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.
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