Why You Can Trust CNET Overdrive PC Torque SLI review: Overdrive PC Torque SLI
Overdrive PC continues its absolute dominance in the high-end PC category with the Torque SLI. Even though it uses the same parts as many of its competitors, due to an extensive series of tweaks and aggressive but stable overclocking, it emerges as the clear winner in gaming and nearly all application performance tests.
In Spaceballs, they called it "Ludicrous Speed." Overdrive PC calls it "Hyperclocking." However you say it, the Torque SLI is fast. Not satisfied with just dual graphics cards or a top-of-the-line Athlon FX-57 (it has both), the Torque SLI also incorporates the virtual nitro boost of overclocked processor, memory, and graphics cards, resulting in some of the fastest benchmark scores we've seen. At $4,968 (as of August 2005), sans monitor and speakers, this system also is the most expensive of the recent high-end PCs we've reviewed. But if you absolutely must have the fastest PC on the block, the Torque SLI will give you bragging rights.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Unlike more stylized competitors, such as the Alienware Aurora 7500, Overdrive houses the Torque SLI in a simple, clean-lined Lian-Li PC-6070 midtower case--black on our review unit but also available in silver or with a custom paint job. A pair of blue LED-backlit, 120mm cooling fans on the left side of the case is the only visual indication that this isn't your average PC.
The clean-cut image dissolves once you remove the two thumbscrews to crack open the case. Inside, the side panels are coated with a foam-rubber sound-damping material. The Asus A8N-SLI Premium motherboard, the hard drives, and even the expansion cards are fitted with stainless steel screws and rubber washers. Cables are carefully routed and clipped to maximize airflow, making for a very neat appearance. Quiet fans also help reduce noise output. Despite state-of-the-art hardware that runs at beyond-rated speeds, the Torque SLI's fans stayed so quiet during our testing that we could hear the hard drive heads moving. There's even a small flashlight clipped to the drive cage; if Overdrive PC had included a screwdriver, it would truly have thought of everything.
Our test system was equipped with a pair of 256MB XFX GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards and a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card. This combination doesn't leave much room for internal expansion; only a single PCI slot and a couple of memory slots remain open. For external expansion, there's a pair of USB 2.0 ports on the front of the case, and four more on the back. A pair of FireWire ports reside on the back of the Torque SLI, one of which is on the Audigy 2 ZS card.
Our test configuration came loaded with storage devices: a dual-layer DVD burner and a DVD-ROM drive; a removable 200GB hard drive; and a pair of 74GB, 10,000rpm hard drives configured in a RAID 0 array. Also onboard was a floppy drive with a built-in media card reader. On top of all of this, there's a pair of open 3.5-inch internal bays, as well as an open 5.25-inch bay. (Two more open 3.5-inch bays surround the RAID array, but you'd probably want to leave them open because of heat considerations.)
If you've ever dabbled with overclocking, you know that extra performance sometimes comes at the cost of system stability. Not so with the Torque SLI, which remained rock stable even when running CNET's extensive game tests and benchmarks on a hot summer day. Overdrive PC calls its overclocking technique Hyperclocking, and the results are impressive. The AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 CPU, rated at 2.8GHz, runs at 3GHz; the dual GeForce 7800 GTX GPUs are bumped from 430MHz to 505MHz, with memory speeds notched up from 1.2GHz to 1.39GHz; and the 1GB of the system's DDR SDRAM runs at 500MHz, up from 400MHz. Overdrive PC also optimizes BIOS and Windows settings for maximum performance.
All of this Hyperclocking pays off with gaming performance that stomps the nearest competitors. Running Half-Life 2 at extremely demanding settings--1,600x1,200 resolution with 4X antialiasing and 8X anisotropic filtering--the Torque SLI managed a whopping 120 frames per second (fps). The next closest competitor, the Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge DualX, was left in the dust at 97fps. Doom 3 scores were similarly impressive, with the Torque SLI benchmarking 105fps at 1,600x1,200, compared to the Velocity Micro's 96.1fps. The Torque SLI blazed through productivity applications as well, with a SysMark 2004 score of 255, the fastest of its group. In fact, the only benchmark test where the Torque SLI came up short was with SysMark 2004's Internet content creation, where it was trounced by the dual-core Athlon 64 X2-equipped Alienware Aurora 7500. PCs with dual-core processors may hold a speed advantage over the Torque SLI in heavy multitasking, but not in single applications or gaming.
The Torque SLI doesn't ship with much software by default; you get Norton AntiVirus 2005, Nero Express for disc burning, the free OpenOffice productivity suite, and an assortment of benchmarking tools and utilities, though you can add other software titles, including games and commercial office suites, at the time of purchase. The Torque SLI's clean desktop and carefully categorized Start menu are testament to its careful fine-tuning. Our test system didn't ship with a monitor or speakers, though a variety of options are available from Overdrive. However, we did get Logitech's Cordless Desktop LX 700 mouse and keyboard set.
Overdrive PC backs the Torque SLI with a one-year parts-and-labor warranty, which includes toll-free tech support, available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, and return shipping on repairs. The optional Platinum warranty is available in one-, two-, or three-year lengths (add $100 per year), and we highly recommend it as it covers all associated shipping costs to and from Overdrive PC for repairs. One year of warranty coverage has emerged as the industry standard, but given the system's $5,000 price tag, we think Platinum-level coverage should be the default. Overdrive PC's Web site features a tech-support e-mail address in addition to a well-organized list of manufacturer links for component documentation and drivers. The PC itself includes recovery CDs and the printed user manuals from several of the PC's components, but no overall setup guide. Instead, Overdrive prefers a more personal approach: a company rep will call when you receive your system to walk you through the setup procedure.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 | BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating | | SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | | SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
| Doom 3 1,600x1,200 4XAA 8XAF | | Doom 3 1,024x768, 4XAA 8XAF | | Half-Life 2 1,600x1,200 4XAA 8XAF | | Half-Life 2 1,024x768 4XAA 8XAF |
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations:
ABS Ultimate X8
Windows XP Professional SP2; 3.2GHz Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 840; Intel Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI Intel Edition chipset; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 256MB (2) Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX (PCIe SLI); two WDC WD740GD-00FLA2 74GB SATA 10,000rpm; Hitachi HDS724040KLSA80 400GB SATA 7,200rpm; integrated Nvidia Nforce 4 Intel Edition SATA RAID Controller
Alienware Aurora 7500
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+; Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB (2) Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX (PCIe SLI); two Hitachi HDS728080PLA380 80GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA; integrated Nvidia Nforce RAID class controller (RAID 0)
Dell Dimension XPS 600
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2; 3.8GHz Intel Pentium 4 670; Nvida Nforce 4 SLI Intel Edition chipset; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX (PCIe SLI); two Hitachi HDS725050KLA360 500GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA; integrated Nvidia Nforce 4 Intel Edition SATA RAID Controller (RAID 0)
Overdrive PC Torque SLI
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-57; Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB (2) Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX (PCIe SLI); two WDC WD740GD-00FLA2 74GB 10,000rpm SATA; one Seagate ST3200826AS, 200GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA; integrated Nvidia Nforce RAID class controller (RAID 0)
Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge DualX
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.8GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-57; Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB (2) Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX (PCIe SLI); two WDC WD740GD-00FLA2 74GB 10,000rpm SATA; one WDC WD250JD-00HBB0 250GB 7,200rpm SATA; integrated Silicon SiL3114 SoftRAID5