Powered by the Intel 8600K and AMD RX VEGA 56 and bolstered by M.2 storage and DDR4 memory, we expect solid performance from the OcUK Oxygen gaming system. How does it fare in our suite of benchmarks? Read on to find out.
Product on Review: Oxygen Overclocked PC
Manufacturer: Overclockers.co.uk
Street Price: £1799.00
OcUK offer a wide range of gaming machines, designed to match any budget. We looked at the Cobalt a few weeks back, offering a rather modest specification; today we crack open the OcUK Oxygen, featuring a 6-core Core i5 8600K CPU, AMD RX VEGA graphics, M.2 SSD storage and watercooling on the CPU. This machine certainly promises performance at every turn.
The Intel Core i5 8600K CPU has been overclocked to 4.8GHz across all 6 cores, paired to which is 16GB of DDR4 memory; both of which will help with multi-tasking and pushing frames to the monitor. Supporting all of your graphics demands is the AMD’s latest generation of graphics processors, built on the 14nm FinFET architecture, the RX VEGA 56. Featuring 8GB of HBM2 memory and 3584 stream processors with a boost clock of 1471MHz.
Storage is handled via a marriage between spinning media and solid state in the form of a 500GB Samsung 960 Evo M.2 and a 2TB Seagate 7200RPM SATA drive – offering both blisteringly fast speed on the M.2 SSD and ample storage on the HDD.
All of those lovely components are encased within the InWin 101 Gaming Case, illuminated by internal red LED strips and features a top chamber for better airflow to the PSU as well as an incredibly sleek yet appealing appearance.
Intel’s 8600K paired with AMD’s VEGA 56 should be ample for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but can it handle 2160p at a decent framerate? Read on to find out.
OcUK on the Oxygen
The OcUK Gaming Oxygen is a great value, configurable gaming PC based around an Overclocked Six Core Core i5 8600K Processor and AMD RX VEGA series graphics! Hand-built, hand-tuned and tested by our highly trained technicians, the OcUK Gaming range uses only our finest components to match aesthetic brilliance with epic performance!
Technical Specifications
Packaging
The OcUK Oxygen Overclocked arrives in a massive protective box, bound together with strapping and padded out with several layers of thick cardboard inside. Something would need to go drastically wrong during transit for this system to be damaged in any way.
Inside the large outer box is the case box, further helping to protect the Oxygen system.
Packed into the case itself, with all parts in situ, is a foam package moulded to the shape of the internals, ensuring the heavy graphics card doesn’t move around, as well as ensuring other lighter components are also secure.
We’re incredibly happy with the packaging.
Closer Look
The InWin 101 chassis is a heavy steel construction with a large tempered glass panel. The panel is easily removed by pulling the two plugs at the top, hinging it towards you slightly then lifting it out. Easy access to the internals is always a bonus for upgrading!
The reverse side, behind the motherboard, features a funky hexagonal design as an exhaust for the 240mm AIO cooler (This could easily be converted to an intake by reversing the fans). Again, removal of the side is incredibly simple, with only two thumb screws standing in your way.
The top of the case is home to all “front” IO. There’s a pair of USB 3.0 ports as well as 3.5mm HD audio. The front of the case features a small, clear plastic section which glows red while the PC is switched on. The lowest part of the clear plastic also acts as the power switch (as embarrassing as it is, we must admit, this took us a couple of minutes to find!)
The rear of the machine is plastered with input/output options. We’ve got 6x USB 3.0 ports, a single USB 3.1 Gen 2 and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C. Display options, if using the integrated GPU at any point, is provided through a DVI and HDMI. We also find a single RJ45 network connection, SPDIF Out and 7.1 audio options.
The Radeon RX VEGA is equipped with 3x DisplayPorts and a single HDMI output.
Closer Look (Internals)
As you can see, OcUK have done a great job with the internals and colour coding. The PSU sits at the top, with all excess cables hidden away by the PSU shroud. Overall appearance inside is excellent.
The entire system is run by the AORUS Z370 Ultra Gaming motherboard. This motherboard features a pair of M.2 slots and a trio of PCI-E slots with Crossfire/SLI support.
The AMD Radeon RX VEGA 56 graphics card uses a “standard” blower type cooler, useful for exhausting heat out of the case but relies on better overall case airflow to provide good cooling over long periods.
