Flextron system unit. Review of the Flextron Astra gaming computer from the Russian company F-Center

X96 mini is a modern and multifunctional Smart TV set-top box. It serves to create an entertainment center on your home TV. This device not only fully covers the Smart TV function, but also significantly expands it. You can watch any movies in excellent quality online (even if they have just appeared on one of the torrents), select hundreds of TV channels in HD and FULL-HD options, play games downloaded on the same console from PLAY MARKET! This set-top box is already completely ready for work. We have installed the X96 mini - Russian language, correct screen size, keyboard language (for remote controls with a keyboard and just for Keyboard). MX player, HD-VIDEOBOKH, PEEERS-TV. EVERYTHING IS SET UP for watching any movies and TV programs! WATCH AND ENJOY! We sell the X96 mini tv box model in two versions with a ratio of RAM and built-in memory of 1/8 GB and 2/16 GB. If necessary, it can be increased to 32GB using micro SD. Price 2GB/16GB ---2540 rubles. X96mini, despite low price, can be safely called the standard for a budget Android set-top box. The X96-mini smart set-top box is a multifunctional HD media player, the advantage of which is support for Ultra HD 4K resolution and compactness. High performance and multitasking are provided by a 4-core 64-bit Amlogic S905W processor with a frequency of 1.2 GHz. Compared to the previous S905 processor, the updated one differs in its support for Smart Video Engine (AVE) hardware decoders, which are responsible for smooth playback of streaming video. Installed in the console GPU Mali-450 with an operating frequency of 750 MHz. Plays 3D Blu-Ray ISO files, fully supports 3D, Open GL and all possible graphic effects. This video card has excellent optimization for watching video files. The X96 mini kit includes: remote control remote control HDMI cable power supply instructions TV box Technical characteristics of X96 mini: SoC - Amlogis S905W quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with five-core Mali-450MP graphics processor with a frequency of 750 MHz System memory- 1 or 2 GB DDR3 Storage - 8 or 16 GB eMMC flash memory + micro SD card Support for memory cards up to 32 GB (microSD) Video and audio output - HDMI 2.0a output with HDR, AV port (composite + stereo audio) Video Codes - 4K @ 30fps H.265 MP, 4K @ 30fps VP9 Profile-2, MPEG1 / 2/4, H.264, HD АВС / VC-1, RM / RMVВ, Хvid / DivХ3 / 4/5/6, RealVideo8/9/10 Connectivity - 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (no Bluetooth) USB - 2 USB 2.0 ports: 1x host, 1x device (OTG?) Miscellaneous - IR receiver, IR port -extensions Dimensions - 82 x 82 x 17 mm For control you can use remote control, which is included in the kit, and also use remote controls with a fast gyroscope, keyboard and voice search, which we have on sale. You can use a wireless or USB keyboard. We have other smart consoles for sale. See profile.

It’s not difficult to guess that the main interest for the GameGuru portal is games of various genres, but today we decided to go further. What can make the gaming process more convenient and brighter? Of course - good iron! Our new review is dedicated to him.

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Progress does not stand still, especially in the field of computer technology. Manufacturers of computer components are mastering increasingly powerful technologies, and this has a beneficial effect on the final product, especially in combination with new design and ergonomic solutions.
A striking example of this is new model computers from the F-Center company FLEXTRON Acme VI, which is based on a 6-core AMD processor Phenom II X6 1055T and motherboard Asus M4A87TD Evo.

The computer is housed in a Cooler Master Scout case designed for gamers. And these are not empty words: when developing the corpus, a massive survey of the target audience was carried out, and professional teams of cyber-athletes were also involved.

The case is made of high-quality and durable materials, has a powerful steel frame, is equipped with special handles on the top cover for easy transportation and is equipped with a special anti-theft mechanism StormGuard.

Thanks to competent design, Cooler Master Scout provides high-quality cooling of all elements and allows you to expand the system components without worrying about the space inside the case. There is enough space for a powerful cooler and several pairs of hard drives. It is worth noting the presence of a convenient front panel, which houses 4 USB connectors, 2 audio jacks (headphones and microphone), an eSATA connector, a POWER button, as well as two LED indicator.

There is also a special button to turn on the red LED backlight system unit.

Cooler Master Scout has four 5.25-inch and five 3.5-inch drive bays and a card reader (compatible with 1.8- or 2.5-inch SSD drives). The power supply is located part of the housing.

