F
iercePC’sArdentCoreimmediately
impresseswithitsstrikingdesignand
customwater-coolingsystem.TheCPUis topped
withanEisblockXPXAurorawithattractivecoolingchannels,
andanotherEisblockchillstheRTX 2080 SuperGPU.They’re
connectedwithAlphacool’shardtubing,
andthefrontofthechassisis dominated
byanAlphacoolNexXxosST30 240 mm
radiatorwithfour 120 mmfans.
Despiteallthiscoolinghardware,
theArdentalsousesa mini-ITXCorsair
Crystal280Xcase,whichmeans
FiercePChasbeencleverwithother
coolingcomponents.Thesizeable
cavitybehindthemotherboardtray
housestheAlphacoolEisstationVPP
reservoir,aswellasthepumpanda
plugfordrainingtheloop.
Meanwhile,theCPUandGPU
waterblocksareilluminatedwithan
attractiveorangeshade,alongwith
theDIMMsandfourintakefans,with
thelattersportingsomegreat-looking
FiercePCgrilles.Meanwhile,a row
ofRGBLEDsalongthebottomof
thechassisilluminatestheinterior
frombelow.TheArdentlookssuperb,
andthecase’s 351 mmheightand
276 mmwidthmakethissquare-
shapedsystemrelativelyeasytotake
toevents.Buildqualityis great,too:
thetemperedglassandmetalused
throughoutis sturdy.
Asever,though,mini-ITX
enclosuresmeancompromises.
There’snorealroomtoaddextra
storage– theCorsaircasehas
removable2.5inand3.5incages,REVIEWS / PC SYSTEMS
SPEC
CPU
3.6GHzAMDRyzen7 3700X
Motherboard
GigabyteX570I AorusProWi-Fi
Memory
16GBCorsairVengeancePro
RGB3600MHzDDR4
Graphics
MSIGeForceRTX 2080 Super8GB
Storage
1TBSeagateFireCuda 520 M.2SSD
Networking
Dual-band802.11ax,GigabitEthernet
Case
CorsairCrystal280X
Cooling
CPU:AlphacoolEisblockXPXAurora
waterblock,AlphacoolNexXxoSST30
240 mmradiatorwith4 x 120mmfans,
AlphacoolEisstationVPPreservoir,
AlphacoolEispumpeVPP755;GPU:
AlphacoolEisblockAuroraPlexiGPX-N
waterblock,AlphacoolEisblockAurora
GPX-Nbackplate;roof:1 x 120mmfan
PSU
CorsairRM750– 750W
Ports
Front:2 x USB3.1,2 x audio;rear: 1
x USB3.2Gen2,1 x USB3.2Gen 2
Type-C,4 x USB3.1Gen1, 3 x audio
Operatingsystem
MicrosoftWindows 10 Home64-bit
Warranty
Twoyearspartsandlabour,followedby
threeyearslabouronly.Firstsixmonths
collectandreturn,thenreturntobaseMINIITX GAMING PC
FIERCE PC ARDENT
CORE/£2,399inc VAT
SUPPLIER fiercepc.co.ukbut the Ardent’s water-cooling and lighting hardware
means they can’t be fitted here. This system isn’t always
the tidiest either. There are wayward cables around the rear
and a handful of loose wires visible from the front.
The Ardent’s smaller size doesn’t mean a reduction in power,
though. Fierce PC deploys an MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Super
Ventus OC card here, which has 8GB of GDDR6 memory, 3,072
stream processors, and 48 RT cores. It also slightly overclocks
the GPU boost frequency from 1815MHz to 1830MHz.
Meanwhile, an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is left at its standard
base and boost clocks of 3.6GHz and 4.4GHz, and the
16GB of DDR4 memory runs at a superb effective speed of
3600MHz. You also get a 1TB Seagate FireCuda 520 SSD,
which makes use of the motherboard’s PCI-E 4 interface, but
there’s no secondary hard disk.
It’s all plugged into a Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro Wi-Fi
motherboard, which has beefed-up ALC1220-VB audio,
Bluetooth 5, and dual-band 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6. It’s a top tier
board in terms of connections – at the rear, it has five full-
sized USB 3.2 ports, alongside a Type-C connector, and
there’s a Q-Flash button for EFI flashing too.
There are two M.2 connectors, with the SSD installed in
the socket on the rear of the board. However, the second
slot sits behind all the hefty graphics hardware, making it
tricky to access. As ever with mini-ITX, there are only two
DIMM slots and no additional PCI-E slots either. These are
the compromises you always make when buying a mini
machine, but it’s great to see Corsair RM750x PSU included,
which is fully modular and has an 80 Plus Gold rating.
We have no qualms about the warranty either. It’s a generous
five year return to base labour deal, with two years of parts
coverage and six months of collect and return service.cc
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