Based on the Intel Z270 chipset, Intel Kaby Lake and using the GTX 1070, Dragon Blood seeks to give gamers the performance needed for 1080p/1440p.
Product on Review: Dragon Blood Full System
Manufacturer & Sponsor: Fierce PC
Street Price: 2299.95 GBP
So far this year we’ve been treated to countless technology announcements and releases and system builders now have at their disposal a multitude of options and routes to choose from depending on their requirements. One such launch was the introduction of Intel’s 7th Generation of Core i7 processors codenamed Kaby Lake – a number of systems integrators have designed customised gaming PCs using these new CPUs and today we turn to Fierce PC to see what they have to offer in their all-new Dragon Blood
Dragon Blood is a fully water-cooled gaming PC which takes the Intel Core i7-7700K and nudges it up to that revered 5GHZ milestone. Also featured within this impressive rig we have a water-cooled EVGA GTX 1070 and hardware from Corsair, Samsung, GIGABYTE and Cooler Master.
Fierce PC on their Dragon Blood
The Dragon Blood takes watercooling to the max, with ultra-thick UV reactive green pipes in its custom loop. The Dragon Blood comes with high-end EKWB Water Blocks, ensuring the highest quality and style for your system. Combine matching motherboard, fluid and fan colour and you’re left with a PC that leaves a big impression, no matter where the setting.
Technical Specifications
Below are the technical specifications supplied directly from Fierce PC themselves:
OS
Windows 10 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7-7700K @ 5GHz
CPU Cooler
EK Custom Loop
RAM
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz DDR4
Motherboard
AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7
GPU
8GB EVGA GTX 1070
SSD
256GB Samsung SM961
512GB Samsung 850 EVO
PSU
Cooler Master V650
Case
Cooler Master Master Case Maker 5
Weight
20-25KG
Warranty
2 years parts – 5 years labour
Windows 10 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i7-7700K @ 5GHz
CPU Cooler
EK Custom Loop
RAM
Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz DDR4
Motherboard
AORUS Z270X-Gaming 7
GPU
8GB EVGA GTX 1070
SSD
256GB Samsung SM961
512GB Samsung 850 EVO
PSU
Cooler Master V650
Case
Cooler Master Master Case Maker 5
Weight
20-25KG
Warranty
2 years parts – 5 years labour
Closer Look – Video Overview
For this review we’ve produced a video which reveals a detailed overview of Dragon Blood with some benchmarks. Please check out the video below for a comprehensive overview of this system:
Benchmarks: Boot Time & Power Consumption
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 DownloadPCMark 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
3DMark DownloadThe 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: BF1, Titanfall 2, TW: Warhammer, Rot Tomb Raider
Dragon Blood uses the GTX 1070 for graphics delivery, in this section we test the latest gaming titles to see how effective the 3D capabilities are at 4K resolution. We report on the average framerate using FRAPS.
Benchmarks: VRMark
VRMark DownloadThe performance requirements for VR games are much higher than for typical PC games. So, if you’re thinking about buying an HTC Vive or an Oculus Rift this holiday, wouldn’t it be good to know that your PC is ready for VR?
VRMark includes two VR benchmark tests that run on your monitor, no headset required, or on a connected HMD. At the end of each test, you’ll see whether your PC is VR ready, and if not, how far it falls short.
VRMark includes two VR benchmark tests that run on your monitor, no headset required, or on a connected HMD. At the end of each test, you’ll see whether your PC is VR ready, and if not, how far it falls short.
Conclusion
Oddly enough the Dragon Blood system we’ve reviewed today arrives with green liquid (Mayhems Pastel Green) inside the tubing – red would have probably suited the overall ‘blood’ scheme better, but we can’t deny how eye-catching this configuration is.
Moving inside the chassis, Fierce PC has carefully selected hardware from reputable brands, which should serve up a good helping of confidence to the purchaser. In fact, some of the products installed we’ve actually reviewed ourselves on a standalone basis and so we can vouch for their reliability and high-standard.
Where things get interesting is when we look at the CPU. Fierce PC has used Intel’s latest Core i7-7700K and hasn’t just nudged up the frequency a few hundred Megahertz, they’ve boosted the clock speed to that marker which enthusiasts regard as the pinnacle of achievements – 5GHz. Achieving this with the Kaby Lake platform isn’t an easy task, these chips are tough to tame not least because of the voltage threshold but also due to sky-rocketing temperatures – the latter isn’t so much of an issue with a watercooled system as can be clearly seen in our video review.
Our experience with Dragon Blood was largely positive but there are however a few areas which could be improved. Firstly, we thought the tubing for the water cooling could have been tidier – some of the tubes are skewed and are arranged in a somewhat awkward configuration. The other minor quibble was the capacity of the main storage drive; at just 500GB this is simply not enough when you have 4-5 games which take up 40-50GB a piece, along with any music, movies or pictures you may also wish to store – 1TB is really the minimum for the secondary drive, anything less will soon fill up in very little time.
Dragon Blood arrives with a price-tag of £2299.95 – pricing up each of the components individually for a self-build will equal a similar cost. This is in line with previous systems we’ve reviewed from Fierce PC and represents good value, especially if you aren’t so keen on delving into the world of watercooling yourself.
Dragon Blood is a solid gaming system based around the new Intel Kaby Lake Core i7-7700K and after an impressive 5GHz overclock has been applied, users are able to reap the rewards of even greater performance in a range of uses.
Pros
+ Looks impressive
+ Reputable brands used throughout
+ Good processing power
+ Significant overclock applied to 7700K
+ Great for 1080p/1440p
+ Can handle VR
+ 2 year parts warranty, 5 years labour warranty
+ Currently includes a free EA game
Cons
– Heavy
– Tubing could use better presentation
– 500GB isn’t large enough for main storage
+ Looks impressive
+ Reputable brands used throughout
+ Good processing power
+ Significant overclock applied to 7700K
+ Great for 1080p/1440p
+ Can handle VR
+ 2 year parts warranty, 5 years labour warranty
+ Currently includes a free EA game
Cons
– Heavy
– Tubing could use better presentation
– 500GB isn’t large enough for main storage
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