Now let's see what's hidden inside the system unit FLEXTRON Acme VI.
The main components of this model are the Asus M4A87TD Evo motherboard and processor AMD Phenom II X6 1055T at 2800 MHz, with 6 MB of third-level cache. Large size Cache memory is necessary for storing and quickly accessing data by the processor, because the cache is implemented on expensive and high-speed SRAM elements, and the more cache memory, the faster data processing occurs.

Particular attention should be paid motherboard: built on a chipset AMD 870 motherboard Asus M4A87TD Evo has 8 USB connectors, of which 2 are standard 3.0 connectors. She's friends with SATA interface III and is equipped with such proprietary developments as ASUS EPU (Energy Processing Unit), TurboV EVO, Turbo Key, Turbo Unlocker, Core Unlocker, CPU Level Up, MemOK!, Precision Tweaker 2 and Express Gate.

The motherboard has 4 DDR III memory slots with a total capacity of up to 16 GB, FireWire connectors, optical output, eSATA, Ethernet, PS/2 (keyboard), PS/2 (mouse), eight-channel HD Audio, one IDE port, and 6 SATA III ports.

FLEXTRON Acme VI comes with 4 GB RAM Samsung (2 2 GB sticks), which can be expanded to 16 GB DDR III. But even with 4 GB of RAM, more than sufficient performance is provided for resource-intensive programs and modern games.

An important indicator for a modern gamer is the volume hard drive. This computer model has hard drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 with a capacity of 1000 GB.
The hard drive has a buffer capacity of 32 MB and an interface SATA controller II. This means that on your computer you can, with virtually no restrictions, store large number movies and music, as well as install many modern programs and games that are quite demanding on disk space. A large disk cache increases the speed of access to frequently accessed data, which increases the computer's performance when working with large amounts of information, for example, when transcoding video into various formats.

In the configuration I received, FLEXTRON Acme VI contains on board the Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 video card, which is a high-performance video subsystem with 1024 MB of GDDR5 RAM with a clock frequency of 4000 MHz and an ATI Radeon HD 5830 graphics processor with a frequency of 800 MHz. This graphics card consumes only 25 Watts at idle and 175 Watts at full load, which is higher than the Radeon HD 5850, since the ATI Radeon HD 5830 GPU operates at a higher frequency.

These characteristics for the user actually mean that any modern computer game will run on your computer FLEXTRON Acme VI at close to maximum performance settings. The presence of 1024 MB of video memory will have a better effect on working with graphic editors, and will also allow you to comfortably play computer games that contain large volume texture models.

The Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 graphics card provides the ability to play on three Eyefinity monitors, high-definition audio output encoded via HDMI, and hardware support for DirectX 11 technology, which will have a better effect on performance in games with heavy graphics. The video card is quite difficult to overclock, which is not surprising, since the GPU already operates at higher frequencies.

The video card is equipped DVI connectors x2, HDMI and DisplayPort, with which you can connect almost all modern models of monitors and TVs to your computer. If the monitor only has a D-Sub connector, it is connected to the video card through a special adapter included in the kit.

Let's now see how it all works together. On the computer I received FLEXTRON Acme VI was already preinstalled Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32 Bit, which will be used for tests. This OS is not entirely suitable for a computer with this configuration due to existing 32-bit limitations operating system cannot work with 4 GB of RAM. I hope that ready-made computers This model is supplied to the end user with a 64-bit OS.

Test computer characteristics:

operating system Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 6.1.7600
CPU type HexaCore AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, 3261 MHz (16.5 x 198)
System board Asus M4A87TD Evo (3 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR3 DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
Video adapter ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series (1024 MB)
Sound adapter ATI Radeon HDMI @ ATI Cypress/Hemlock - High Definition Audio Controller
DirectX DirectX 11.0

Monitor LG W2343 (Analog), HDD ST31000528AS, DVD drive Optiarc DVD RW AD-7241S, 2x RAM Samsung M378B5673FH0-CH9.

Tests were carried out by programs EVEREST v5.50.2202 Beta/ru, PCMark Vantage 1.0.2.0, 3DMark06, FPS values ​​were measured by the program FRAPS.

I would like to say right away that the built-in Windows 7 performance test gave a score FLEXTRON Acme VI 6.1 points due to not very high disk performance. All other test items had values ​​of 7.1-7.4. PCMark Vantage 1.0.2.0 after an hour and a half test showed the following results:

As one might expect, the sore spot was again the hard drive. In the Gaming category, the computer showed a fairly high rating: the large amount of RAM and a powerful video card coupled with a powerful 6-core processor make an impact.

