ASUS ROG TYTAN CG8890 - A TYTANic System

A TYTANic System

 

The ASUS ROG TYTAN CG8890 looks much like the first ROG TYTAN CG8565

As the graphics in PC games become more complicated by the day, supporting powerful features such as NVIDIA’s Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TXAA) technology, older gaming rigs are having a hard time supporting these games. That won’t be a problem for the just-released ASUS TYTAN CG8890 though, as it is armed to the teeth with the latest and greatest technology available in the market today. With components such as an Intel Core i7-3960X processor inside, the CG8890 is arguably one of the most powerful pre-built rigs you can buy currently.

Part of ASUS’ Republic of Gamers (ROG) range, the CG8890 looks pretty much the same as the first TYTAN CG8565 that was launched here in Malaysia back in March 2012. Its chassis design is inspired by that of a stealth submarine, so it doesn’t really look too out of place. The chassis however, does have some pretty nifty features, such as having six intake fans and one exhaust fan that mechanically open when the overclock button is pushed. There are also a host of other components inside the CG8890, which will be covered in the next page

Taking a Look at the TYTAN’s Innards

Mentioned in the previous page, the CG8890 is powered by a 2nd Generation Intel Core i7-3960X processor. This particular processor may not be the latest Intel Extreme Edition processor, but it sure provides some of the best performance money can buy. It has six cores, and 12 threads, allowing for extremely responsive multitasking action. Its base clock speed is 3.3GHz, while its maximum turbo frequency is 3.9GHz. Without a doubt, this is an impressive processor.

Although the Intel Core i7-3960X has a maximum turbo frequency of 3.9GHz, this system can be easily overclocked by pushing the button located at the top of the CG8890. Pushing this button will activate the six additional intake fans and the two exhaust fans. This is done in a rather cool (pun intended) fashion, as the intake fans mechanically unfold from the side of the chassis, while the two exhaust fans unfold from the top rear. There are two overclocking levels: 4.0GHz and 4.2GHz. According to ASUS, these numbers are achieved not by simply overclocking a single core, but all six cores.

 

 When the overclock button is pressed, the sides and rear of the TYTAN CG8890 open to reveal six intake fans and two exhaust fans

Handling the graphics processing capabilities of this monster is none other than an ASUS graphics card that’s based on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 with 4GB worth of RAM onboard. Needless to say, this is currently the king of graphics cards, equipped with two NVIDIA GK104 GPUs (the same used in an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680). It has a base clock of 915MHz and has a boost clock speed of up to 1019MHz.

Storage is handled by a 2TB HDD that spins at 7200RPM as well as a 128GB SSD, which is where the OS is installed (Microsoft Windows 8). This combination allows for a zippy boot up and plenty of storage space. When it comes to memory, the CG8890 arrives with 16GB worth of RAM that run at 2133MHz and dual-channel configuration. With this much RAM, this system handles video rendering with ease.

To sweeten the deal, ASUS bundled the ASUS Xonar Phoebus Soundcard. This sound card is capable of reproducing audio with 118dB of sound-to-noise ratio, thanks to a powerful Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC). For those who prefer using headphones, there’s a dedicated headphone amp circuit on this card that is capable of delivering up to 600hms of audio.

 Take a look inside the TYTAN CG8890 and you'll see the monstrous NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, the ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus souncard, the ASUS Rampage IV Formula motherboard, and the liquid cooling solution

Built to Perform

As we haven’t had the chance to review something as powerful as the ASUS TYTAN CG8890, there aren’t any benchmarks that we can use for comparisons. Nonetheless, here are the rather impressive benchmark results from the ASUS TYTAN CG8890.

PCMark 7

We first ran PCMark 7, which tests the system in its entirety. Overall, the CG8890 managed to attain a score of 5,098; a lightweight score of 4,515; a productivity score of 4,353; a creativity score of 7,556; an entertainment score of 5,545; a computation score of 11,864; and a system storage score of 3,812. These scores indicate that the CG8890 is indeed a powerful system that can handle just about anything you throw at it. As you can see, the system scored the highest in the Computation suite, proving that this system is much more powerful than your average gaming PC.

3DMark 11 

 

3DMark 11 tests the extent of the graphics capabilities of a system, of which a typical gaming rig would usually score an average of P8,000 to P11,000. The ASUS TYTAN CG8890, however, manages a whopping P14,326, which is a truly impressive score. You won’t have to worry, as any DirectX 11 games will run smoothly on this system, even on maximum graphics settings. To prove that, we ran both Batman: Arkham City and DiRT 3.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City is one of the most taxing games one can run on a PC. Set at maximum graphics settings, and normal PhysX configuration, the game ran at an average of 46 frames per second, which is highly playable. 

We ran this game at 1920 x 1080 and set it to run at Ultra graphics settings. The game ran at an amazing average of 172 frames per second, truly showcasing the power of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690. 

 

In a nutshell, the ASUS TYTAN CG8890 is a system that many would find drool-worthy. However, it retails for a whopping RM15,999, which is a price that’s out of reach for a large percentage of the Malaysian population. If you do have the means to purchase this monster, however, rest assured that you won’t ever have to upgrade this system for the next decade or so.

ASUS has really thought about making the TYTAN CG8890 as stable and powerful as possible, so nothing but the best components are used. Its cooling system for example, employ both liquid and air cooling, so there’s little chance of the system ever overheating.

In terms of additional stuff that add overall worth to the system, the TYTAN CG8890 comes with the ASUS ROG Xonar Phoebus soundcard as well as an ASUS ROG mechanical keyboard and an ASUS ROG mouse, so all you need to experience total immersion in games, is a good 3D-capable monitor.