Palicomp Intel i7 Elite review

There’s no denying the Intel i7 Elite cuts an imposing figure. Its Thermaltake Core V51 Window mid-tower case measures 540x236x560mm, so there’s plenty of space inside. However, considering what’s included in terms of components there’s really no need for such a gargantuan case.

We could understand the choice if Palicomp had filled it with fans to keep the system cool, but none of the mounts in the top of the case, which can accommodate either two 200mm fans or three 120/140mm fans, are filled. The 120mm exhaust on the back and two 120mm intakes on the front are reasonably quiet though.

Granted, you’re left with plenty of scope for the biggest graphics card and multiple storage drives should you ever feel the need to upgrade, but with how well the system performed, that might be a long way off. For this reason we would have been happier if Palicomp had used a slightly more space-saving case. The Core V51 otherwise isn’t bad to look at, and the large viewing window on the side shows off all the components within, but its perforated front panel might be divisive.

As the name suggests, the i7 Elite is based around a quad-core Intel i7 processor, specifically an i7-4790K that has been overclocked to 4.7GHz. It’s cooled by a Zalman CNPS9900A CPU cooler, which is more than capable of handling the additional head generated by the processor. It’s a particularly tall cooler at 152mm, which may go some way to explain the choice of case, but an all-in-one water cooling loop would be just as effective without taking up so much room.

In our taxing 4K benchmarks, the overclocked processor acquitted itself very well, achieving an overall score of 160. Its image and editing scores were both very close, at 155 and 152 respectively. It particularly excelled at multitasking, scoring 168. This was helped in part by the system’s 16GB of 1,600MHz DDR3 memory. Two of the four RAM slots on the Asus Z97-PRO Gamer motherboard are empty, so you have the option of adding even more, up to a maximum of 32GB.

An overclocked Nvidia GTX 980 goes a long way to explain the cost of the system, but it admittedly provided fantastic gaming performance. It made light work of Dirt Showdown, managing 155fps at 1,920×1,080, 4x anti-aliasing and Ultra graphics. Even in Tomb Raider with maximum graphics settings it managed a silky 69.6fps. Metro Last Light: Redux as always proved the most taxing with its super-sampled anti-aliasing, yet the Intel i7 Elite still managed to provide an excellent 55.3fps with the game set to Very High quality at 1,920×1,080 resolution. If you’re looking for a gaming system that will serve you well for a few years, the Intel i7 Elite should have you covered.

A 256GB Crucial MX100 SSD is installed as a boot disk, helping keep Windows 8.1 feeling fast and responsive but still having room to install your most-played games in order to keep loading times down. A 3TB hard disk is fitted as a secondary storage drive; this is a generous amount for multimedia storage, so you won’t need to shuffle your files onto external disks.

The case has three more dual-purpose drive bays that can accommodate either 2½in or 3½in disks should you ever want to install more storage. The drive rails are completely tool-free if you’re fitting 3½in disks, but you’ll need a screwdriver to secure 2½in disks or SSDs. Three of the motherboard’s six SATA3 ports are in use, for the two storage disks and the DVD-RW optical drive, and if you want to use SATA Express you’ll lose another two. There is an M.2 port mid-board though, for installing an M.2 SSD. These carry a slight price premium over standard SSDs, but are great for reducing cabling and improving airflow.

Only two of the PCI-Express x16 slots will have the full PCI-E x16 3.0 bandwidth, in case you wanted to have two graphics cards in SLI or CrossFireX. The third slot is PCI-E 2.0 and only operates at x4 speed.   One of the PCI slots is obscured by the dual-width graphics card too, but the two PCI-E x1 slots at the bottom are free to access. A Corsair CX750 PSU delivers a maximum 750W, which should accommodate most upgrades.

There are two USB3 ports and a headphone jack on the front of the case, with a further four USB3 and two USB ports on the back. You’ll also find a PS/2 port, Gigabit Ethernet, optical S/PDIF and six 3.5mm outputs for up to 7.1 audio. Finally, the graphics card has three DisplayPort outputs as well as HDMI and DVI, so you’re well catered for if you want to use multiple monitors.

The Palicomp Intel i7 Elite has undeniably excellent performance, and considering the excellent graphics card and generous amount of storage its great value overall. If space is no issue and you’re not too dissuaded by its gargantuan size, it’s a great choice. You also get a great warranty to round things off. If you’re looking for something smaller and slightly cheaper though, the Chillblast Fusion Raptor is also a top-performer. If that doesn’t suit your needs, then check out our Best PCs and buying guide.