AWD-IT Valyrian GTX 1060 Gaming PC Review

Introduction

AWD-IT is one of the UK’s leading hardware retailers with a rich pedigree in the computing field spanning over 10 years. This means they’re able to source a huge catalogue of components and offer competitive prices. Not only that, the company’s system engineers deploy their expertise to construct interesting, innovative designs which capture the public’s imagination. After speaking to AWD-IT, you cannot help but admire their passion and concern when building a brand new system. Some time ago, we reviewed the AWD-IT Alpha Doom gaming PC and commended its build quality, cable management and warranty service.

Their latest creation entitled the AWD-IT Valyrian utilises NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture in the form of the GTX 1060. Furthermore, the system includes an Intel Core i5-6600K overclocked to 4.5GHz, 16GB of dual channel 3000MHz memory and a Samsung 250GB 850 EVO boot drive. To power this incredible configuration, AWD-IT has deployed the XFX XT 500-watt 80+ Bronze power supply. Interestingly, the stock cables have been attached to braided extensions to enhance the system’s visual exuberance. However, this complicates the cable management process and I’m expecting there to be major challenges in this department. In a rather usual fashion for today’s market, the AWD-IT Valyrian comes with an optical drive to play DVD movies and backup data. There’s also a secondary mechanical drive which is large enough to house various games and the entire build is contained in the stylish Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic chassis. Priced at £949.99, I’m expecting the system to fare well in gaming benchmarks and remain highly efficient under load.

Specifications

• Name: AWD-IT Valyrian
• Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic Gunmetal
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Z170 Gaming K3
• Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K Overclocked to 4.5GHz
• Processor Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H45 Liquid Cooler
• System Memory: 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz
• Main Boot Drive: Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD
• Additional Storage Drive(s): Seagate 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA
• Graphics card: Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 1060 6GB
• Power Supply: XFX XT 500W 80+ Bronze Non-Modular
• Peripherals: N/A
• Monitor: N/A
• Optical Drive: Lite-On x24 DVD-Writer
• Wireless: N/A
• OS: Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
• Warranty: 3 Years (24 Months Collect and Return, 12 Months Labour)
• Price: £974.98

Packing and Accessories

AWD-IT haven’t scrimped when it comes to packaging and protected the item in a humungous box. The box is constructed from durable cardboard and contains precautionary labels to ensure the system arrives safely. Hopefully, the courier should be made aware of these notices and handle the package in a delicate manner. Ideally, I’d like to see some handles on either side to make the packaging easier to carry which results in a reduced probability of it being dropped.

Once opened, the main chassis box is covered by a huge array of padding materials such as air bags and cardboard cartons. Also, all the accessories are neatly contained in a sealed motherboard box which prevents any spare parts from falling out. Overall, I’m impressed with the attention-to-detail and highly doubt the system will arrive with cosmetic or mechanical damage.

Here we can see the Enthoo Pro M box which features a minimalist snapshot of the product. There’s nothing really interesting to discuss regarding the case’s packaging but it’s functional and offers great protection.

After opening the top section, the end-user is welcomed with a setup guide and contact details just in case any problems arise. This instructional guide is very helpful for novices and walks you through the initial setup in a clear and concise way.

As expected, the chassis’ foam inserts are made to a very high standard and it takes a lot of pressure for the material to fall apart. Furthermore, AWD-IT has employed a foam pack which protects the internal components brilliantly and holds everything in its correct position. This is undoubtedly the most important element when packaging an expensive, heavy system since the components tend to jostle around when shipping. Thankfully, having the foam pack push against this pressure provides greater peace-of-mind and a much higher level of protection.

In terms of accessories, the system is bundled with a World of Warship’s promotion, component documentation, driver/software disks, a wall hanger, spare screws and some sort of fan mounting frame. This isn’t an inclusion I encounter very often and initially caused a great deal of bewilderment.

There’s also mounting screws for the Corsair H45 liquid cooler, a case badge, AC adapter, long-threaded fan screws, mounting block and CPU cover. Please remember to retain the CPU cover as most motherboard vendors require it for warranty purposes.

CPU-Z

GPU-Z