The graphics test was carried out in 3DMark06, the results of which showed a very good assessment of the performance of this computer model.

It should be noted that test results are just numbers that are rarely of interest to the user. Much more important is the actual performance of the computer for certain tasks. Computer FLEXTRON Acme VI is aimed at gamers, therefore, the best test of its performance will be the rather resource-intensive computer game Crysis.

Please note that the computer, specifically for testing, was updated to latest version DirectX and ATI Catalyst video card drivers.

In the game settings menu there is a button for automatic performance detection.
Based on the results of the game's internal testing, the performance options were automatically set to high performance. After some thought, it was decided to run the game at maximum performance settings, manually setting the maximum value.

When launching the game at maximum settings, it was noted that the number of frames per second was 60 fps and ranged from 41 (dynamic image when scenes are loaded with complex special effects) to 62 (almost static image in the field of view). At medium performance settings, the fps values ​​increased to 120 and ranged from 90 to 127 depending on the dynamics of the image.

Let's summarize. Powerful hardware, as well as an almost unlimited possibility of further upgrades, make the computer configuration FLEXTRON Acme VI relevant for several years to come. It is especially worth noting the support for new SATA III and USB 3.0 devices, which will gain momentum in the near future, providing even greater data exchange speeds.
High performance in games and applications ensures comfortable use of the computer in solving various types of tasks.

FLEXTRON Acme VI- a high-performance computer at a reasonable price, which simply cannot leave indifferent an avid gamer and someone who likes to keep up with the times.

In April last year, the F-Center company began production personal computers under the Flextron brand, aimed at both home and corporate users.

The company offers users an exclusive service: the production of computers according to individual configurations without advance payment.

Flextron computers have certificates of conformity of the State Standard of Russia, hygienic conclusions of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision, as well as a certificate of compatibility with software Microsoft Design for Microsoft Windows XP.

The F-Center company offers several series of computers under the Flextron brand, aimed at different categories of users, and therefore designed to solve different problems: Flextron Optima Light, Flextron Optima, Flextron Focus, Flextron Energo, Flextron Premiera, Flextron Universe, Flextron Maxima, Flextron Vip and Flextron Me.

The Flextron Optima Light and Flextron Optima series are affordable all-in-one computers for the home office. The Flextron Focus and Flextron Energo series are specially designed for schoolchildren and students and represent inexpensive computers entry level that meet children's learning objectives. Flextron Premiera computers are already home PC models designed for gaming, processing digital photos, editing and recording your own video clips, etc.

The Flextron Universe and Flextron Maxima series computers are positioned as the next generation of gaming home computers.

Computers of the Flextron Vip series are modern graphics stations, complemented by advanced multimedia capabilities.

Well, the latest series of Flextron Me computers are custom-made home computers that have a non-standard configuration that fully meets the user's needs.

In this article we will take a closer look at the Flextron Maxima D series computer, which is positioned by F-Center as a home gaming PC with advanced functionality.

Flextron Maxima D computer configuration

So, to find out what the capabilities of the Flextron Maxima D computer are, let's look at its configuration in detail.

The Flextron Maxima D is powered by a dual-core processor Intel Pentium D 830 with a clock frequency of 3 GHz. Let us recall that this processor has a 2 MB L2 cache (1 MB for each processor core), is designed for an FSB frequency of 800 MHz and supports technologies such as EM64T, XD, as well as thermal protection technologies Thermal Monitor 2 and Intel Enhanced energy saving technology Speed ​​Step.

In conjunction with the Intel Pentium D 830 processor, the Intel D945PSNLK motherboard is used, based on a set Intel chips 945P Express. This motherboard allows you to install up to 4 GB of DDR2-400/533/667 RAM (four DIMM slots), has a PCI Express x16 slot for installing a video card, as well as two PCI Express x1 slots and four regular PCI slots.

IN Intel board The D945PSNLK has a fairly large number of ports and I/O interfaces: eight USB 2.0 ports, serial and parallel ports, as well as a gigabit network interface based on the Intel 82573V/82574V controller.

In addition, the south bridge Intel chipset The 945P Express allows you to connect up to four SATA II devices and two PATA devices.

Like all modern motherboards, the Flextron Maxima D board is equipped with an integrated sound card. IN in this case We are talking about the Intel High Definition Audio solution in combination with a six-channel (5.1) audio codec based on the Sigmatel 9220 chip.

The Flextron Maxima D computer uses 1 GB of DDR2-533 RAM (two 512 MB modules), operating in dual-channel mode.

