led light: Vigor Force Recon LE
Vigor Gaming, which opened shop in 2005, is new both to us and to the market; the company recently sent us its Force Recon LE ($3,499 direct, $2,499 without monitor) gaming system. This high-octane hot rod is an interesting (and less expensive) alternative to the monster high-end gaming PCs from other boutique system builders, such as Voodoo and Falcon NW. The unit has the flash—automotive-style paint job, LED lighting, and LCD info panel—and it has a benefit that the other system builders don't: a less than stratospheric price. To be sure, $2,500 without monitor is a lot of money for a computer, but that sum buys you access to performance levels that until recently cost more than $5,000. Like most high-end specialized gaming systems, the Force Recon is for the well-heeled gamer who doesn't want to build his own PC.
As with many glossy auto-style-painted PCs, the Force Recon's red case coating is easily scratched, so treat it carefully. The system's enclosure, however, is about as tall as the Falcon Mach V's case, which gives you a hint about the amount of room found in the chassis. The inside of the case is voluminous, with space for six additional hard drives and the two preinstalled 512MB GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards. The case door is windowed, with a full view of the inside. Though not quite as pretty as some of the competition, the Vigor's wiring is neatly coiled and tie-wrapped out of the way to help with airflow. That's a good thing, since inside, I found three large case fans, the usual fans that cool the power supply and graphics cards, and even more fans in the faceplates to cool the hard drives. Needless to say, the Force Recon is a little loud. The CPU fan is also large and lit; it is needed because the system's AMD Athlon 64 4000+ is, for added performance, overclocked from the stock 2.4 GHz to 2.8 GHz.
There is a neat "racetrack" LED light fixture on the bottom of the case that calls to mind the flashing neon on the bottom of a tricked-out street racer. Other notable features include an LCD panel that shows the temperature of the CPU and amount of time in operation. There's a depiction of a stick figure digging a trench to indicate that the system is "doing work." It's kind of gimmicky, but the panel sets the Force Recon apart from other gaming PCs. All in all, I think the Force Recon is a little showy, but hardcore gamers may eat up the attention that the system draws (let's hope those gamers also have the skills to live up to the system's hype).
The Force Recon is built around an incredibly potent dual SLI nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX graphics card system, which accounts for $1,000 of the system price. These graphics cards virtually guarantee rates of better than 100 frames per second on the games I test such as Doom 3 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, even at up to 1,600-by-1,200 resolution. The components are also capable of driving huge 30-inch dual-DVI widescreen LCD monitors. Even at 1,600-by-1,200 (the maximum for 20-inch LCDs and most CRTs), game play is smooth and stutter-free, even when I turn up the eye candy.
Compared with FX-60 SLI systems such as the Velocity Micro Raptor 64 DualX and the Falcon Northwest Mach V, the Force Recon gives a better bang for the buck. It achieves some of that savings by using a single-core Athlon 64 4000+ processor instead of the top-of-the-line dual-core FX-60, but for gaming performance today, either processor is overkill. In the future games will be multithreaded, taking advantage of the dual-core processors, but so far, these games are still in development. The Force Recon isn't the class leader on the benchmark tests, but it is within spitting distance of the top. The Raptor64 and Mach V are better choices if you also plan to use the system as a project PC for demanding video editing or graphics work, but all the machines are in the same league for gaming.
You could call the Vigor Force Recon a bargain among the high-end gaming PCs. It skirts the price categories between high-end multimedia and "take no prisoners" gaming systems, but it is definitely a high-performance gaming desktop. With 100+ fps scores on all our game tests, the Force Recon practically drops victory in your hands—that is, as long as you bring the skill to match the speed.
To see how the Vigor Force Recon LE matches up to other gaming systems, look at our desktop comparison chart.
Benchmark Test Results
Check out the Vigor Force Recon LE's test results.
More Desktop Reviews:
Copyright © 2006 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Vigor Gaming, which opened shop in 2005, is new both to us and to the market; the company recently sent us its Force Recon LE ($3,499 direct, $2,499 without monitor) gaming system. This high-octane hot rod is an interesting (and less expensive) alternative to the monster high-end gaming PCs from other boutique system builders, such as Voodoo and Falcon NW. The unit has the flash—automotive-style paint job, LED lighting, and LCD info panel—and it has a benefit that the other system builders don't: a less than stratospheric price. To be sure, $2,500 without monitor is a lot of money for a computer, but that sum buys you access to performance levels that until recently cost more than $5,000. Like most high-end specialized gaming systems, the Force Recon is for the well-heeled gamer who doesn't want to build his own PC.
As with many glossy auto-style-painted PCs, the Force Recon's red case coating is easily scratched, so treat it carefully. The system's enclosure, however, is about as tall as the Falcon Mach V's case, which gives you a hint about the amount of room found in the chassis. The inside of the case is voluminous, with space for six additional hard drives and the two preinstalled 512MB GeForce 7800 GTX graphics cards. The case door is windowed, with a full view of the inside. Though not quite as pretty as some of the competition, the Vigor's wiring is neatly coiled and tie-wrapped out of the way to help with airflow. That's a good thing, since inside, I found three large case fans, the usual fans that cool the power supply and graphics cards, and even more fans in the faceplates to cool the hard drives. Needless to say, the Force Recon is a little loud. The CPU fan is also large and lit; it is needed because the system's AMD Athlon 64 4000+ is, for added performance, overclocked from the stock 2.4 GHz to 2.8 GHz.
There is a neat "racetrack" LED light fixture on the bottom of the case that calls to mind the flashing neon on the bottom of a tricked-out street racer. Other notable features include an LCD panel that shows the temperature of the CPU and amount of time in operation. There's a depiction of a stick figure digging a trench to indicate that the system is "doing work." It's kind of gimmicky, but the panel sets the Force Recon apart from other gaming PCs. All in all, I think the Force Recon is a little showy, but hardcore gamers may eat up the attention that the system draws (let's hope those gamers also have the skills to live up to the system's hype).
The Force Recon is built around an incredibly potent dual SLI nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX graphics card system, which accounts for $1,000 of the system price. These graphics cards virtually guarantee rates of better than 100 frames per second on the games I test such as Doom 3 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, even at up to 1,600-by-1,200 resolution. The components are also capable of driving huge 30-inch dual-DVI widescreen LCD monitors. Even at 1,600-by-1,200 (the maximum for 20-inch LCDs and most CRTs), game play is smooth and stutter-free, even when I turn up the eye candy.
Compared with FX-60 SLI systems such as the Velocity Micro Raptor 64 DualX and the Falcon Northwest Mach V, the Force Recon gives a better bang for the buck. It achieves some of that savings by using a single-core Athlon 64 4000+ processor instead of the top-of-the-line dual-core FX-60, but for gaming performance today, either processor is overkill. In the future games will be multithreaded, taking advantage of the dual-core processors, but so far, these games are still in development. The Force Recon isn't the class leader on the benchmark tests, but it is within spitting distance of the top. The Raptor64 and Mach V are better choices if you also plan to use the system as a project PC for demanding video editing or graphics work, but all the machines are in the same league for gaming.
You could call the Vigor Force Recon a bargain among the high-end gaming PCs. It skirts the price categories between high-end multimedia and "take no prisoners" gaming systems, but it is definitely a high-performance gaming desktop. With 100+ fps scores on all our game tests, the Force Recon practically drops victory in your hands—that is, as long as you bring the skill to match the speed.
To see how the Vigor Force Recon LE matches up to other gaming systems, look at our desktop comparison chart.
Benchmark Test Results
Check out the Vigor Force Recon LE's test results.
More Desktop Reviews:
Copyright © 2006 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
