iBUYPOWER Revolt SFF Desktop Gaming PC Review

3DMark Vantage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1.0

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmarkvantage

3DMark Vantage tests both processor and graphics performance and is a good indication of how systems compare. The results are generally more repeatable and consistent than other forms of benchmarking. Vantage uses DirectX 10 and can handle multi-core CPUs.

Here again we can see that the Revolt's CPU just doesn't perform quite as well as the other system's we've reviewed. It only achieves a CPU score of 26,088, which is decent, but not quite as great as the other systems' 29,000+.

Its GPU is certainly more powerful than the Bolt's, but can't compete with the dual-680s of the Chimera. Overall, the Revolt puts up a respectable score of 18,434.

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.3.0

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

Once again, the Revolt's CPU is shown to be slower than that of the other two systems in our charts, receiving a score of just 8,676 as opposed to the Bolt's 9,983. Overall, the Revolt gained a score of 3,172, beating that of the Bolt, but being out-muscled by the Chimera's dual-680s.

3DMark - Fire Strike Extreme

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.0

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark

Fire Strike is a new test that is designed for powerful gaming desktops. We have checked the "Extreme" test option to make it that much more torturing on the system. Overall, CPU, and GPU scores are reported.

We continue to see that the Revolt's CPU is somehow hampered, either by clock speed or motherboard. It scores over 1,000 less than the Bolt. Overall, though, the Revolt pulls out the win in the SFF death match thanks to its more powerful GTX 670.

Battlefield 3

Developer Homepage: http://www.dice.se/

Product Homepage: http://www.battlefield.com/battlefield3

Battlefield 3 is one of the most requested benchmarks, so we have finally added it. Frame rates are recorded for 60 seconds starting in the first part of campaign when the character picks up the gun and is played through until just after the train explodes. The game is played three times in that manner with the results being averaged together and reported.

Settings are 1920x1080 for the resolution with the "Graphics Quality" set to Ultra.

Here you can see where the GTX 670 really starts to shine and set this system apart from the Bolt previously reviewed. It still doesn't stand a chance against the Chimera, which has over twice the GPU capabilities, but in the SFF arena, the Revolt really starts to shine.

Crysis 3

Developer Homepage: http://crytek.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.crysis.com/us/crysis-3

Crysis 3 is run at 1920 x 1080 resolution with the graphics specifications set to "Very High." No anti-aliasing is used. See picture above for full details. The test is ran three times due to higher variability than the other benchmarks. FRAPS is used to record 60 seconds worth of FPS data and recording starts at the start of the campaign and finishes most of the way up the tower. The game is played in a similar manner each time.

The Revolt continues to prove itself a capable gaming machine, despite its rather small stature. The Revolt managed to keep an average frame rate of 40 FPS in our Crysis 3 benchmark, which is not too bad.