Digital Storm's Enix Gaming System Reviewed

For this review, we drew on comparative performance from several of the boutique systems we've reviewed over the past 18 months. In some cases we also included test results from our recent high-end video card revieweds. These tests are run on a Core i7 980X and are therefore reasonably comparable to our other included test results.

Take note of the Enix's price compared to all the other systems..Most of this difference is due to nothing more exotic than the price of system components. The Alienware and Maingear systems both used $1000 processors; the Origin rig used a relatively inexpensive Core i7-920—but compensated with $1400 dollars worth of video cards.The cost difference, notable as it is, is not unexpected.

There is, however, another angle to consider. The Enix's high clockspeed, advanced 32nm Sandy Bridge architecture, and second-generation Fermi cards raise tantalizing questions regarding the system's ability to outperform its competitors in terms of internal temperatures, overall power consumption, and noise levels. 

We don't expect the Enix to win every benchmark—it's bracketed by some of the highest-end systems of 2010—but we'll pay close to attention to the system's efficiency and general attractiveness.

We began testing with SiSoftware's SANDRA, which stands for System ANalyzer, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant. These are synthetic tests where we expect to see the Shift make the most of its extra cores and higher clockspeed. In the case, we ran both Sysmark 2010 and 2011 on the Enix, in order to measure performance differences while maintaining a degree of backward comparability.

Origin Genesis: Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz, Maingear Shift: Core i7 980X @ 4.2GHz

Sandra 2011 measures multimedia performance differently and uses the Enix's AVX instructions. As a result, 2011 results are not remotely comparable. We therefore measured only in Sandra 2010.

Sandra's multimedia suite is designed to test the various SIMD capabilities of a processor. In the company's own words: The test involves the generation of Mandelbrot Set fractals that are used to realistically describe and generate natural objects such as mountains or clouds. By using various multi-media extensions better performance is achieved. Again, we see some interesting performance differences. The Enix is beaten by both the Shift and the Area-51, but it keeps up surprisingly well with both.

Origin Genesis: Core i7 920 @ 3.8GHz, Maingear Shift: Core i7 980X @ 4.2GHz
 

Finally, we've got Sandra's memory bandwidth analysis. There's a gap of some 30 percent between the Enix/Area-51 and the Genesis/Shift--but it has virtually no impact on benchmark results in any area. Latency matters far more than bandwidth in consumer products, which very much includes gaming.