I recently moved my custom from one UK supplier to another. Up until recently I had shopped with www.overclockers.co.uk, but due to horrendous customer service and a generally bad experience, I decided to turn to Scan (www.scan.co.uk) for my computer parts!.
I bought my last computer bundle from OC over 3 years ago, and until recently it had not failed me. My GFX card was the first to go, so I decided it was time to upgrade! I purchased an 3XS overclocked bundle from Scan. I went for the RADIUS Core i5 BUNDLE, Overclocked at a whopping 4.0 Ghz!! If you, like me, have a morbid fear of pushing the voltage up on expensive computer components....then this is the way to go! Let someone else do it for you!
Packaging
The Scan bundle was very well packed. I was weary about a mobo and heatsink coming pre-assembled, but due to the amount of bubble wrap the package would probably have survived a fall from Taipei 101. Inside the package are the boxes for the motherboard, heatsink, processor and RAM, aswell as the pre-assembled bundle. You get all the manuals you would get had you bought the components separately.
Please Note: There was no documentation at all about the overclock, more on this below.
- Intel Core i5 750 - Quad Core CPU
- 4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 Memory
- Asus P7P55D LE Intel P55 Motherboard
- Akasa Freedom Tower CPU Cooler
- Full details here.
Installation
Installation was a breeze. Please note that the Alaska Freedom Tower is a huge heatsink (it needs to be to handle the overclock!). I have an Antec P180 case, and it only just fit in this case. There were no issues at all with the pre-built mobo/cpu/ram. I just dropped it into the case and connected it up. I opted to purchase a new P.S.U also, going for a Corsair 850watt PSU.
I powered the machine up and got to the BIOS. I was "slightly" annoyed when the system hung at the BIOS saying the overclock had failed! It was at this point that I realised...there was no documentation at all from Scan to turn to regarding the pre-configured settings. It would be nice to have a small printout detailing where to find the relevant settings in the BIOS.
After a quick search I found the AI Profile section in the BIOS that allows you to load a pre-configured setup. I loaded up the "3XS Overclocked" profile and the system booted into windows at 4ghz :). No idea why the overclocked failed, but I did notice that my second HDD was not seen in windows. It turned out I had damaged a cable but was able to get it recognised in the BIOS after another reboot. Again once a new piece of hardware was detected I needed to reset the overclocked profile. It would appear that any change to the BIOS required this?
Conclusion
All good!!
Pre-build and overclock saved me time and hassle. My only issue would be the lack of a note explaining the Profiles and Overclock settings, but apart from this everything went well. So far so good, i'll give Scan an 8/10 for this. 1 point lost for delivery time (expected it sooner), 1 point lost for lack of a note or document relating to the overclock settings.
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