Origin's Genesis: Flagship Bling
by Dustin Sklavos on April 2, 2011 2:00 PM ESTConclusion: Good Value, Mixed Results
One thing that's important to keep in mind is that for what's fundamentally a boutique desktop gaming machine, the Origin Genesis (at least in our review configuration) delivers. The performance is there to do what you need to and then some, and the SLI GeForce GTX 560 Ti proves to be the right call for getting a good balance of price and performance.
That's really the tack I want to take with the Genesis, too: the price is right. Our configuration is pretty beefy and uses a lot of the latest and greatest, but I don't feel like the pricetag is particularly onerous. Origin will overclock the i7-2600K to these speeds basically for free, and none of their upgrade prices are particularly outlandish. Paying north of $2,500 for a machine feels steep, but everything in this build is quality. Putting together a similar configuration on NewEgg runs roughly $2,200 (including the Windows 7 license), so Origin's markup on the Genesis feels reasonable for what you get.
Well, everything except the processor in our review unit and the cooler, apparently. The overclock was properly tuned to use an offset voltage, but there seemed to be no fan control on the cooler, which just ran like a maniac and made reviewing the Genesis less than enjoyable. The push-pull fan configuration just meant two fans making a racket. And then the voltage the processor needed resulted in high power consumption and thermals. We can't really ding Origin for that since overclocking is a crapshoot to begin with and even their techs told us the processor was a little more power hungry than the norm, but we can ding them for the mediocre cooler.
As a whole, though, the Genesis is easy enough to recommend given the quality case and otherwise optimal components Origin chooses to use in the build. The bling of the LEDs isn't going to be for everybody (remotes are included to change the colors!) but the Graphite 600T's more austere appearance makes up for the gaudiness to an extent and prevents the machine from looking full-blown spinning-rims crazy. Of course, you can choose another case for your build, too, and Origin's selection doesn't have a weak link among them.
But when you order, be sure to have a power screwdriver and someone with good upper body strength on hand to help you open that wooden crate.
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MeanBruce - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - link
The windowed side panel is available NOW for the 600T at the Corsair website. Personally I would go with the new Corsair Obsidian 650D chassis, with it's understated elegance, it's exceptionally urbane. I have one in my office!;)HilbertSpace - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - link
First SC 2 graph is wrong - no way the Puget system should be leading.Dustin Sklavos - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - link
Graph is likely correct. In my experience Radeons have less CPU overhead in SC2. Couple that with the fact that the Genesis is driving two video cards instead of one and it does balance out.iamezza - Sunday, April 3, 2011 - link
Another good review thanks Dustin!If you are going to keep reviewing these massive boutique systems maybe you could claim a gym membership as a tax deduction :)
Alex99a - Monday, April 4, 2011 - link
quoting..."I can tell you that the packaging was decidedly American and absolute overkill...."
Well, now what is THAT supposed to mean? Please explain to me the concept of "decidedly American". I come to AnandTech for good tech info and reviews, not stereotyping anti-American slams.
Oh, and if I ever do buy an expensive boutique computer system, i hope it DOES come in a big honkin' wooden crate to hopefully survive the journey intact.
Ninhalem - Monday, April 4, 2011 - link
Because American packaging is known to be of the highest quality, because if it isn't, you're going to have very irate customers wanting to know why you didn't package their dear products like a Abrams tank.strikeback03 - Monday, April 4, 2011 - link
Bottom of the page on noise, hat, and power consumption, you say "CyberPower's system has a 4.4GHz overclock and it still manages to keep idle power low by requiring 0.7V less to hit its overclock than the Origin Genesis does. " I assume you meant to say 0.07V?EBH - Monday, April 4, 2011 - link
For anything more than 1000$ I would expect more than:Audio
Realtek ALC892 HD Audio
Speaker, mic, line-in, and surround jacks for 7.1 sound
Digital and optical out
veri745 - Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - link
"CyberPower's system has a 4.4GHz overclock and it still manages to keep idle power low by requiring 0.7V less to hit its overclock than the Origin Genesis does."I think you probably mean '0.07V less', unless the Cyberpower system is running at 0.72V