To take full advantage of the K-series CPU, a high-performance motherboard is required and Wired2Fire has selected the Asus Z170-P, featuring Intel’s enthusiast Z170 Express chipset which unlocks the overclocked modes of the Core i5 chip. Asus has also added advanced manual and automatic overclocking modes, should wish to push performance even further and to make it easy to overclock and future processor upgrades. It also comes with a built-in USB Type C connector and enhanced audio.
Buy the Diablo Fury from Wired2Fire
The system is built inside a very smart-looking NZXT Source 340 mid-tower system case, finished matt black with red accents. It features a minimalist design with an entirely blank front facia; there are no external drive bays here, so don’t get any ideas about adding an optical drive to the system as it won’t fit. Behind the facia is a small gap where air can be drawn into the case through a removable dust filter which keeps the internal components clean. There’s another dust filter at the bottom of the case, designed to protect the power supply in a similar manner. A transparent side panel on the left provides a clear view of most of the internal components. Alongside the graphics card is a very large ID Cooling SE-214X processor cooler featuring four heatpipes and a 120mm fan for quiet but effective cooling. The Diablo Fury also includes a pair of XPG Dazzle 2400MHz DDR4 memory modules, each of which is fitted with red LED strip, which slowly pulses in an alternating pattern. Two 8GB sticks are provided for a total of 16GB of system RAM. The case also features two dedicated mounting points for 2.5” drives, one of which is populated with a Samsung 850 Evo series solid state drive (SSD), which keeps the PC nimble and responsive, although at only 250GB and with no additional mechanical hard drive to back it up, it’s really not enough storage for a system which is otherwise so well specified. Excellent cable management keeps unsightly wires tucked away out of sight, as is the 500W FSP Bronze 80Plus certified power supply, which lives in a concealed compartment at the bottom of the case along with any spare wiring. This is also the space where a 3.5” hard drive could be installed in the likely event that 250GB of storage isn’t enough for you.
Performance
The Wired2Fire Diablo Fury’s overclocked components enable it to deliver higher performance than you may have seen from less expensive PCs with this combination of CPU and graphics processor. This makes it capable of smooth glitch-free gameplay at ‘high’ or ‘ultra’ quality settings at resolutions up to 1440p with 4K also quite playable in less-demanding titles. Running Thief at 1440p, it achieved an average frame rate of 59.8fps with Ultra settings and 59.7fps when running Alien Isolation at 4K, also with Ultra settings. It’s also well-suited to VR gaming, scoring a ‘Very High’ rating in the Steam VR performance test and a ‘super’ rating of 7063 points in the new VRMark Orange benchmark. For reference, a VRMark score of 6706 is considered a ‘High-end’ PC, with only 5000 points required to be considered ‘VR-ready’. Non-gaming performance is also very good. Its PCMark 8 Home score of 5200 points is very good at this price point, and the SSD ensures that games load up quickly while keeping the system generally responsive. However, at only 250GB there’s really not a lot of room to store big games on this system and you may find that you’ll be needing to supplement or upgrade the storage sooner rather than later. The Intel quad-core processor also delivers excellent performance when running processor-hungry tasks such as photo and video editing, where performance can often suffer on dual-core systems.
Benchmark results
Service and Warranty Good warranty terms are especially important with overclocked PCs and Wired2Fire provides a 3-year return-to-base warranty, of which the first two years covers parts as well as labour. This is a good level of cover, but not as convenient or cost effective as those that offer a free collect-and-return service for the first part of the warranty period.
