Based out of Michigan, MaxForce PC has been creating custom rigs tailored suited to customer requests since 2007. To further suit customer needs, they will even track down a part not listed on their site to install in your system. Max contacted us a while back to see if we were interested in reviewing one of his enthusiast gaming build's, the Javelin P55. Since it was right down our alley and had a perfect LAN situation to test it out in, we took the oppourtunity.
Product Name: Javelin P55
Review Sample Provided by: MaxForce
Review by: Adam
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Parts List |
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Case |
NZXT PanzerBox |
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Power Supply |
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W |
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Processor |
Intel Core i7 860 3.80GHz 8MB |
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CPU Cooling |
CORSAIR CWCH50 - Water Block |
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P55 Motherboard |
Asus Maximus III Formula P55/SLI+CrossFire/16GB DDR3/9xUSB2.0/1xIEEE1394a/10xSATA2/1xeSATA/ATX |
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DDR3 Memory |
Super Talent DDR3-1600 8GB(4X2GB) CL7 |
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Graphics Card |
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB |
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Graphics Card 2 |
Sapphire Radeon HD5850 1GB |
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Hard Drive |
Intel X25-M Gen2 80GB SATA II SSD |
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Hard Drive 2 |
Western Digital Blue WD10EALS 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB |
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Optical Drive |
LG Electronics UH08LS10 LightScribe 8x SATA Blu-ray Reader |
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Sound Card |
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro |
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Operating System |
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
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Price (as tested) |
2746.00 |
Packaging
MaxForce sent us the Javelin P55 secured twice in the original chassis box and a larger shipping box, the former cushioned inside with air-bubbled material, and the system itself nestled in foam placeholders. The material used did a great job protecting the P55, though the power switch came unplugged during shipping.
The maiden opening happened to be at one of our semi-annual LAN events, at which during set-up a particular staff member's anxiety got the best of him, and he opened the system without photographing the experience. So, using our skill level 250 investigation skills, we re-assembled the packaging and considering the absence of damage have no doubt in this area.
The Javelin P55 is assembled using the NZXT Panzerbox mid-tower, which is especially ideal for the LAN setting for several reasons. First, the Panzerbox is crafted entirely of aluminum, which aids in heat dissipation and also much lighter than alternative materials, which is key when frequenting LAN parties often. Its also on the smaller side of the LAN spectrum, so its easy to handle and transport, but still support enthusiast hardware, as you will soon read.
Memory is addressed with four sticks of 2GB Super-Talent DDR3 CL7, totaling to 8GB in RAM. Super Talent isn't as well-known as some of the more established memory companies such as Crucial or OCZ, but provide high performance memory at a nice price. Internal storage is comprised of an 80GB SSD from Intel, the X25-M, which holds the operating system for peak responsiveness, and a Western Digital Blue 1TB to cover any other data. At almost $300 MSRP, those looking to lower the overall cost of the system might opt to install the OS on a cheaper drive and sacrifice the quicker loading times of the faster SSD, without affecting much of the actual in-game performance.
The aformentioned operating system is none-other than Windows 7, which is Home Premium 64-bit, a nice choice for this type of build. With gaming often coinciding with a number of other PC enthusiast activites, the availilbility of the features in this package are a definite plus.
Speaking some to that enthusiast trait, MaxForce has installed an LG Blu-Ray reader, LightScribe model at 8x read speed. Again, a typical DVD-ROM would more than suffice for the needs of the current gamer and save you around $50, but if BluRays are something you have any interest in at all, equipping your PC with it for that price is a fraction of what it would cost to invest in a player itself. It also may be a good investment in the future of gaming, since BluRay format may someday be the new DVD.
The Javelin is also improves on the standard integrated sound, equipped with a Fatal1ty X-Fi XtremeGamer Sound Blaster. While sound is becoming an essential aspect of modern games, i.e. Modern Warfare, most standard sound would usually suffice and save you $100 of the cost. In addition, the motherboard choice also comes with a nice sound card included.
The Javelin P55 is completed with two CrossFire X Radeon graphic cards, the HD 5870 and HD 5850. These are both very nice models and perform very well, but in our situation we were left wondering: with a price difference of around $30 on Newegg, why wouldn't one chose to install two 5870's? The performance, as you will see, isn't lacking in any means, but it is an interesting choice nonetheless.
The SSD holds a nice little chunk of the overall price, but the speed gain is quite impressive. Compared to the 7200RPM 1TB HDD, the read speed is nearly 81% faster on the SSD with a rate of 250.8 MB/sec compared to 138.8MB/sec. For our write speeds, we received some interesting results because of two factors: one, the SSD only has a capacity of 80GB, which as you can see is 89% full, and two, it's 89% full because we installed Steam on it. So the figure is a quite a bit bottlenecked to actual performance, but is an excellent example of what you can run into when you put load on an SSD.
The PCMark Vantage synthetical give us an insight into many other functions of the PC, including memory, gaming, music, and productivity. Scoring a nice 14333 in overall, the Javelin saw it's gaming performance second only to the HDD, no doubt thanks to the $300 SSD.
Real-life game tests performed on the system including both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, in a 1920x1080 resolution and using FRAPS to benchmark frame rates. Again, the CrossFire X Radeon's peformed excellent under the pressures of one of the industry's most demanding titles, processing 5,347 frames in 60,000 milliseconds, a minimum rate of 71, maximum of 113, averaging out to 89.117 FPS.
Overall
Assembling the build of the MaxForce P55 yourself would cost roughly $2,500, while as tested our system totals to $2,746. The system is simply a great performer, pulling in impressive rates both from synthetic and actual game testing. Adding even more to the value is the portability of the chosen chassis, which your back will thank you several times over for. Considering MaxForce has acquired the parts (and is willing to honor special requests), assembles them well, and overclocks and cools adequately, not to mention takes care in shipping, a $300 price difference between DIY and order. Considering neither includes shipping, you could easily fill the gap paying costs for individual parts as opposed to $60 from MaxForce if you're willing to go with standard ground delivery.
