Pacstar followed much the same route as TI Computers with its 580 Value system, overclocking the Core i7-2600K to 4.5GHz and the 128GB SSD, 2TB hard drive and Blu-ray burner trifecta. The main difference was the lack of wireless networking and digital TV tuner, but also the change in graphics card, with a GeForce GTX 580 on show here.
The GTX 580 is a very good performer, no question, but it’s not going to keep up with most dual-card/GPU options. That showed most on Aliens vs. Predator (AvP), where the GTX 580 topped out at 67fps at 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution. TI’s Twin Power 2000 beat 96fps on the same test.
Still, with 8GB of DDR3-1600 RAM and a 23.6in screen, the Pacstar is very good value.
Pushing UserBench Encode to a score above 130 is no mean feat either.