The PC disk subsystem includes one hard drive with a SATA II Maxtor MaxLine III 7V250F0 interface with a capacity of 250 GB and a buffer size of 16 MB.

In addition, the Flextron Maxima D computer has optical drive DVD-RW Pioneer DVR-111.

The video subsystem of the Flextron Maxima D computer is built on the basis of a Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT graphics card with a PCI Express x16 interface. This video card, based on the ATI Radeon X1600XT graphics processor, is equipped with 256 MB of DDR3 graphics memory and not only provides high performance in modern 3D games, but also has extensive multimedia capabilities. In particular, hardware support for AVIVO technology allows you to produce high speed converting video data to various formats, and in addition, the hardware supports HDTV video playback (without loading the central processor), as well as other functions for capturing and processing video data streams.

In conclusion of the description of the Flextron Maxima D PC, we note that it is assembled in an ASUS Ascot 6AR1-BF case with a miditower form factor in black with a silver finish on the front panel and is equipped with a 360 W power supply.

Flextron Maxima D computer capabilities

As you can see, by its configuration the Flextron Maxima D computer is a high-performance system with the possibility of further scaling.

A computer of this configuration can be classified as a universal home PC that can successfully perform a wide range of tasks. For example, on the basis of this computer you can build a multimedia center with a variety of capabilities for capturing and processing video data. In addition, such a center can simultaneously perform the functions of an audio center. The Flextron Maxima D can also be used as a home gaming PC. Another example of its possible application is digital photo processing. And of course, the dual-core Intel Pentium D 830 processor allows you to use the Flextron Maxima D PC as an entry-level graphics station. Complex tasks of rendering 3D scenes created in programs such as Maya, 3ds max, SolidWorks and the like can all be completed with ease on the Flextron Maxima D PC.

Testing the Flextron Maxima D computer

To really see what the Flextron Maxima D can do, we did some testing using some of the most popular benchmarks and applications. During testing, an operating room was used Windows system XP SP2. Video driver version 6.14.0010.

The testing program included the following benchmarks:

• SYSmark 2005 SE;
• Discreet 3d Studio Max 7.0;
• Alias ​​WaveFront Maya 6.5;
• FutureMark 3DMark 2005 (Patch 1.20);
• Half-Life 2 (d1_town_01.dem);
• FarCry Patch 1.33;
• DOOM III (Patch 1.3);
• Quake 4 (Patch 1.05).

The SYSmark 2005 SE test allows you to evaluate PC performance when working with office applications and applications for creating Internet content. Discreet 3d Studio Max 7.0 and Alias ​​WaveFront Maya 6.5 are popular applications for working with 3D graphics. To test performance when working with the Discreet 3d Studio Max 7.0 application, the SPECapc_3dsmax_7_v2.1.3 script was used, and when working with the Alias ​​WaveFront Maya 6.5 application, the SPECapc_Maya 6.5_v1.0 script was used.

The remaining benchmarks and applications used allow us to evaluate the PC's capabilities in modern 3D games. When using gaming benchmarks, testing was carried out with the default video driver settings, but with two different settings for the games themselves: a setting with the highest possible image quality and with medium quality. The settings for each game for maximum and average display quality are shown in table. 1.

All game tests were run three times at different screen resolutions: 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 pixels. The remaining tests were run at a screen resolution of 1024x768 with a color depth of 32 bits.

The test results using the packages SYSmark 2005 SE, Discreet 3d Studio Max 7.0, SPECapc Maya 6.5 v1.0 are presented in table. 2, and using gaming benchmarks in table. 3.

Conclusions

As can be seen from the test results, the Flextron Maxima D computer has high performance when working not only with office applications and applications for creating Internet content, but also with such resource-intensive programs as Discreet 3d Studio Max 7.0 and Alias ​​WaveFront Maya 6.5. Usage dual core processor allows you to significantly speed up the process of rendering 3D scenes in these applications.

In gaming applications, the Flextron Maxima D provides performance sufficient for the vast majority of modern fast-paced games, with settings not only for medium, but also for maximum display quality, which confirms our assumption that this PC can be used as a gaming home computer.

In conclusion, we note once again that the Flextron Maxima D PC is a high-performance, universal home computer aimed at solving a wide range of tasks. The cost of this configuration is approximately 30 thousand rubles.

