Vigor Force Recon T7n

The Vigor Force Recon T7N ($3,699 direct) is a gaming PC that's reaching for the performance crown. Like the Maingear Ephex (Core i7), the current PCMag.com über-gaming Editors' Choice, the Force Recon has a heavily overclocked Core i7 processor, three graphics cards working together in an SLI configuration, and a tower case filled to the brim with high-end components. The results are similar: Both are at the top of the performance heap. The Force Recon wrests a few of the top performance laurels away from the Maingear, though not the overall title. That's because of its tiny C: drive capacity, among other things, and the need to practically take it apart to do any upgrade.

Of course, many of the gaming PCs I review for PCMag.com are focused like a laser on gaming performance. Some make sacrifices to gain performance, but none as many as the Force Recon. The system uses an enterprise-grade Intel X25-E 32GB SSD (solid-state drive) as its C: drive, and two 1-terabyte Western Digital drives in a RAID 0 array as the data drive (E:). The X25-E is speedier at read/write operations than mainstream SSDs are, but the capacity is so small that you'll be rebuilding the drive for every new game you want to install. I had to do that when I was testing: install, test, uninstall, install next test—you get the picture. You could install some programs to the data drives, but I believe this would make the system unlivable because some programs—particularly games—don't work right if they're not installed to the C: drive. You could also choose a slower (and cheaper) spinning hard drive option from Vigor.

The other sacrifice is that in order to overclock the system and still come in under $4,000, Vigor installed a Core i7-920 processor. The fact that Vigor was able to overclock this "entry-level" Core i7 beyond 3.6 GHz in an air-cooled system is impressive. I'm not sure how that would affect the Core i7's life expectancy, but the system does have a three-year parts-and-labor warranty, and by the time the warranty expires there will be a new hotness to buy. The real problem is that with so many fans in this box, the system sounds like an industrial air-conditioning cooling tower. The Maingear's extra-complicated, extra-expensive liquid cooling system will pay off in the long run—if only by saving you money you'd spend on therapy sessions. The Force Recon's blanket of droning fan noise would have driven me nuts if I hadn't used a pair of Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones, and I hate the feeling of pressure that active noise cancellation puts on my eardrums.

The rest of the chassis is packed with three Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 graphics cards in an SLI configuration, all working together to give the Force Recon some of the best 3D graphics scores I've seen. The problem is that it generates so much noise while doing so, and also, there's too much wiring in the chassis. The system builders that produce the rigs in the $5K club usually shorten and route their cables so as not to block airflow or ports in the case. The T7N is less expensive than some gaming boxes, like the Falcon FragBox 2 (Core i7) and the Maingear, but although the T7N's wiring is neatly tied up, it still sticks out like a sore thumb when you open the case. In particular, the extra power wires for the graphics cards snake around the bottom of the case, as do the slack power leads running to the power supply. The sole unoccupied SATA port on the motherboard is blocked by wiring, so DIY upgrades are limited to the three free memory DIMM slots. If you want upgrades down the road, you'll either need to send the system back to Vigor or accept that you'll be frequently unplugging or replugging components.

Source : http://www.pcmag.com