With both Nvidia and AMD releasing their latest generation of graphics hardware, we decided it might be time to upgrade our existing test bench here at MMORPG.com. It’s time to ditch the old 10700K powered benches in favor of new generation hardware to ensure our test results are as accurate as possible.
Our goal with the new test bench is to eliminate bottlenecks that can occur in testing, especially when reviewing graphics cards, so that the products we are testing really shine. was to create a system. GPUs are the primary hardware this system is built on, but building a modern platform ensures that all kinds of tests are as accurate as possible.
Many of the parts in the system have been provided by manufacturers as past review units or simply as sponsors of test bench builds. Thanks to MSI for the motherboard and CPU, Gigabyte for the power supply, Corsair for the AIO CPU cooling, and ADATA XPG for the RAM kit. As a full disclosure, I purchased the hard drive and case for the build.
component
case: ASUS ROG STRIX Helios ATX Tower Case
When I first reviewed the Nvidia RTX 4090, the case I was using at the time was woefully unprepared for the size of the card. As a result, my old Lian Li O11 Dynamic Razer Edition sat with the side panel fully open from the PC to accommodate its size. So when planning the build of this new test bench, we knew we needed to have a case large enough to properly accommodate the GPU we were testing.
Fits ASUS ROG’s Helios case. This towering tower has so much space inside the case that it was a dream to incorporate, especially when it comes to cable management pathways. I also knew I needed space to store my cables, and being able to easily hide them when not in use was a plus.
But what really caught my eye were the full tempered glass side panels and the RGB-adorned front panel glass. It looks impressive and is easy to take apart during assembly (which is important as he swaps out GPUs multiple times a day). It also has anti-sag GPU support built into the case, so expect large GPUs. It’s the perfect home for the hardware we test.
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z790 Carbon Wi-Fi
The MSI MPG Z790 Carbon Wi-Fi motherboard powers the entire system, providing a platform for the 13th Generation Intel CPUs. A premium entry in the MSI MPG lineup, this motherboard is feature-rich, overclockable and supports high-end he NVMe drives and DDR5 RAM.
The MPG Z790 Carbon Wi-Fi also supports high quality audio, 2.5GB LAN and WiFi 6E. This is a powerful motherboard that will easily perform the type of tests you do on the bench for years to come. Check out our full motherboard review for more details.
processor: Intel Core i9-13900K
The Intel i9-13900K is one of the best gaming CPUs on the market to date, easily powering everything from gaming to productivity. A processor beast with 24 cores (8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores) to drive most CPU bound gaming applications without buckling or render video in our editing suite Or play cat videos on YouTube if you want. This is a great processor that hopefully takes the CPU out of the equation, especially when benchmarking his GPU.
cooling: Corsair H150i Elite LCD AIO 360mm Liquid Cooler
Corsair has provided a blistering cooler to keep the Intel i9-13900K cool. This massive 360mm radiator spins three 120mm fans to help keep temperatures down when your CPU needs to cool down. The radiator pump’s LCD screen makes it easy to monitor temperature, fan speed, and more. Also, in my case, it reminds me of the Hobbit being taken to Isengard.
memory: ADATA XPG Lancer DDR5-5200 (2x16GB; 32GB total)
For RAM, we used ADATA’s XPG Lancer series memory, bringing DDR5 speeds to the build. The kit is fast, with speeds up to 5200 MHz when XMP is enabled. The RAM doesn’t have the RGB fitting that our RGB build has, but what the glorious Rainbow Light lacks is fast enough to help speed up games and more consistent framerates supplemented with
SSD storage drive: Samsung EVO 980 Pro Gen 4×4 NVMe M.2 1TB SSD When Intel 760p 2TB NVMe M.2 drive
For my boot drive, I wanted to take advantage of the MSI mobo’s Gen 4 speeds, so I chose the Samsung EVO 980 Pro NVMe M.2 drive. With 1 TB of storage, this drive is more than enough to store Windows to get you where you need to go quickly.
