WITH INTEL’S Alder Lake CPUs now firmly
entrenched in the PC hardware market,
we’ve been keen to see how far custom
PC manufacturers can push them. Enter
Velocity Micro, which has taken the
already fearsome Intel Core i9 12900K,
overclocked the eight Performance cores
to 5.1GHz, and taken the eight Efficient
cores to 4GHz. That maxes out the
performance of this already impressive
chip while pairing it with other bleeding-
edge components, including a PCIe 4.0
SSD, DDR5 RAM, and a 3080Ti GPU.
If you’re reading those specs and
struggling to imagine what the price could
be, let us put you out of your misery—the
Raptor Z55 costs $4,999. That’s a healthy
chunk of change, but it’s in the same
ballpark as the similarly-specced HP
Omen 45L ($4,700) and Corsair One i300
($4,999), neither of which are supplied
with the CPU overclocked. We loved the
i300 when we reviewed it in our April 2022
issue, especially its svelte form factor,
but the Raptor Z55’s overclocked CPU
delivered a 5 percent better Cinebench
score than the Corsair.
The Raptor Z55 is also a more future-
proofed machine, given the space inside
to upgrade and add components. In fact,
you’d be hard-pressed to find a PC with
a bigger footprint, so you’ll need plenty
of desk or floor space, and don’t plan on
moving it much unless you have arms like
Chris Hemsworth. However, there’s loads
of space for airflow and a tool-free side
panel for when you need to get inside.
Scary performance from this overclocked beast
Velocity Micro Raptor Z55
8
VERDICT Velocity Micro Raptor Z55DINO-SOAR Incredible
performance, supreme cooling,
easy to build in.
DINO-BORE Huge footprint, front lighting
hidden behind case.
$4,999, http://www.velocitymicro.comSPECIFICATIONSCPU Intel Core i9 12900K
@ 5.1GHz
GPU EVGA GeForce
RTX 3080 Ti FTW3
RAM 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR5-5200
Motherboard Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master
Storage 2TB Samsung 980 Pro
NVMe SSD
Front I/O
1x 3.5mm audio,
2x USB 3.2 Gen 1,
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-CRear I/O
4x USB 3.2 Gen 1,
5x USB 3.2 Gen 2,
2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C,
10GbE LAN, HD Audio,
3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI
PSU EVGA 850W SuperNOVA
OS Windows 11 Home
Dimensions 20.25 x 20.5 x 8.25 inches
Weight 30lbsWhile the system features plenty of
well-known brands, including a Gigabyte
motherboard, EVGA GPU, and Samsung
SSD, the case and cooling are all Velocity
Micro’s own. The case does an excellent
job of showing off the company’s neat
and tidy installation, with a stealthy
black design illuminated by the colorful
GPU, fans, and RAM. Sadly, the triple-fan
radiator is side-mounted in the front of
the case, which is good for cooling but not
for showing off the fancy lighting.VIRTUALLY SILENT FANS
Given that there are also two ceiling
fans and one exhaust fan, airflow is
excellent, and the machine is virtually
silent in normal operation and quiet even
under full load—that’s quite some feat
given the overclocks. The CPU did go hot
when performing our benchmark tests
at 111°C, but it tends to peak at 100°C in
gaming and 60°C under normal load.
With components at the cutting edge
across the board, it was no surprise to see
excellent benchmark results from the
Raptor Z55. Aside from adding in a much
more expensive 3090 or 3090 Ti GPU for
incremental frame rate gains, there’s not
much more you could do to improve the
performance of this system. While it’s
no doubt added significantly to the cost
of this machine, the inclusion of 32GB of
DDR5-5200 RAM and a PCIe 4.0 drive will
keep it current for years to come.
On the graphics side, the RTX 3080 Ti
has also been overclocked to 1,800MHzover the standard model’s 1,670MHz. In
reality, our benchmarks didn’t deliver
a massive performance boost in games
when compared to the standard RTX 3080
used in our February 2022 build with the
same CPU, but it was a strong performer
at 4K, capable of running Horizon Zero
Dawn at 91fps and Hitman 3 at 127fps.
The closest comparison to this
machine in terms of specs is the Corsair
One i300. The Raptor Z55 is a more
traditional gaming PC, compared with
Corsair’s sleeker, console-like build.
Which one is best for you will depend on
your taste—the Raptor Z55 is roomier
and much easier to upgrade, whereas the
One i300 takes up significantly less desk
space and will fit neatly under the TV for
weekend gaming sessions.
If you have $5,000 to play with though,
there are two excellent systems available
for different users who just want the best
in PC tech in 2022. –GUY COCKEROur zero-point consists of an Intel Core i9 12900K, Corsair 32GB DDR5-5200 RAM, an Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080 10GB,
Asus Rog Strix Z690-E Gaming WiFi motherboard, and WD Black SN750 2TB SSD. All game tests were performed at
3840 x 1600 at the highest graphical profile.BENCHMARKS
ZERO-
POINT
Cinebench R15 Multi (Index) 4,189 4,085 (-2.48%)
CrystalDisk Q32T1
Sequential Read (MB/s) 3,344 6,606.85 (97.57% )
CrystalDisk Q32T1
Sequential Write (MB/s)
2,911 4,935.41 (69.54% )3DMark: Fire Strike Ultra (Index) 37,817 39,032 (3.21% )
Rise of the Tomb Raider (fps) 78 142 (82.05% )Total War: Warhammer II (fps) 98 103.8 (5.92% )
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon:
Wildlands (fps)^69 72.2 (4.64% )
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%JUN 2022 MAXIMU MPC 77