Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

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ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 77

THEULTIMAWSisanotheroptionfor
thosepreferringasmallerPC,althoughthis
is mainlyonly‘compact’initsshort385mm
length;it’sstilltallerthanAria’sand
Chillblast’sidenticallytinydesktops.
Nevertheless,it’stheinsidesof thisPC
thatmakeitnotjuststandout,butstand
abovetherest.Thebrainsof theoperation
is AMD’sRyzen53600,ahexa-core,
12-threadCPUfromthemostrecentthird
generationof Ryzenchips,withclockspeeds
of 3.6GHzatminimumandupto 4.2GHz
with sufficientthermalheadroomto boost.
Alongsideitis16GBof DDR4RAM–no
complaintsthere–and,similarto the
PalicompInteli5Mercury,asingle1TBSSD.
Lastly,sincetherearenointegratedgraphics,
asimple2GBGeForceGT710graphicscard
is calleduponforvideooutput.

CORES OFTHE MATTER

There’snooverclockingorupgradedcooling
here,butthatdidn’tstoptheUltimaWSfrom
cruisingthroughourperformancetests.
Althoughit’snotasmightyastheRyzen
7-poweredChillblastFusionDauntlessin
multithreadedwork,it’sbalancedoutwith
superiorsingle-corecapabilitythatmakesit
moreorlessthebestof bothworlds.
Scoresof 179intheimagetest,246inthe
videotest,291inthemultitaskingtestand
258overallshowthisinaction.TheRyzen5
3600hasthesignaturemultithreadprowess
of AMDCPUs,butitsimagetestresult
points towardsthebestsingle-core
performanceof allsixPCs.Thatincludes
the5GHzInteli5Mercury.
WhiletheFusionDauntless’s
multitaskingadvantageisconsiderable,
inaway weactuallyprefertheUltima
WS’smoreroundedapproach.There’s
stillmorethanenoughinthetankfor
smoothmediaeditingandencoding,
or workingwithmassivedocuments
and spreadsheets,buttheaddition
of highersingle-corepowerhelps
ensure top-notchperformancein
simplertasksaswell.
To beclear,theGT710isalmostas
weakasgraphicscardscome–we’d
sayit’saboutascapableasIntel’sUHD
Graphics630,whichisn’tmuch.Still,
we’renotlookingformajorgraphics
musclehere,anditdoesn’tactively
slowtheUltimaWSinthese
benchmarks,soit’sperfectlywelcome.
Conversely,theNVMeSSDisan
outstandingchoice.AswithPalicomp’s
system,it’slargeenoughthatthelack

WIRED2FIRE UltimaWS

★★★★★

£600•From http://www.wired2fire.co.uk

VERDICT

Anoutstandingprocessorandhigh-endSSD
joinforcesinthisoutstandingsystem

of aseconddriveisn’tmuchof anissue,

and intermsof speedit’stremendous.

We recordedasequentialreadspeedof

2,720MB/sandasequentialwritespeedof

2,763MB/s,sowhilethePCSpecialist

Magma S1’sSSDhasmodestlyfasterread

speeds,theUltimaWScanperformmuch

fasterwrites.Averagingthetwo,then,

makesthisonethequickerSSDoverall,the

benefitsof whichprobablydon’tneed

explainingyetagain.

Upgradabilitydoesn’treachthesame

heightsasperformance,butit’sadequate.

The lackof asparePCI-Ex16slotis

compensatedby thetwounusedPCI-E

x1 slots,andtheformerisunavoidable

anywayowingto dedicatedgraphicsbeing

anecessity.TwospareRAMslotsalsomake

foraquickandeasyupgradedowntheline,

andtheonlystorageslotthat’salready

occupiedisthemotherboard’sM.2connector.

Allfourchassis-providedbays,splitevenly

betweentwo2.5inandtwo3.5inbays,are

readyandavailableto takeextraharddisks

or SATA SSDs,andthere’sevenone5.25in

slotuptop.

LOOKALIKE CONTEST

Outside,thecaseislooselysimilarindesign

to thatof theMagmaS1.Botharesimpleand

straightforward,withfewvisualflourishes

saveforabrushedaluminiumeffectonthe

frontpanel.Onceagain,thisisadecent

touch, eveniftheInteli5Mercurylooksalot

niceronadesk.

Ontop, there’snoMagmaS1-stylecard

reader,justtwoUSB2portsandoneUSB3

port,althoughthisisstillprettyconvenient.

Thisalsosetsthetoneforexternal

connectivitymoregenerally,asit’sallfair

and functionalwithoutmanyluxuries.

Therearpanel,forexample,offersGigabit

Ethernetandthree3.5mmaudiojacks,but

there’snoonboardWi-Fiandnoextra

speakerconnectors.USB3.1isnowhereto be

seeneither,althoughthishasprovento be

largelycommonwiththese£600systems.

AlsointheUltimaWS’sdefenceisthe

generoustotalofeightfull-sizeUSBports,

splitbetweenfourUSB2andfourUSB3ports,

soit’sunlikelyyou’deverrunout.

ThisisalsotheonlyPChereto havemore

thantwodisplayoutputs,whichis

goodnewsforthosewhofavour

multiplemonitors.Thecatchisthatthe

GPU’sthreesocketscompriseHDMI,

DVI-DandtheancientVGAstandard,

withnoDisplayPortsorsecondHDMI.

TOWER OF POWER

Still,that’saminorcomplaintthat

doesn’tevenapplyifyou’reonlyusing

oneortwomonitors.By andlarge,the

UltimaWSisexcellent,combining

rapidperformanceinallworkloads

withnimble,spaciousstorageand

manychannelsof potentialfuture

upgrades.It’salsoquietenoughforan

officespaceandhasasmaller

footprintthanmost,whichmightbe

usefulifyou’reshortonspace.

TheInteli5Mercurysharesmany

of thesequalities,andiseveneasier

to customise,buttheUltimaWS’s

fasterCPUandstoragesealsthedeal

asaBestBuy.