Let me tell you better about my impressions of the car offered to me by F-Center - Flextron Quattro 3C. Looking ahead, I admit that, although I am not an ardent fan of computer shooters and strategies, I really wanted to get acquainted with an SLI motherboard for $120. Not only because this is one of the first motherboards built on the basis of the mid-range nForce 650i SLI chipset, but also because even a quick glance at its specifications allows us to talk about a growing competitor to the currently popular Intel P965 logic set.

So, let's look at the experimental subject from the outside... A terrible sight (smile). Joke. In fact, Thermaltake's Soprano VX body looks somewhat menacing due to the silver “corners”, more reminiscent of the horns of alien spaceships that filled American films in the late 80s. Although I must admit that thanks to the walls painted with piano varnish, it looks quite stylish.

What I was most pleased with were the screwless fastenings of the components, thanks to which you can forever forget about all the bolts that are so annoying to unscrew and tighten every time you need to change the hard drive and drive. In addition, the manufacturer installed a key lock on the side wall, and loops for an additional padlock on the back wall.

All this increased protection was introduced, apparently, in order to spank other people’s “playful hands”, which strive to get into places they shouldn’t. By the way, the theme of security can be seen very clearly in the design of the case, because even if the locks do not stop intruders and they still break the case with a can opener, it will not be difficult to identify them later, since clearly visible fingerprints remain on its surface.

The design of the front panel does not cause any complaints, but its monolithic design does not at all contribute to the full cooling of hard drives, as well as the ventilation holes, drilled only on the left wall and representing two bizarre patterns of medium-sized holes. Optimal air circulation occurs only in the upper part of the case, thanks to the 120 mm exhaust fan.

Nevertheless, a large temperature difference can be significantly reduced by attaching another fast “fan” directly to the hard drive. By the way, about the HDD: the background noise that accompanies all its efforts can be compared to rumbling washing machine wrung out clothes from whose pockets they forgot to take stones out. And since the case is quite spacious (only the main components are present), acoustic effects are created in it, adding some flavor to the “hard single”. So, all valuable information weighing up to 320 GB is “squeezed out” at a speed of 7200 rpm. In general, the hard drive turned out to be a very vocal comrade compared to the rest of the inhabitants of the system unit.

Let's move directly to the configuration, the main idea of ​​which, apparently, was to create a budget, but at the same time promising machine for gamers with average incomes. In general, organizing an SLI system is not a cheap pleasure (regardless of its level) and is often completely unnecessary for a simple user who is not particularly focused on games, but in the case of the ASUS P5N-E SLI the situation is somewhat different. But do not anticipate the further course of my story - we will not be talking about the features of the SLI system as such: there is only one Palit GeForce 8600 GT video card with a memory capacity of 256 MB.

And in the future, the user will decide for himself whether he needs a second video card or whether he will be content with what he has - freedom of choice, so to speak. The cost of the motherboard itself makes it quite attractive not only for gamers, especially considering its good functionality and acceptable overclocking potential. It is based on the nForce 650i SLI chipset from NVIDIA, a stripped-down version of the top-end nForce 680i SLI. Unlike its older brother, this chipset has fewer PCI Express lanes, 18 versus 46, which primarily affects the SLI system modes.

The fact is that the older chipset offers a “x16 + x16” scheme, as well as an additional PCI Express x8 bus directly for the physical accelerator, while the nForce 650i SLI implements a simplified “x8 + x8” version. If only one video card is installed in the system, the first slot functions as PCI Express x16, and the second is disabled. Switching between modes occurs by changing the position of the daughter card. Let me make a reservation right away that in terms of performance, the nForce 650i SLI is practically not inferior to its older brother, since both chipsets are built on the same C55 SPP northbridge.

Additional features motherboards are largely determined by its south bridge, nForce 430, which, after being cut, received only one gigabit network controller instead of two, four SATA/300 instead of six, and eight USB ports instead of ten. It’s good that the arsenal includes support for NCQ and RAID, as well as two FireWire ports and an external eSATA port, “Asus-style” SATA On-the-Go. It is noteworthy that there are two ATA/133 channels, which is completely atypical for modern chipsets. An experienced eye will immediately notice the similarity between the existing south bridge and the long-tested nForce 6150 logic set. A hit-conveyor churning out popular identical chips for different models, unfortunately, rules here too.

Six-channel audio is implemented using the Realtek ALC833 codec, which actually supports all eight channels and is a low-cost solution compared to, for example, Analog Devices. ASUS usually installs the latter in its top-end motherboards. ASUS's desire to quickly throw a newfangled chipset onto the market had a negative impact on the quality of the product's cooling as a whole. And taking into account the lack of air intake from the front panel of the case, the situation seems truly threatening. If at standard frequencies the large aluminum radiator of the north bridge is heated to the point of “finger holding”, then what can we say about overclocking exercises with the case closed?

