Digital Trends

Uberclok Reactor February 21st, 2008 | by Josh Norem

Use and Testing


The first thing we noticed once we hoisted the Reactor from its box is that it includes a swank binder for all the included documentation and materials. We’ve seen a lot of these binders over the years and the Uberclok binder is possibly the best we’ve ever seen. It is very well laid-out, with fantastic information throughout including tech support info, how the system is configured and more. The manuals for all the parts are included and it’s all presented beautifully. The only thing missing from the binder is a system recovery DVD that is used to roll back the system to how it was fresh off the factory floor. Almost every PC we review includes some type of recovery process, so we’re not sure why Uberclok skipped this feature.

Each system includes a very well put-together binder with tech info, system details and manuals for all the parts.

The binder includes a welcome letter, introduction to the system and folders for all the component manuals in the back.

Looking at the system itself, it is very well put together. Though it’s basically a stock Antec chassis Uberclok has affixed a tasteful sticker atop it that says Uberclok. We prefer this subtle approach to a more garish look. We removed the door and took a peek at the internal wiring, and were pleasantly surprised. The wiring job is well-done, with some wires routed behind the motherboard and the rest pulled out of the way. For example, the power cables for the videocard and zip-tied to the side of the chassis to keep them out of the way. All the extra power cables (it’s not a modular power supply) are stashed away at the bottom of the chassis for future upgrades.

Uberclok did a great job on the Reactor’s wiring. Functional cables are strapped to the chassis and unused ones are tucked out of the way.

We fired it up and noticed it was a dual-boot configuration. We booted into both Windows XP and Vista and had no issues with the configuration. Once we got to the Windows desktop we were pleased with how sparse it was. There’s no bloatware at all, and all the pre-installed applications are ones we like such as FireFox and iTunes. Uberclok even turned off UAC in Vista, which is awesome.

General performance in Windows was blistering, and we attribute most of the speed to the overclocked processor as well as the hellaciously fast Hitachi hard drive. Benchmarks have shown the 7K1000 terabyte drive to be in the same league as the legendary WD Raptor, and after using the Reactor for a while we can see why. Programs open instantly, and Windows Vista ran so smooth we could have mistaken it for XP had it not been for the transparent Windows.

As expected, gaming performance was also exceptional. We ran Crysis with everything set to Very High and had no framerate issues at all at 1280x1024. We also ran 3DMark06 and received an astounding score of 13,659 which is even better than the score we saw on the world-beating HP Blackbird 002.