This Overclockers machine packs in the top desktop CPU of this new Fourth Gen line-up and Nvidia’s grandest 700 series graphics processor. So, given that, it should also be the best? Not quite: Scan’s rather special 3XS Vengeance 780 is still the top machine – and it’s substantially cheaper, too.

So why should this rig, with ostensibly the same base spec, struggle to keep up with the cheaper Scan PC? Well, the easy answer is that Scan sourced a better version of the GTX 780 than Overclockers has used for its own machine.

Because of the Titan-esque cooler the GTX 780 is fitted with, it’s a lot tougher to tell who the actual reseller is – but from the looks of it, the version in the Gold Rush Gamer Pro is simply a straight reference card. Compared with the lightly tweaked EVGA version Scan used for its Vengeance 780, this rig is a bit behind.

It’s rare for an overclocked GPU to really make that much difference to a graphics card’s performance, though. A case in point is the GTX 770 – the reference card will take a comfortable 125MHz offset to its baseclock, but despite such a boost it’ll only deliver an extra couple fps at best. That could be due to a GK104 GPU that’s already giving all it can.

The GK110 GPU at the heart of the GTX 780 still has a lot of headroom, and so the 175MHz offset you can drop onto that card delivers a hell of a lot more performance in gaming terms.

Of course, you can still nip over to www.evga.com and nab the Precision OC tool, but coming from a company called Overclockers, you would’ve hoped that thought had crossed its mind before this PC arrived at your door.

Benchmarks

CPU rendering performance
Cinebench R11.5: Index score: Higher is better
OC Gold Rush Gamer Pro: 9.68
Scan 3XS Vengeance 780: 9.59
Aria Gladiator Diablo GTX: 7.69

DirectX11 gaming performance
Heaven 4.0: Frames per second: Higher is better
OC Gold Rush Gamer Pro: 55
Scan 3XS Vengeance 780: 780 63
Aria Gladiator Diablo GTX: 49

DirectX 11 gaming performance
BioShock Infinite: Frames per second: Higher is better
OC Gold Rush Gamer Pro: 23
Scan 3XS Vengeance 780: 28
Aria Gladiator Diablo GTX: 19

The Bitfenix chassis is far nicer than Scan’s more budget-oriented Corsair case, but still doesn’t merit the price bump. Overclockers can lay claim to quicker Team Group 8GB 2,133MHz memory, but the weaker 840 series SSD has that offset already.

Verdict

Sadly, this Overclockers machine is just a shade off the pace. And when you’re talking about a rig that still has some of the finest CPU and GPU combos around, that might be a bit of a shock. Scan has been very smart with its choice of GPU and very aggressive on price too, and this rig really struggles to make a stand against it.

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