As for memory, let's bow deeply to the north bridge of the C55 SPP, which ASUS engineers did not cut. It is thanks to him, my dear, that the DDR2 SDRAM frequency is set as divisors relative to the FSB (the choice of which, frankly speaking, is not very diverse: there are only four FSB:DRAM ratios, equal to 1:2, 5:8, 3:4 and 1:1 ), and pseudo-asynchronously. In the latter case, the BIOS allows you to specify the memory frequency value in the range from 400 to 2600 MHz, but at the same time it will select the real frequency among adjacent values ​​with an error of 10-20 MHz downward. The value is selected from the set of divisors available to the chipset. The FSB frequency range varies from 133 to 750 MHz.

For those who are waiting with particular trepidation for the results of “synthetics”, I will immediately say that I did not carry out any overclocking manipulations, because first of all I wanted to establish the standard performance of the machine in order to know where the starting point is. Moreover, without proper cooling, nothing can be properly overclocked. So, 3DMark 2001 SE – 37,481 points, 3DMark`05 – 11,119, 3DMark`06 – 5683. The PCMark`04 package scored the following points: overall result and CPU result – N/A (the benchmark cannot chew quad-core stones), speed memory – 8504, video card speed – 9837, quickness file system– 5923. In the case of PCMark`05, the results are 7437 and 7734, 5405, 6964 and 6345 points, respectively.

In the end, it should be admitted that the car is not without some shortcomings related to the cooling system, which needs to be improved. But in general, Flextron Quattro 3C is one of the few proposals for organizing affordable potential SLI systems. And the presence of a quad-core processor, which, even without overclocking, is able to ensure the fast operation of a pair of video cards, undoubtedly confirms my conclusions.

• Device: Flextron Quattro 3C
• Type: PC
• OS: Windows XP Home Edition
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad E6600, 2.4 GHz
• Motherboard: ASUS P5N-E SLI
• RAM memory: 2 GB, DDR2-667
• HDD: 320 GB, SATA II
• Video card: ASUS GeForce 8600 GT, 256 MB
• price: $1199

Acknowledgment: the device was provided by the F-Center company (www.fcenter.ru)

The range of gaming computers offered by the company "" includes several series: CS:GO, Maxima, Quattro, Axis, Virtu, Astra and Futura. In this review we will get acquainted with one of the company's new products - a gaming computer.

As follows from the description on the company’s website, we are talking about one of the most powerful gaming solutions for the winter of 2018. The Flextron Astra computer allows you to cope with any games of 2017-2018 in resolutions of 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 with maximum quality settings, as well as in 4K resolution with minimum and medium settings. By the way, on the manufacturer’s website you can even find out at what settings you can comfortably play different modern games at different resolutions - you won’t find such a configurator anywhere. In addition, Flextron Astra is one of best solutions for games in virtual reality(you just need to connect the VR helmet).

Of course, in addition to games, Flextron Astra can be used for creativity. This powerful computer will cope with various resource-intensive tasks, such as photo editing, processing, video creation and editing, etc.

Well, we just have to check how true this positioning is.

Hardware configuration

The configuration of the Flextron Astra computer that we received for testing was as follows:

So, the basis of the Flextron Astra computer is a top-end six-core processor (Coffee Lake) combined with motherboard based on the Intel Z370 chipset.

The Core i7-8700K processor has a nominal clock speed of 3.7 GHz, which is Turbo mode Boost can go up to 4.7 GHz. Processor supports Hyper-Threading technology(12 threads in total), its L3 cache size is 12 MB, and its rated power is 95 W. The Core i7-8700K has an unlocked multiplier, meaning it can be overclocked.

This processor integrates an Intel UHD 630 graphics core, but in case gaming computer It is logically assumed that not a processor graphics core will be used, but a discrete video card. The Flextron Astra variant uses a top-of-the-line GPU-based gaming graphics card Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 with 8GB GDDR5 memory.

As it turned out during testing, in stress loading mode (FurMark v.1.20.01) the graphics processor operates at a frequency of 1569 MHz, and the video memory frequency is 1251 MHz.

On the mother's Asus board Prime Z370-A has 4 slots for installing memory modules, a total of 64 GB of DDR4 memory can be installed. In our case, only 16 GB of DDR4-2666 memory was installed in the computer using two Micron Ballistix BLS8G4D26BFSEK.8FBR modules.

