Powered by Intel Skylake with its Core i7-6700K. The Nightblade X2 (X2-007UK) promises to give gamers a high-performance system inside a compact and portable shell.
Product on Review: Nightblade X2 Mini-PC
Manufacturer & Sponsor: MSI
Street Price: £1199 GBP
Prolific in the motherboard and graphics card arena, MSI are also well-known for their passion in other fields too and more specifically the prebuilt system division. In the last 18 months they’ve made a big impact within gaming communities with the introduction of the Nightblade Series. Nightblade in the past has involved a barebones configuration with the user having to supply various components but MSI has now made steps in presenting gamers with a complete system which includes core components such as the CPU, memory and graphics card.
Another important point to make is that the Nightblade series involves small form factor (SFF) mini-PCs. Momentum with SFF has been gradually increasing – so much so that other brands are now following in MSI’s footsteps too as more and more users demand a portable gaming unit which is able to play the latest gaming titles. Today we are to take a look at the most powerful Nightblade units that MSI has to offer – the Nightblade X2.
Nightblade X2 is powered by Skylake and as such, features the Intel Core i7-6700K. Also arriving with this quad-core process is 16GB DDR4 and NVIDIA’s GTX 970. Along with these components there are also many features which gamers and enthusiasts are likely to find useful. On paper Nightblade X2 sounds like a capable machine but will it be able to handle everything we throw at it?
MSI on their Nightblade X2
Sturdy, stable and solid, the MSI® Nightblade X2 is loaded with the perfect ammunition for PC gamers that do not want to compromise on gaming performance. The MSI® Nightblade X2 embodies what every gamer craves for: victory.
Technical Specifications
Below are the technical specifications supplied directly by MSI:
OS
Windows 10
CPU
Intel Core i7-6700K
RAM
16GB 2133MHz DDR4
GPU
MSI GTX 970 4GB
SSD
Samsung SM951 128GB
HDD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
PSU
FSP 500W 80 Plus Silver
Dimensions
17 x 37 x 28 cm (WxDxH)
Weight
6KG[
Windows 10
CPU
Intel Core i7-6700K
RAM
16GB 2133MHz DDR4
GPU
MSI GTX 970 4GB
SSD
Samsung SM951 128GB
HDD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM
PSU
FSP 500W 80 Plus Silver
Dimensions
17 x 37 x 28 cm (WxDxH)
Weight
6KG[
Unboxing & Closer Look Video
For this review we’ve produced a video which reveals the packaging, bundle and a close, detailed overview of Nightblade X2. Please check out the video below for a comprehensive look at this new product:
Benchmarks: Temperatures
For our first benchmark test we observe the max. CPU/GPU temperatures of the system during a 20 minute run of Unigine Heaven 4.0. To report back on the temperatures we use RealTemp and GPU-Z which provide the peak figures.
Benchmarks: Power Consumption & Windows 10 Boot Time
In this test we observe how fast the boot into Windows 10 is by using a digital stopwatch. Power consumption is another important observation, for this we observe the wattage from the wall while the system is running Heaven 4.0.
Benchmarks: Cinebench R15 & x264 HD
CINEBENCH can measure systems with up to 64 processor threads. This test scene contains approximately 2,000 objects which in turn contain more than 300,000 polygons in total, and uses sharp and blurred reflections, area lights, shadows, procedural shaders, antialiasing, and much more. The result is displayed in points (pts). The higher the number, the faster your processor is.
Benchmarks: PCMark 8
PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.
Benchmarks: 3DMark & Heaven 4.0
The new 3DMark includes everything you need to benchmark your hardware. With three all new tests you can bench everything from smartphones and tablets, to notebooks and home PCs, to the latest high-end, multi-GPU gaming desktops. And it’s not just for Windows. With 3DMark you can compare your scores with Android and iOS devices too. It’s the most powerful and flexible 3DMark we’ve ever created.
Benchmarks: DIRT Rally, The Witcher 3, SW Battlefront, BF4
The Nightblade X2 uses the GTX 970 for graphics delivery, in this section we test the latest gaming titles to see how effective the 3D capabilities are. We report on the average framerate using FRAPS.
Conclusion
Since MSI are already big players in the motherboard and graphics card departments it makes perfect sense for them to move into supplying gamers with fully fledged gaming systems. The Nightblade has already captured attention with a number of barebones options but the new X2 is likely to appeal to those gamers out there who want out of the box functionality and performance without having to spend time choosing, sourcing and building a new system.
An aspect which arrives as a significant benefit with X2 is its size and weight. The condensed chassis is small and portable yet it still houses a selection of high-performance hardware which is able to deliver excellent performance. It is this size and weight which makes X2 easy to transport to different locations and events and also means that even if it does remain in the same place, its takes up very little room and is inconspicuous.
Inside, MSI has equipped X2 with the latest Intel Core i7-6700K quad-core processor, along with 16GB DDR4, NVIDIA’s GTX 970 and some solid state storage courtesy of Samsung via the SM951. These components ensure outstanding performance if the intention is to game at a resolution of 1080p/1440p. As we’ve demonstrated in our video review below and in the benchmark results on the previous pages, X2 is able to handle the latest triple-A gaming titles – delivering high framerates.
Users aren’t fixed to the current specifications either – there is space for installing extra storage drives plus the power connectors/ports on the motherboard to aid this. If the graphics card needs an upgrade later on down-the-line, there is space for cards which are up to 290mm in length.
The only areas to mark X2 down are the lack-lustre appearance – we feel MSI could design something more attractive than the current design which looks very plain, square and mundane. We also discovered the GTX 970 are using inside X2 gets rather hot under full-load – this is probably due to the lack of case airflow, perhaps in future editions MSI could look at introducing a low-noise push/pull fan configuration inside the chassis.
At a cost of £1199 GBP (@ Very.co.uk), the X2 is good value for money. Building a system using the same components will cost a similar price but for those without the desire or expertise in sourcing and building a system – X2 is a great choice. Plus, we also get an appealing 2 year-warranty.
MSI’s Nightblade X2 is a mini-powerhouse; this compact gaming unit features a strong lineup of the latest hardware that will provide great results and thanks to its dimensions and weight, gamers can easily transport this configuration wherever they’re travelling.
VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV
Pros
+ Compact & portable
+ Lightweight
+ Low-noise
+ Skylake-powered
+ Excellent 1080p gaming
+ Offers USB 3.1 functionality
+ Features an optical drive
+ Options for expanding in future
Cons
– Not the most attractive design
– Graphics card gets rather hot
+ Compact & portable
+ Lightweight
+ Low-noise
+ Skylake-powered
+ Excellent 1080p gaming
+ Offers USB 3.1 functionality
+ Features an optical drive
+ Options for expanding in future
Cons
– Not the most attractive design
– Graphics card gets rather hot
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
