Xidax X-8 Gaming PC Review: Skylake-X And Dual GTX 1080 Ti Cards For The Win

If you've shopped for a custom built gaming desktops recently, you might have come across a company called Xidax, a relative newcomer to the boutique building scene. Xidax launched online in 2013, right in the midst of a resurgence in PC gaming. To some, it may have seemed downright crazy at the time to enter a market that had previously chewed up and spit out other players (does anyone remember Hypersonic?). But Xidax forged ahead anyway in hopes of rising in the ranks of brand recognition.

Xidax is not quite there yet among the more established brands, though it is definitely more recognizable today than it was even just two years ago, let alone when it first arrived on the scene. Even then, the Utah-based company was on our radar and we've come close to reviewing one of its custom builds a time or two in the past. The timing just never seemed to work out for one reason or another, until now.
First impressions are everything, so Xidax decided the best way to make an introduction was to send us a decked-out configuration built inside Thermaltake's View 71, a gorgeous looking chassis with tempered glass panels all around. For consumers, ordering a system of this size and caliber is quite the experience—it arrived by way of a tractor trailer, not your typical ground shipping truck, and was strapped to a wooden pallet. Not all PCs require an 18-wheeler for delivery, but this one did.

This particular model is the X-8, which starts out at around $1,400 and goes up from there. In this case, way up to reflect its premium component selection. Specifically, inside the belly of this beast is an Intel Core i9-7900X processor accompanied by two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards in SLI, 32GB of G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR-3200 memory, and a 512GB NVMe solid state drive paired with a 2TB Seagate BarraCuda hard drive (7,200 RPM, 64MB cache).

This level of hardware opulence is not for the faint of wallet—it costs $5,529, and there are upgrades available that would drive the price even higher. The common refrain whenever we review a high-dollar system is that building it yourself would be cheaper. And yes, that's obviously true. But not everyone has the time or skill to construct what is essentially a functional showpiece, which we will look at in detail on the following pages.


Before we take a closer look, here is a rundown of the Xidax X8's pertinent specs...

Xidax X-8 Custom Gaming PC Specifications & Features

Operating System	Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
Processor	Intel Core i9-7900X (10-Core/20-Thread, 13.75MB Cache, 3.3GHz to 4.3GHz)
Graphics	2 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti w/ 1GB GDDR5X  (SLI w/ HB Bridge)
Memory	32GB DDR4-3200 MHz (4x8GB) G.Skill Trident Z RGB
Optical Drive	N/A
Storage	512GB WD Black M.2 NVMe SSD 2TB Seagate BarraCuda HDD (64MB Cache, 7,200 RPM)
Cooling System	Alphacool Eisbaer 360mm All-In-One Liquid Cooler
Connectivity	Gigabit LAN, 10-Gigabit LAN, 802.11ac + 802.11ad Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2
Front Panel Ports	2 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 2 x USB 2.0, Headphone, Microphone
Rear Panel Ports	8 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 2 x LAN, 1 x Clear CMOS, 8-Channel Audio (ROG SupremeFX)
Power Supply	1,000W Corsair RMx Series RM1000X
Dimensions	23.3 x 22.7 x 10.8 inches (HxWxD) / 592 x 577 x 274 mm
Weight	41.66 Pounds (Case Alone) / 18.9 Kilograms
Warranty	Lifetime Parts And Labor
Pricing	$5,529 (As Configured)

These are all off-the-shelf parts, and Xidax doesn't horde the cables and accessories that come with them. They are included with the system, making future upgrades easier. Including extra cables and accessories is not entirely unique to Xidax, though it's not exactly common practice and is one of the things that separates boutique builders from bulk OEMs.

What is unique to Xidax is its exceptional standard warranty. All new desktops carry a lifetime guarantee on hardware. This covers everything that is installed inside the case, from the motherboard and CPU, to the graphics card(s) and storage devices, and on down the list.

From Xidax warranty information guide:

"Each Xidax desktop gaming computer comes with an unheard of Lifetime Parts & Service Guarantee that nobody else can match. That means if your hard drive blows up in 10 years, you’re covered," Xidax explains on its website.

That's not something you will get when building your own system, save for the RAM, so there's a value proposition to the premium price tag here as well, beyond just having a skilled technician build your PC. Labor and service are both covered as well.

Let's check out Xidax's build quality...