The storage subsystem in the Flextron Astra computer is a combination of two drives: SSD Samsung 960 Evo (500 GB) with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface installed in the M.2 connector (2280), and a 3.5-inch HDD Toshiba HDWD130 (3 TB) .

The design of the Flextron Astra computer case does not imply the installation of such a rare device as an optical DVD drive, which can only be welcomed.

The communication capabilities of the computer are determined by the presence of an Intel i219-V gigabit network adapter on the motherboard, but wireless adapter in this case no.

The computer's audio subsystem is based on the Realtek ALC1220 audio codec integrated on the board, and there are five mini-jack audio connectors on the rear panel of the board to connect headphones or speakers.

Case design and functionality

The Flextron Astra computer is housed in a miditower case. This case is available in various colors (black-red, red-white, etc.). In our version, the case was black and silver.

The design of the case can be called geometric and even bold and unexpected. The combination of lines located at different angles in the design of this case visually forms various geometric shapes, it looks stylish. The exterior of the SPEC-Alpha case will definitely not leave anyone indifferent.

The overall dimensions of the case are 474x220x464 mm (HxWxD), and the case itself is made of plastic, iron and plexiglass. The internal elements of the chassis chassis are 0.55 mm thick, and the side walls are 0.7 mm thick.

The left side cover has a large window covered with a transparent (lightly tinted) plexiglass plate. True, in this case there is no particular meaning in this window, since the backlight in the Flextron Astra computer is entry-level. There is little backlighting on the board itself; the main white backlighting is provided by two front fans.

The front panel of the case does not have 5.25- and 3.5-inch slots, so it will not be possible to install an optical drive or any 5.25- or 3.5-inch device with external output in such a case. The front panel, decorated with plastic, is not flat: its surface is formed by intersecting planes located at different angles.

The top panel of the case resembles the front surface in design, but it is not so convex.

On the front surface of the case in the upper right corner there are vertical power buttons with built-in white backlight, two USB port 3.0, a fan speed switch, a pair of audio connectors, a disk activity indicator (also white) and a small Reset button.

Now a little about the internal contents of the case. There is only one storage basket; it has three slots for 3.5-inch drives. Two more places, but for 2.5-inch SSD/HDD, are located on its upper plane. The basket is attached to the bottom of the chassis, in the front part. Two more 2.5-inch drives can be mounted above the basket, on the continuation of the vertical base motherboard.

Much attention is paid to the ventilation system in the building. There are two 120mm fans installed on the front panel, which are designed to provide additional cooling to most of the motherboard and the components installed on it, including the processor and video cards.

These fans work as blowers and have a white backlight. Air intake is carried out through a grille that occupies slightly more than half the area of ​​the front panel.

Another 120mm fan, exhaust and without backlight, is located on the rear wall of the chassis. In addition, another 120 mm fan in the Flextron Astra computer is installed on the top plane of the chassis. In general, you can install two 120mm fans on the top plane of the chassis, and there is still room for one 120mm fan on the bottom plane of the chassis, but such an abundance of noise sources is hardly necessary.

In the Corsair Carbide SPEC-Alpha case, the power supply is located at the bottom; the power supply is not included with the case. The Flextron Astra computer is equipped with a Thermaltake TR2 RX 750W Bronze power supply with a power of 750 W, which is quite enough even for such a powerful PC.

Sound path

As already noted, the audio path of the Flextron Astra computer is based on the Realtek ALC1220 HDA codec integrated on the motherboard.

Traditionally, to evaluate the output audio path intended for connecting headphones or external acoustics, we conduct testing using an external sound card Creative E-MU 0204 USB and RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.3.0 utilities. Testing was carried out in stereo mode, 24-bit/44.1 kHz. Based on the testing results, the audio path received a “Good” rating. The full report with test results in the RMAA 6.3.0 program is presented below.

Test results in RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.3.0

General results

Frequency response

Noise level

Dynamic range

Harmonic distortion + noise (−3 dB)

Interpenetration of stereo channels

Load performance and cooling system efficiency

Traditionally, when testing computers, we determine the cooling efficiency under stressful load of the processor and video card.

In normal processor operation mode (without overclocking) when it is stressed by the Prime95 (Small FFT) utility, the core frequency is 4.3 GHz.

The temperature of the processor cores in this mode is stabilized at 85°C, and the power consumption is at 130 W.

Of course, the processor can be overclocked, and for the Core i7-8700K processor it is quite possible to set the frequency to 5.0 GHz. But at this frequency the processor can operate without overheating only under non-extreme load - for example, when passing the Stress CPU test from the AIDA64 package.

