There’s a number of wide-open area within the Chronos, however no additional slots, typical of those small-form-factor desktops. The black field subsequent to the CPU is the facility provide.
Lori Grunin/CNET
The Origin PC Chronos is a kind of methods you are feeling the necessity to invent a efficiency metric for, like frames per second per cubic inch. Capable of housing as much as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 and overclocked Ryzen 9 or Intel Core i9 processors, this small-form-factor gaming PC punches effectively above its weight. It’s not probably the most gracefully proportioned system, although, squat and chunky with minimalist illumination. And not like the tall, slim MSI MEG Trident X, which makes use of the identical motherboard, it appears prefer it ought to have the ability to accommodate greater than only a single card.
LikeFits a variety of energy in a small spaceRelatively quiet given its powerSurfaces do not get scorching
Don’t LikeReally want to make use of the exterior Wi-Fi antennaLike most mini-ITX motherboards, there’s just one slot, occupied by the graphics card
This case is new for Origin PC, and it is really a bit smaller than earlier than. We’ll be seeing much more of those small desktops with 3080 and 3090 playing cards — it is wonderful how a lot energy you may cram onto a nook of your desk today — they usually’re an ideal dimension for weekday-work-from-home-game-on-weekends individuals in a cramped area.Like all Origin PC methods, you may pay additional to jazz it up with a customized paint or etching job. In this case, that is additional above the $3,225 of our take a look at configuration (instantly transformed, about £2,530 and AU$4,585), outfitted with a 10-core Intel Core i9-10900Okay, EVGA XC3 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, a complete of 1.5GB SSD and 16GB 3.2GHz DDR4 reminiscence. If you go for the aluminum mesh facet panels as a substitute of the tempered glass we received, you may get a much bigger CPU cooler and customized overclocking. The Chronos will be configured beginning as little as $1,449 (about £1,135 and AU$2,060).
Origin PC Chronos
Price as reviewed
$3,225
Size
Mini ITX (11 x 7 x 15.5 in/27.9 x 17.8 x 39.4 cm)
Motherboard
MSI MEG Z490I Unify and Corsair SFX 750 watt PSU
CPU
3.7GHz Intel Core i9-10900Okay
Memory
16GB DDR4 SDRAM 3,200MHz (2 slots)
Graphics
10GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (EVGA XC3)
Storage
500GB SSD (1 NVMe slot), 1 x 1TB SATA SSD; 1 open bay for 3.5-inch storage
Ports
6 x USB-A, 2 x USB-C (1 x Thunderbolt 3); on GPU 3 x ShowPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, on motherboard 1 x ShowPort, 1 x HDMI)
Networking
1 x 2.5Gb Ethernet, Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (802.11ax)
Operating system
Windows 10 Home (2004)
There’s a variety of empty area within the case and, of the Mini ITX methods I’ve seen not too long ago, it is one of many simpler to open and improve: there are thumbscrews on the again, the perimeters slide out, there is a strain plate with exterior screws holding the graphics card in place and there is a backside slide-out filter tray. Everything’s simply inside attain, seen and accessible. The liquid cooling methods are fairly, too, however they will make fast swaps and upgrades a ache.
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The Chronos has a Thunderbolt port within the again — a pleasant motherboard characteristic for the reason that RTX 30-series playing cards haven’t got USB-C connections just like the 20-series did. I want it had extra connections within the entrance just like the Trident X slightly than the only USB-A, USB-C and audio jack, however a minimum of you may have a USB-C connector to hold a hub off of.As with a variety of desktops, the Wi-Fi is usually a bit sketchy — the antenna areas often do not deal with 5GHz indicators very effectively — and you may undoubtedly have to make use of the bundled exterior one. The antenna’s base is magnetized, although, and it attaches extra sensibly to the bottom than different’s I’ve seen.
The i9-10900Okay processor within the Chronos is not the quickest I’ve examined in a small kind issue, although it does take the single-core-speed crown, if solely by a slim margin in some instances. The Ryzen 9 3900XT within the Maingear Turbo outperforms it for multicore pace, which is partly attributable to the Ryzen’s 12 processing cores in comparison with the i9’s 10. (You can see the way it measures up within the benchmark outcomes on the finish of this evaluate.)The lip on the underside is a pull-out filter.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Surprisingly, the RTX 3080 is not unambiguously sooner than the 2080 Ti; it is loads quick, nevertheless it appears prefer it’s (unsurprisingly) optimized for Nvidia’s personal CUDA programming interface and Windows DirectX slightly than Vulkan. That’s seemingly non permanent, although, for the reason that 30-series playing cards have some new algorithms and architectural adjustments that software program must meet up with. For many video games, although, it typically appears to be about 10-20% sooner than the RTX 2080 Ti, its non secular predecessor, and about 30-40% sooner than the RTX 2080 Super, it is price-equivalent predecessor. Perhaps extra necessary, although, these gaps improve considerably when enjoying video games in 4K utilizing DLSS (Nvidia’s upscaling expertise) in a means they by no means did within the 20-series playing cards, in addition to 4K with out it.All this pace does not warmth up the system’s surfaces or overheat its parts, however the scorching air venting out the highest does appear to lift the temperature in my room by about two levels. Still, it is sufficiently small that I would really have the ability to squish a 3rd monitor on my desk and quick sufficient to make it value placing up with the warmth.Geekbench 5 (multicore)
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench 5 (single-core)
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench 5 (Vulkan)
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench 5 (CUDA)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Cinebench R20 CPU (multicore)
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Falcon North West Talon 20th AE
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
Falcon North West Talon 20th AE
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Shadow of the Tomb Raider gaming take a look at
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Falcon North West Talon 20th AE
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency (FPS)
3DMark Port Royal (RTX)
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
System configurations
Corsair One Pro
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (1909); 3.3GHz Intel Core i9-10940X; 64GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,667MHz; 11GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti; 2TB SSD
Falcon Northwest Talon 20th Anniversary Edition
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (1909); 3.8GHz AMD Ryzen 9 3900X; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 3,200MHz; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super; 2TB SSD RAID 0
Maingear Turbo
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (2004); 3.8GHz Ryzen 9 3900XT; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 3,600; 11GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti; 1TB SSD + 4TB HDD
MSI Trident X
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909); (oc) 3.8GHz Intel Core i7-10700Okay; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,932; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super; 1TB SSD
Origin PC Big O (PS4 Edition)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909); 3.8GHz AMD Ryzen 9 3900X; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super; 1.5TB SSD (2TB SSD for console)
Origin PC Chronos
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (2004); Intel Core i9-10900Okay; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 3,200; 10GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (EVGA); 1TB SSD + 500GB SSD