HP Phoenix h9se: The Pavilion Goes Beyond Thunderdome
by Dustin Sklavos on February 29, 2012 12:00 AM ESTSystem Performance
The HP Phoenix h9se we have for review presents us with a rare opportunity: we have a gaming desktop configured entirely at stock speeds. Also keep in mind that the GTX 580 we have in our system is no longer being offered, as it is being replaced by the AMD Radeon HD 7950 at an ever-so-slightly lower price point, so you'll be getting the same or better performance for about the same amount of money.
We also have a special guest in our charts; the unit marked "Unknown Sample" is a custom rig from a boutique that isn't yet available. We had intended to post that review first, but we've been asked to hold that for a couple more weeks, so we'll just let the numbers speak for themselves.
The SSD used in the HP Phoenix is an Intel 320, which is unfortunately limited to 3Gbps operation. As a result our PCMark charts skew heavily in favor of other machines that use faster SSDs. The Intel 320 is by no means awful (an SSD of virtually any stripe is still a notable upgrade as a system drive), but it's a generation behind in terms of performance.
It's interesting to see how a stock-clocked i7-3960X is able to line up against heavily overclocked Sandy Bridge quad-cores (not to mention the previous generation's i7-990X). Every overclocked processor on these charts is running in excess of 4GHz, while the 3960X has to make do with only being able to turbo up to 3.6GHz on all six cores. When it can't leverage the extra two cores, the 3960X carries a notable deficit behind the heavily overclocked Sandy Bridge chips, but once those two come into play, the stock-clocked 3960X is able to mostly hang with the 4GHz+ i7-990X chips and blows past the quads.
By this point the GeForce GTX 580 is a well-known quantity. A single-GPU card isn't going to be able to compete with dual- and quad-GPU solutions, but it remains among the fastest single-GPU cards available. Unless you're running multiple monitors, the GTX 580 remains very capable, and once the 7950 becomes available for HP things should get shaken up a bit more.
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gdinero79 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
The last-generation SSD seems like an odd choice for a system like this.spencerp - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
That sucks. I really like my Blackbird and was hoping to continue its lineage.cjs150 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
3G SSD?What were they thinking of
No overclocking
Limited GPU options
No crossfire/SLI (not that I am a fan of either)
What market is this aimed at?
And how noisy is it
dave1_nyc - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
There are cases that I don't personally find attractive, but I understand why others do, and I'm sure the same. And if one likes this case, then one likes this case, and that's one's right.But I've been looking at the photos for the last 10 minutes, trying to figure out how one could like this case, assuming of course that you would remove all the stickers. And I don't get it.
This is too trivial to bother with, but I'd like to suggest a "who likes, who hates" survey - something that would help me suspend disbelief.
TrackSmart - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
Very tactfully worded. Personally, I don't think many people would find this case more appealing than your average, cheap-looking $20 computer case. There are uglier cases, but this certainly isn't a looker.GuyIncognito_ - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
> This is too trivial to bother with, but I'd like to suggest a "who likes, who hates" survey -> something that would help me suspend disbelief.
I vote <hate>.
Blibbax - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
If anyone is thinking of buying one of these, please get in touch with me. I can match the performance and beat the looks with an OCd 2600K and a 7950 in a Casecom matx case, for a substantially lower price...bhima - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link
For those that don't build their own machines there are other options than this proprietary HP. Just did a quick google, found Ironside Computers and built up a HAF 922 with an i7-2600k, SSD, regular HDD, 8GB ram, AMD 7970, Corsair Enthusiast 650w for about $1,900.Of course I would personally never purchase bleeding tech like the 7970 because the cost isn't worth its performance, but hell... for $600 cheaper than that HP you have a system with parts that aren't proprietary and the best single GPU on the market.
softdrinkviking - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - link
cases are too plastic and boring. not really bad looking exactly, but not so interesting either.i'd rather have an old grey 386 case with it's clean minimalist look.
also, HP uses a bunch of proprietary SD card readers and they put an a$$ load of metal brackets and header patch cables inside, the end result being that the inside is extremely cluttered and it's difficult to work on.
they are not upgrade friendly. :(