At the same time, the temperature of the processor cores is 80°C, and the power consumption is stabilized at 95 W.

However, when the processor load increases (even using the Stress FPU test from the same AIDA64 package), the processor cores reach a critical temperature value (100 °C) and throttling mode occurs.

The frequency of the processor cores in this mode drops to 4.5 GHz, and the power consumption is stabilized at 145 W.

Drive performance

As already noted, the storage subsystem of the Flextron Astra computer is a combination of SSD and HDD. The Samsung 960 Evo MZ-V6E500BW SSD drive (M.2 2280, 500 GB, PCIe 3.0 x4) is supposed to be used as a system drive, so the performance of this particular drive is of interest, first of all.

The ATTO Disk Benchmark utility pegs its maximum sequential read speed at 1,700 MB/s and sequential write speed at 1,400 MB/s. This is very high result even for a drive with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface.

The CrystalDiskMark utility demonstrates approximately the same result.

Research performance in applications and games

Traditionally, when testing computers and laptops, we use our test package based on real applications, iXBT Application Benchmark, and a gaming test package, which includes 11 modern games.

In this case, however, we considered it unnecessary to use the iXBT Application Benchmark package, since new version This test package () uses a computer with a similar Core i7-8700K processor and the same 16 GB of memory as a reference system. True, our reference computer does not have a discrete graphics card, but for the vast majority of tests this does not change anything. That is, we know in advance that the Flextron Astra’s integrated result will be equal to 120 points, and due to the presence of a discrete video card, application-based tests will have an advantage Adobe Premiere Pro and Phase One Capture One Pro. In addition, tests that depend on the drive's performance will run a little faster, but overall the results will be very similar. As for conclusions regarding the performance of this computer in real (non-gaming) applications, we can draw them without testing, since systems with similar configurations have been tested many times.

So, Flextron Astra is one of the most powerful computers available today. It is equipped with a top six-core processor with overclocking capabilities, and more powerful processor there is simply no LGA 1151 connector. In addition, the computer is equipped gaming video card top class, it uses a very fast NVMe drive and has a capacious HDD. That is, it is difficult to imagine a reasonable and at the same time more productive configuration.

But since the Flextron Astra is primarily a gaming computer, let's look at its capabilities in games. For testing, we used our iXBT Game Benchmark 2017 test package, which includes 11 modern games.

We considered it a sign of disrespect to test such a computer in games at a resolution of 1920x1080 and therefore limited ourselves to only a resolution of 2560x1440. Testing was carried out in game settings for maximum and minimum quality. During testing, the video driver version Nvidia ForceWare 390.77 was used.

As can be seen from the testing results, even at a resolution of 2560x1440, almost all games can be played comfortably with settings at maximum quality. An exception is the game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, however, if you slightly adjust the settings of this game, you can achieve a comfortable speed without a noticeable deterioration in display quality.

Of course, it all depends on what exactly is considered a comfortable level of play. In our opinion, it is comfortable to play when the speed is 30 FPS and above. Although, of course, there will be those who will say that 60 FPS is not enough for them (and it would be good if not 120 FPS). In a word, there are no clear gradations here, everything is quite subjective. It is also worth noting that the games World of Tanks, Dark Souls III and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have a built-in maximum FPS limit: more than 118 FPS in World of Tanks and 60 FPS in Dark Souls III and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim cannot be obtained.

Of course, the Flextron Astra is a high-performance gaming solution, and in the segment of gaming computers with a single video card, a more powerful solution can only be obtained by using a noticeably more expensive video card based on the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, and the difference in performance will not be very large.

Conclusions

Today, the Flextron Astra gaming computer from the Russian company F-Center is one of the most productive solutions. The recipe for a computer is very simple: it uses almost the highest performing components available on the market today. Is it possible to assemble such a computer yourself from components? Undoubtedly. At average prices on Yandex.Market, the cost of all components of such a computer will be approximately 123 thousand rubles. Moreover, thanks to a large selection of various components from well-known manufacturers, F-Center itself can offer custom-made computers. If we return to our system, then 123 thousand is without taking into account licensed version Windows 10 Home Edition, which comes pre-installed on your Flextron Astra computer. Let’s add here a two-year guarantee and the absence of “headaches” that will definitely arise when self-assembly PC. As a result, we will get a slightly different cost - 163 thousand rubles.

In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Flextron Astra gaming computer:

You can also watch ours on iXBT.Video