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Origin PC’s Chronos desktop has come in a variety of forms over the years, but the appeal of the 2017 model (starts at $1,224; $3,038 as tested) is very straightforward. It’s small, professionally built, and packed with high-end power. You can configure your PC when ordering with a wide array of options that either scale up the power in just about every way or dial it down to maintain affordability. Our unit’s eighth-generation Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti card provide more than enough juice for smooth gaming and speedy multimedia work, making it an all-around powerhouse packed into a space-saving design. Alas, the Corsair One Pro remains our top pick for small-form-factor gaming desktops for its optimal combination of small build, components, and price. Still, the Chronos’ is a very tempting choice if its traditional design and plentiful configuration options are more appealing to you.
Good Things Come in Small Packages
Bearing a relatively basic design but with a striking white paint job (other colors are available), our Chronos test PC treads a nice middle ground between plain and ostentatious. A side window on the left panel provides a view in to the GTX 1080 Ti, lit by changing multicolor LEDs for a splash of color. That’s about as flashy as the Chronos gets, an otherwise unspectacular rectangle whose main strength is its size and the components within. The steel frame measures 11.75 by 4 by 13.75 inches (HWD), short and relatively slim for a desktop of this power. It is deceptively heavy at about 5 pounds, which isn’t a lot objectively, but its heft surprised me the first time I lifted the case.
Origin PC Chronos (2017) Review
Similar in size to the Corsair One Pro ( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) (14.96 by 6.9 by 7.87 inches), but shorter and slightly wider, it takes up more desk depth than the pillar-style PC. The Chronos is also versatile: It’s built to stand on either end, or lay down on either side. In fact, the rubber feet are magnetic, so they can be removed from the bottom and placed on one of the side panels when you want to lay it horizontally. It’s a useful solution for tight spaces, though in practice, the feet kept sliding out of position or onto the side of the case over time as I shifted or moved the desktop.
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Looks can be deceiving, and the Chronos’ small shape and relatively unassuming design bely the high-end parts and features inside. Though it’s not the first small desktop at roughly these dimensions and shape (there’s a strong resemblance to the Falcon Northwest Tiki in particular), it is among the most powerful we’ve tested. The Origin Chronos VR is similarly sized, but the components are significantly ramped up here. Our unit is packed to the gills with premium parts, including the Intel Core i7-8700K processor, GTX 1080 Ti, 16GB of 2,666MHz memory, Frostbyte liquid cooling system, 600W Silverstone power supply, a 4TB 7,200rpm Western Digital Caviar Black HDD, and a 500GB Samsung 960 Evo M.2 SSD. There are no free DIMM slots, and in this price range you may very well want 32GB, so you’ll have to order two 16GB sticks instead, or upgrade later to add more RAM.
Customization Is King
Our build is a blistering system, though there are myriad configuration options if you’d like to make changes for the sake of performance or price. It can be outfitted with an AMD Ryzen chip instead of Intel options when ordering, and you can choose as many as six SSDs and four HDDs (with many capacity options). The 4TB storage drive and 500GB boot drive in our system is quite a lot for most uses, unless you’re storing a boat load of high res video in addition to a big gaming library. You can also take the graphics up another notch to a Titan XP or Titan V (a casual $3,051 jump from a 1080 Ti). To say it’s highly configurable is an understatement, and one of the perks of ordering from a specialty manufacturer like Origin is professional assembly.
Some shoppers take pleasure in building their own systems and yes, it is cheaper, but ordering a build saves you the effort, results in an immaculately assembled machine, and nets you lifetime 24/7 support with a one-year part replacement warranty. Whether you want the build we’ve tested here, would like to make your own budget version, or want to kick performance up even further, the Chronos can handle it in the same chassis.
Getting inside the case for upgrades or maintenance is easy. The rear panel includes hand screws (you may need to loosen them with a screwdriver, but only if they’re done very tightly) that, when removed, allow the side panel to lift away. However, the liquid cooling radiator and fan are attached to the inside of the door, connected with tubing to the motherboard. It can startle you if you pull the door fully away without looking, so it helps to be aware. The door can get in the way as a result since the tubing isn’t very long, but you can swing it out to the side for mostly free access to the other components. In such a small case, there isn’t much room to work or make changes, another reason it’s helpful to have the system assembled beforehand. The components are all installed snugly, but cleanly. It does get hot when gaming or running straining applications, but that’s to be expected at this level, and the fans are reasonably quiet.
The port offerings are fairly standard, but everything you should need is included. Between the front and rear panels, the Chronos includes five USB 3.1 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and a USB-C port. There are two HDMI ports and four DisplayPort connections for video output, rear audio lines, front headphone and mic jacks, and an Ethernet connection. The Chronos also includes Bluetooth and dual-band 802.11ac wireless.
Concentrated Power
With its six-core Core i7-8700K processor at a 3.7GHz base speed, the Chronos blazes through most tasks without a sweat. Its PCMark 8 score is high, though the benefit of the eighth-gen processor’s added cores aren’t demonstrated on this test, so other CPUs with higher clock speeds edge it out. Where the 8700K did excel is the multimedia tests, which made use of its extra cores. It outpaced the One Pro across the board, and was especially proficient on Cinebench. It even beat its larger stablemate, the excellent Origin Neuron ($2,399.00 at ORIGIN PC)(Opens in a new window) , on these tests. As such, the Chronos is more than a fast gaming machine, but a proficient multimedia workhorse.
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The Chronos also excelled at 3D tests, which isn’t exactly a surprise with the graphics card it’s packing. 1080p gaming is a breeze, as shown on the Heaven and Valley gaming tests, with frame rates closer to 200fps (frames per second) than 100fps. Aside from those chasing extreme frame rates on very high refresh rate monitors, though, you don’t likely buy a GTX 1080 Ti to only play HD. 1440p is optimal for this card, the sweet spot of visual fidelity and performance. The GPU’s raw 3D capability was driven home by its strong 3DMark tests, and you can see the GTX 1080 Ti’s improvement over the GTX 1080 in that regard by comparing the Chronos’ scores with the Corsair Pro and Tiki’s numbers. Dual-card systems, of course, scored much higher, but come in noticeably larger cases.
4K gaming is a somewhat different story: The Chronos was capable of better-than-30fps performance on maximum settings, which is solid, but reaching (nevermind maintaining) 60fps is a bridge too far. Two cards are needed for effective 60fps 4K gaming, and this small system simply isn’t built to accommodate that. 30fps is perfectly playable, however, if you are married to the idea of 4K gaming or already have the monitor. VR gaming is well within the Chronos’ means, as the GTX 1080 Ti easily clears the recommended floor.
Configure, Plug, and Play
Our Chronos test PC is undoubtedly expensive as configured, but you get what you pay for. The premium parts are bolstered by professional assembly and support, and building something so powerful in such a small case is a difficult (or impossible) task for the average buyer. Your build certainly doesn’t have to be this pricey, either, and if you’d like to significantly take the cost down, you can. From a pure component-to-price perspective, setting aside some of the intangibles, the Editors’ Choice Corsair One Pro delivers more bang for your buck and offers similar performance in a slick design. Its unique layout comes with some caveats, however, so the Chronos may be the better bet for you in terms of future upgrades and maintenance, even if its size is somewhat restrictive. The $2,299.99 Corsair One Pro matches many of the Chronos’ positives for less, but if you want a more traditional design and plenty of configuration options, the Chronos is a worthy pick.
4.0
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Attractive in both design and performance, the Origin PC Chronos is a versatile gaming PC with cutting-edge components at a premium price.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/origin-pc-chronos-2017