Fresh Tech Solutions Ultimate Collection 6600K Falcon R Review

Performance Analysis

As we suspected, the GTX 970 powered its way through our 1080p game tests managing average frame rates above 70fps in both our games at decent settings and not dropping much below 60fps. Raising the resolution to 1,440p saw Crysis 3 dip to a minimum frame rate of 37fps with an average of 45fps - still perfectly smooth enough, while Battlefield 4 was a slightly easier customer with a minimum frame rate of 42 fps.


We haven't seen many faster processors in PC's we've looked at recently so unsurprisingly, where raw clock speed counted, the Falcon R was pretty nifty, coming second in the PCMark 8 4K Video Editing test and well up the graph in the photo editing test. Only in the rendering tests did anything sporting hyper-threading better the overclocked Core i5-6600K, but it was certainly no slouch here either.

Our storage results are obtained using the system drives so depending on how well optimised the PC is and how much software is included, the results can obviously vary. However, we know from our own separate testing that the Samsung 850 Evo is fast and we aren't that concerned over slightly slow results here - they're pretty much what you'd expect. Finally, power consumption; the load stress test revealed a peak power draw of 333W - not even taxing the PSU by 50 percent so there's loads of scope for upgrading the system in future and the PSU should never need to ramp up its fan with such low load levels too.

The system remained very quiet under high loads too - likely thanks to Nvidia's excellent efficiency in the GTX 970 and case's four fans. We saw a CPU delta T of 66°C (Coretemp reading of 81°C) and GPU delta T of 60°C (GPU-Z reading of 75°C) so despite a substantial CPU overclock, the PC had no problems keeping everything cool enough under heavy loads. Dropping the fans to their lowest speed using the two-channel fan controller only saw the GPU temperature rise by 3°C, for a modest reduction in noise, but it's a useful feature to have nonetheless.

Conclusion

As always with system reviews, a critical factor is the cost of the system versus the individual price of the components as well as the fact you get a pre-overclocked, pre-built system delivered to your door with a warranty. At £1,049, the 6600K Falcon R is likely the same price or even a little cheaper than building the same spec yourself once you factor in the OS, so value is without doubt excellent.

The warranty is solid too, with a hassle-free collect and return policy for the first year with parts covered for two years, and Fresh Tech Solutions has done a good job with the build process. Despite our initial reservations, the case was actually quite good, but it is a tad clunky compared to the gorgeous In Win 805 used by PC Specialist in its Vitrum system, which also sports a much larger, faster SSD. As such, it's possibly more lustworthy, but then the Falcon R is £100 or so cheaper, has a slightly faster CPU and memory, a more potent CPU cooler and higher power PSU too so it still comes recommended.