The Germanium X [1] comes encased within the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X. The case itself has a premium feel to it, with black anodised aluminium panels and tempered glass being its distinguishing characteristics. On the front of the case, a retractable panel conceals 2 USB ports, headphone and mic jacks, and importantly a type-C USB port, convenient for those of us using recent generation android smart phones.
The ongoing trend of digital RGB lighting integration in PC hardware and peripherals is not unaccounted for within the Evolv X. The front panel is flanked with two light strips within the detachable façade, as well as integrated RGB lighting throughout the case. The tempered glass side panels are magnetically sealed for easy access when upgrading and maintaining the system. If RGB isn't your thing, the buttons on the front can toggle the lights off, and you have a stealthy all-black steel system with a subtle profile. Overclockers [2]' approach to cable management is flawless, and with this case it has to be. The power supply sits in a separate internal casing in the base with the hard drive, and all cabling is tucked back giving the internals an aesthetically pleasing look, showcasing the high-end components in all of their illuminated glory.
Speaking of high-end components, our system contained a Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 Gaming OC 8192MB GPU, with an intel i7-8086k processor, a 40th anniversary limited-run processor hitting 5.Ghz straight out of the box. Whilst this processor overclocks with exceptional stability, performances are close to the i7-8700K. All this connects to the Gigabyte Aorus Z370 gaming 7 motherboard, an excellent all-round motherboard with a clean design despite being packed with features. Since we received our system, the Germanium X has upgraded to the i7-9700K processors, and the Aorus Z390 respectively. The primary Samsung 970 Evo 500gb solid state drive is lightning fast for booting Windows 10 and your primary games library, but given the size of modern games, our advice would be to opt for the biggest one you can afford when configuring a new PC.
The system starts up in the blink of an eye, unveiling a refreshingly bloatware free operating system. The Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 GPU makes light work of even the most demanding games. The "RTX" refers to ray tracing, a means to render shadows and light with amazing true to life results, defining how the in-game lighting interacts dynamically with the in-game world. At present, a limited number of games use it, but two games that do, "Battlefield V" and "Metro Exodus," displayed astonishing results. The light behaves organically showing clear reflections in puddles and surfaces when enabled, at a very slight but acceptable cost to frame rate.
Using 3Dmark TimeSpy v1.0 benchmarking software, the system scored an impressive 10168. To put that into context, of the systems benchmarked and uploaded by the popular software, this places the Germanium X in the top 8% of rigs tested.
Priced at £2499.99 with the components in this build, this is not an entry level gaming PC. However, for the cost of its parts combined, and at the time of writing this, a reduction of £180 off of the base price, the Germanium X is an exceptional choice. It comes Overclocked, with a three-year warranty and labour free upgrade service. This is a gaming system that showcases a bold and stylish aesthetic, effortless performance, and provides top end gaming capability at a reasonable price.
Under the Hood
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X
Motherboard: Gigabyte z370 AORUS Gaming 7
Cooler: OcUK Tech Labs 240mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
CPU: Intel Core i7-8086K @ 5.0GHz
Memory Supplied:16gb DDR4 dual channel (RGB kit)
GPU: Gigabyte nVidia GeForce RTX 2080 Gaming PC 8G
Storage: 500GB Samsung 970 Evo, 3TB Seagate 7200rpm hard drive
Power supply: Seasonic Focus Plus 750w
Audio:7.1 High definition Audio
OS: Windows 10 64-bit
*Review model only