Fresh Tech Solutions Ultimate Collection 6700K Review

Fresh Tech Solutions Ultimate Collection 6700K Review

Manufacturer: Fresh Tech Solutions
UK price (as reviewed): £1,599.00 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): N/A

With an overclocked Core i7-6700K at its heart and a monstrous GTX 980 Ti for graphics rendering, the Fresh Tech Solutions Ultimate Collection 6700K system certainly appears to be a bit of a beast. However, before we get to the meat of the review, we wanted to also introduce the company since it's likely many of you are yet to hear of it.

Fresh Tech Solutions – An Introduction

Fresh Tech Solutions has been around for almost 12 years. It has stayed relatively under the radar for most enthusiasts as it trades mostly through its eBay and Amazon stores, where it currently has ratings of 99.6% and 4.8 stars. It does also have a dedicated website, but that's not where the business has been built.


The company's main business is as a system integrator, primarily in entry-level and mid-range systems - £500 is the rough price point of the systems it sells most often. However, as the PC we have in for review shows, Fresh Tech is also looking to start reaching high-end and gaming consumers with systems that retail for £1,000 to £2,000.

Rather than attempting to offer every component under the sun, Fresh Tech tells us it prefers to keep its range focussed. For example, it exclusively sells Gigabyte motherboards, while graphics cards will be from either MSI or Zotac. While this may seem limiting, it allows the company to offer fast turnaround (e.g. 1 day build options) and fast delivery, with stock levels consistently maintained and all shipments handled by either DPD or ParcelForce.


Another thing Fresh Tech is keen to highlight about this approach is that it shows the company's trust in the products it sells. All components of pre-built systems are fully listed with manufacturer and model numbers rather than generic descriptors, which can be common on low-end builds. One example is that even the lowest spec PSU it sells still meets the 80 Plus White specification.

Naturally, all systems are stress-tested before dispatch – we were told 24-48 hours of testing is the norm, though naturally it has to be lower to meet the one-day build option if a user selects it. Again, this is where trust in the brands Fresh Tech works with comes in.


Although the pre-built systems do have a few configuration options, all the combinations Fresh Tech offers have separate listings in its stores, which results in thousands of different PCs to choose from. This may seem overwhelming, but this is apparently the way customers on eBay and Amazon prefer it. The Fresh Tech Solutions website does also have a system configurator, where possible selections are much more limited to keep things simple and avoid compatibility errors.

Given the markets Fresh Tech usually works in, it's not surprising that overclocking is not usually offered, even in high-end builds. The system we're reviewing is something of an exception to the norm, but we'd suggest that Fresh Tech makes it a standard feature of such systems as it's commonplace in this market. As a system integrator, offering a K-series Intel CPU, for example, without an overclock would be a big no in our books.


The standard warranty offered is one year collect and return. However, systems in excess of £1,000 get the three-year options (one year collect and return, three years parts, three years labour), with a five-year option also available (one year collect and return, three years parts, five years labour). Customer support is available via telephone and email during work hours, and effectively 24/7 through social media like Facebook messenger, with the owner revealing that he even spent a number of hours helping someone with their PC on Christmas Day.

With that extended introduction out the way, let's turn our attention to the real test of Fresh Tech's abilities, its Ultimate Collection 6700K system, the specs for which are listed below.

Specifications

• CPU Intel Core i7-6700K (4.5GHz)
  
• CPU cores Four physical, eight logical
  
• Memory 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3,000MHz
  
• Graphics Zotac GeForce GTX 980 Ti AMP! Omega (3 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x DL-DVI-I, 1 x HDMI 2.0)
  
• Storage 1 x 500GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO (OS), 1 x 2TB 7,200rpm hard disk
  
• Motherboard Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 5
  
• PSU Corsair RMx Series 750W (80 Plus Gold, modular)
  
• Optical Drive 1 x Samsung 24x DVD-RW
  
• Cooling Corsair H80i V2 all-in-one liquid cooler
  
• Case / Dimensions (mm) Fractal Design Define R5 / 232 x 521 x 451 (W x D x H)
  
• Networking 2 x Gigabit LAN
  
• Audio 8-channel Realtek ALC1150 Codec (onboard)
  
• Operating system Windows 10 64-bit
  
• Audio and USB Ports Rear: 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 3 x USB 3, 4 x USB 2, 1 x optical S/PDIF, 5 x 3.5mm jacks; Front: 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, headphone, microphone
  
• Warranty 3 years (1 year collect and return, 2 years parts, 3 years labour)