For gaming, I’ve used an Intel 760p 2TB NVMe M.2 drive in my system for a while now and see no reason to stop. This fast drive has enough storage for the different games we test on a regular basis, and loads at a speed that makes each test a breeze.
power supply: Gigabyte AORUS P1200W 80+ Platinum Modular Power Supply
GPUs and other PC parts require more power to deliver the performance you’re looking for, so you needed a stronger power supply. Gigabyte has provided the AORUS 1200W 80+ Platinum PSU to do just that. Not only does it deliver consistent power thanks to its 80 Plus Platinum certification, it also keeps it cool under pressure thanks to a 140mm double ball bearing fan inside the PSU housing.
Similar to the liquid cooler, the AORUS power supply has its own LCD screen that displays stats like total power usage, PC uptime and more (you can see it thanks to the PSU window on the case) in all its LCD glory).
Final system – how does it work?
For some, this build is noticeably lacking in RGB, but we don’t necessarily disagree (I was actually surprised that the Helios case didn’t come with an RGB fan, to be honest), but , the purpose of this build was not. It inevitably needs to be a show stopper when people walk into the office. Rather, it’s for best performance during GPU testing.
And so far it has. Testing since this build was complete has shown results that are truly indicative of a GPU picking up the pace with little impact from the rest of the hardware. Our recent ASUS TUF RTX 4070 Ti OC review reflects this as it is the first review published with the new hardware. Over the next few months, we will be thoroughly testing all graphics cards on our new test bench to ensure the numbers we provide in our review are as accurate as possible.
I ran PCMark 10’s full suite of system benchmarks to test my PC on a variety of tasks. I installed the RTX 4080 Founders Edition and tested the bench, and the PC performed very well, with PCMark 10 showing results better than 99% of all other results (i.e. Impression target).
Actually playing games on a PC is the essence of what this is intended for during GPU and other hardware testing, and it’s incredible. Paired with the Acer Predator CG437K HDR GSync monitor, this rig makes your gaming shine.Play the main story to the end shadow bringer Breeze, fast-paced games and more Warhammer 40,000: Dark Tides I felt like I was sliding through butter while using the DLSS 3.
CPU-intensive games, etc. Victoria 3, meanwhile, I’ve never seen late-game slogs succumb to many CPUs as simulations become more and more complex. It really made the game fun. Cyberpunk: 2077, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition, Victoria 3 When Crusader Kings 3, Final Fantasy XIV: End Walker, And many more played as they should have. Incredible.
During these gameplay sessions, I noticed that I wasn’t worried about tweaking graphics or settings to ensure the best performance. I got the best performance using the maximum settings by default. For me, it translates directly to performance in testing. As a result, I’m confident that we can truly showcase the parts we’re working on at that pace, in addition to the pitfalls of other components that may have hindered the outcome, not just the parts.
final thoughts
Considering it’s been a while since I did a full build like this, the whole process of building my PC was pretty quick. Thankfully, the size of the ASUS ROG Strix Helios case made building it a dream. Normally my PC isn’t much of a cable-managed business, but as you can see above, this case had relatively little trouble producing seamless, clean results.
The Corsair cooler was also relatively easy to install, but my only concern at the time was making sure the LCD screen was facing the correct side up. Thankfully, that was the only way it could actually be installed, so it was ultimately moot.
Installing the Gigabyte AORUS PSU was easy, though routing the four PCIe cables required by the RTX 4090 from the bottom of the case to the main chamber was a bit of a hassle. However, the overall build was cleaner thanks to the fact that I only had to use cables that were actually used in the build (currently most standard he thought to modularize his PSU). Thank you to anyone who is!). His PSU window in the case itself.
At the end of the day, we aim to continue to provide the best hardware reviews possible, and making sure your bench meets the specs helps us achieve that goal better.
What do you think of the new testbench? Are there parts that you can replace with another? Let us know in the comments below.