You can also see the stylish heatsink over the motherboard’s southbridge as well as metal shielding around the PCI-E slots. One of the 6 SATA3.0 ports are currently occupied, allowing a further 5 drives to be added to the system. The case has support for another 3.5” HDD as well as 4 2.5” HDD/SSDs.
Cooling the Intel Core i5 8600K CPU is the OcUKTech Labs 240mm All-In-One liquid cooling solution. The 8600K has been overclocked from the base clock of 3.6GHz all the way to 4.8GHz, providing excellent multi-thread performance and even better single-threaded power.
Benchmarks: Temperatures & Boot Time
For our first benchmark test we observe the max. CPU/GPU temperatures of the system while allowing Unigine Heaven 4.0 to run on a 30-minute loop. To report back on the temperatures we use RealTemp and GPU-Z which provide the peak figures.
In this test we observe how fast the boot into Windows 10 is by using a digital stopwatch.
Benchmarks: Cinebench R15 & Handbrake
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: PC Mark 8 & 10
PCMark 10 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 10 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
Time Spy is a DirectX 12 benchmark test for gaming PCs running Windows 10. With its pure DirectX 12 engine, built from the ground up to support new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, Time Spy is the ideal benchmark for testing the DirectX 12 performance of the latest graphics cards.
Benchmarks: Gaming (1080p)
The Oxygen uses the VEGA 56 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.
Benchmarks: Gaming (1440p)
The Oxygen uses the VEGA 56 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.
Benchmarks: Gaming (2160p)
The Oxygen uses the VEGA 56 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
To conclude the article, the price has to eventually come into the equation. At almost £1800 before any adjustments, it’s well into the high-end market, where many would expect an Intel i7 CPU and good performance at 2160p (4K).Unfortunately, the Oxygen Overclocked fails at both of those hurdles. Some would argue that the Intel Core i5, especially with a hefty overclock, is more than ample for a gaming machine, but for £1800 we would expect to see some hyper-threading for heavier workloads. However, despite the 8600K CPU being ample for gaming, the VEGA 56 just doesn’t quite cut the mustard when it comes to 2160p (4K) resolution. DiRT 4, which often presents the highest FPS results in our tests, failed to reach a 60FPS average in our 4K test, with everything else being at >50. Deus Ex didn’t even manage 20 frames per second, appearing almost as a slideshow on the screen. The 8GB of HBM2 memory and 3584 stream processors just aren’t capable of achieving a smooth, playable experience. 1080p and 1440p performance were of zero concern and played beautifully well.
Having said that, the Intel Core i5 8600K, with the 4.8GHz overclock, performed remarkably well, being roughly 200 points behind a stock 8700K in our Cinebench R15 test. Many games still don’t scale well with extra cores, instead preferring faster clock speeds and instructions per clock, which should mean this CPU will last a few years without any kind of problem; the extra £100 on a Core i7-8700K would push this ever closer to that dreaded £2000 figure.
Unfortunately, with pricing being at an all-time high, it’s almost impossible to recommend any system at the moment, unless you absolutely have to buy one now.
The InWin 101 gaming chassis with red LEDs, as well as the excellent work by OcUK on the internal cable routing, make this machine incredibly appealing to the eye. Temperatures and noise levels were also well within acceptable parameters, especially with the 4.8GHz overclock on the i5 processor.
Thanks to the Samsung 960 Evo M.2 NVMe drive, boot times and overall system responsiveness was lightning quick. Pair that with the 2TB of Seagate spinning storage and you’re set for quite some time!
The OcUK Oxygen looks great and performs well at 1080p and 1440p, however the £1800 price tag is a little hard to swallow with such poor 4K performance
Pros
+ Looks great
+ Excellent 1080p and 1440p performance
+ Rapid M.2 storage
+ Huge 2TB Seagate HDD
+ Low temperatures
+ Quiet operation
+ Overclocked CPU
Cons
– £1800 pricetag
– Poor 4K gaming
+ Looks great
+ Excellent 1080p and 1440p performance
+ Rapid M.2 storage
+ Huge 2TB Seagate HDD
+ Low temperatures
+ Quiet operation
+ Overclocked CPU
Cons
– £1800 pricetag
– Poor 4K gaming
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