Extreme Power in Your Hands: PCSpecialist Zircon Expert Review
Zircon Extreme Review: A Cut Above the Rest?
Introduction
The Zircon Extreme is a high-end workstation offered by PCSpecialist, boasting cutting-edge components to cater to heavy-duty workloads. While similar to its predecessor, the non-Pro version of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper, the Zircon Extreme takes a different approach, opting for the 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7975X instead. But is this configuration truly an upgrade, or is it just a pretentious boast of performance? In this review, we’ll dig deeper to find out.
The Build
The Zircon Extreme’s build follows a traditional approach, with a large, gold-hued Fractal Define 7 XL case. This behemoth accommodates eight 2.5/3.5in drive brackets, two 2.5in brackets, and a total of 23 drive positions. Inside, a 4TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe M.2 unit serves as the primary drive, while a 10TB Seagate IronWolf Pro 7,200rpm hard disk takes care of general data storage. The power supply is a 1,000W Corsair RMx series, ensuring that even the most power-hungry components can be accommodated.
Performance
Performance-wise, the Zircon Extreme shines, thanks to its 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7975X processor. In CPU tests, it performs similarly to its non-Pro counterpart, scoring 866 in the PC Pro media benchmark, with identical video-encoding and multitasking results. However, the image-editing score lags behind, while Cinebench 2024 multi-CPU rendering scores a tad higher. It’s clear that this system would have benefited from taking advantage of the Threadripper Pro’s eight-channel memory support.
Graphics Performance
The Radeon Pro W7900, on the other hand, is a beast when it comes to graphics acceleration. With SPECviewperf 2020 scores of 291 in 3dsmax-07 and 1,057 in maya-06, it’s the fastest system for 3D animation viewsets this month. CAD and engineering workloads also receive a boost, with scores of 210 in catia-06, 278 in creo-03, 772 in snx-04, and 598 in solidworks-07. The GPU also delivers second-best inferencing performance with Geekbench ML at 28,093 and a third-best score in LuxMark 3.1 OpenCL.
Conclusion
The Zircon Extreme is undoubtedly a capable system, with strong performances across the board. However, the missed opportunity to utilize the Threadripper Pro’s eight-channel memory support is a notable drawback. If you’re in the market for a high-end workstation, the Zircon Extreme is worth considering, but weigh the pros and cons before making a decision.
Recommended Reading
Specifications:
- Case: Fractal Define 7 XL
- Processor: 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7975X
- RAM: 256GB DDR5
- Graphics: Radeon Pro W7900
- Storage: 4TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe M.2 + 10TB Seagate IronWolf Pro 7,200rpm hard disk
- Power Supply: 1,000W Corsair RMx series
