the performance award is the memory and soon as that is rectified, it is a sure 5 star performer.  The price itself is very competitive and you can do a lot worse for your money.  So, coming in at just under £2k is nothing to be sniffed at.  Of course in true Overclockers UK style, you have the ability to customise certain features of the build such as storage devices to further enhance the kind of system you want.

Overall, I’d have to say that the Overclockers UK Ultima Extreme Wrath system is one worthy of the moniker extreme and provides end users with not just the latest Windows 8 operating system that is like marmite (you either love it or hate it), a fantastic two year warranty and even the kind of build quality you would expect from one of the UK’s leading system builders, but the price is reasonable so it puts this build into the wanted kind of spectrum… well, in my opinion at least!

Big thanks to Overclockers UK for the system and I look forward to seeing more from them in the future!

Upon writing this review and speaking to Overclockers UK direct, they have taken into consideration what I have said about the memory included with this system and have upgraded it to 2133MHz CAS9 memory which is a much better improvement.  In light of this, the system more than deserves the editors choice award as I was genuinely impressed with the Extreme Wrath and applaud Overclockers UK for their expertise.