For the last six months or more, the news feeds of specialized resources have been flooded with reports about the preparation for the release of the Socket AM4 platform and AMD Ryzen processors. Each new piece of information strengthened the belief that AMD could return to the top segment of the CPU market, where Intel has held a strong position in recent years. And finally, it happened! As our first practical acquaintance showed, the flagship eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 can fully compete with representatives of Intel Broadwell-E and Intel Kaby Lake. But further on, we are expecting the appearance of mass six- and four-core models AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3, including APU. What does this promise us? Firstly, some foreign stores have already started reducing prices on Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors. Secondly, it became known that Intel is preparing even more powerful chips for the Socket LGA2066 platform, where the Intel Core i5-7640K will debut – the first 4-core representative of the Intel Core i5 series with support for Intel Hyper-Threading technology. As a result, the end user, that is, you and me, gets not only a wide choice but also competitive, and therefore more affordable prices. But all this awaits us in the near future, and right now we have the gaming system BRAIN TOP GAMER C70 (RYZEN 480) in our hands.

At its core is the combination of AMD Ryzen 7 1700X and AMD Radeon RX 480. Let's try to practically assess the capabilities and prospects of such a build. But first, let's take a look at the detailed specifications of the computer.

Specification

Supply and Package Contents

BRAIN TOP GAMER C70 is supplied in a box from the case used in the assembly. Additionally, there is a sticker on the packaging that allows you to assess the computer's configuration. For convenience in transportation, handles are provided on the sides.

Inside, we found only the system unit itself. In the retail version, you can at least find a power cable, driver and software discs, and user documentation.

Appearance, Element Placement

The BRAIN TOP GAMER C70 computer is assembled in a VINGA Sain-1 Middle Tower case. It has quite comparable dimensions (450 x 473 x 205 mm, according to measurements in our test lab) and weight with similar solutions from more renowned brands. The design is quite simple and laconic – straight lines and black coloring. Most of the surface is fairly rigid metal covered with matte paint. The construction is hard to call "fragile."

On one of the sides, there is a transparent window. It allows you to admire the work of the components, which have an interesting appearance and illumination with customizable settings.

The front panel is made of matte plastic, but fingerprints are still slightly visible on it. The logos of VINGA and BRAIN are displayed here. Ventilation openings in the form of a metal mesh are provided around the perimeter. An optical drive is installed at the top. Slightly above, there are three USB ports (one USB 3.0 and a pair of USB 2.0), as well as two audio jacks. Next to them are the reset and power buttons.

The latter is combined with activity indicators for the drive and power (blue and red LEDs).

The rear panel boasts a classic layout for modern cases with a bottom-mounted power supply. It features a huge number of the latest input-output ports: PS/2 Combo, HDMI (works if an APU is installed in the system), USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, three USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, six USB 3.1 Gen 1, two RJ45, Optical S/PDIF out, and five audio ports. Even the most demanding users should be satisfied. Nearby is a ventilation grille through which heated air is expelled from the system unit. You can also notice a sticker that informs us of the manufacturer's name, model, serial number, and assembly date. Six out of seven expansion slots are perforated and securely fixed with screws. Two of them are occupied by a video card.

At the bottom of the BRAIN TOP GAMER C70, there is perforation through which the power supply "breathes" through a removable mesh. A sufficient amount of air will come in here thanks to the presence of high legs equipped with rubber pads that are gentle on the surface.

The top part of the case has a removable mesh under which there are mounting places for two fans or a dual-section liquid cooling system (LCS).

Internal Layout and Hardware Platform

To access the hardware platform of the BRAIN TOP GAMER C70, simply unscrew four screws with shaped heads and slide the side panels to the rear of the case. However, you need to understand that by doing so, you will damage the seals and void the warranty.

Inside, there is plenty of free space, which should positively affect the temperature regime of the components. This also allows for easy installation of large video accelerators.

To improve the system's microclimate, the manufacturer installed three DEEPCOOL WIND BLADE 120 fans with blue lighting (two for intake and one for exhaust), and if desired, you can add two more to the "ceiling" of the case.

The wires are laid quite neatly. Most of them are hidden behind the motherboard tray and bundled with ties. Here you can also see the drives: the SSD is mounted behind the motherboard tray, and the HDD is located in the lower tunnel on sliding rails, where there is one more mounting place left.

The BRAIN TOP GAMER C70 is built on the latest 14nm eight-core processor AMD Ryzen 7 1700X with AMD Zen microarchitecture. The CPU is characterized by support for SMT (Simultaneous Multi-Threading) technology, which allows processing up to sixteen data threads simultaneously. The second-level cache is 512 KB per core, the L3 cache consists of two parts of 8 MB each, and the TDP is stated at 95 W. The clock frequency can vary in the following ranges: 3400 / 3800 / 3900 MHz (base / dynamic / XFR).

The cooling system is represented by the GIGABYTE G-Power II Pro cooler. Its aluminum radiator is penetrated by five nickel-plated heat pipes (4 x 8 mm and 1 x 6 mm). The active part is handled by a 120 mm fan with sliding bearings (EBR). A feature of the cooler is the presence of a shiny plastic shroud and blue LED lighting.

The motherboard is the GIGABYTE GA-AX370-GAMING 5, which is currently one of the flagship models in the Taiwanese manufacturer's lineup for the Socket AM4 platform. It is built on the AMD X370 chipset and is made in the ATX format. In terms of equipment level, the novelty is in no way inferior to similar solutions on Intel Z170/270: four DIMM slots for installing dual-channel DDR4 memory, six expansion slots (2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 (x16 / x8 + x8), 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 (x4), 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x1), eight SATA 6 Gbps ports, and much more.

It is also worth noting the support for NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX technologies, which allow organizing a graphics subsystem with two or three video cards. By the way, the slot arrangement will allow you to easily connect two video cards with a three-slot cooling system. At the same time, you will still have access to one PCI Express 3.0 x1 slot.

We cannot fail to mention the digital 10-phase power subsystem and high-quality element base. Special attention should be paid to the presence of two gigabit LAN controllers: Intel i211 and Killer E2500 with traffic prioritization support. The audio subsystem on two flagship 8-channel HDA codecs Realtek ALC1220 for separate output of high-quality sound to the front and rear panels is also worthy of praise. And of course, today, we can't do without RGB illumination with customization options, which is a trend of recent years.

The memory controller supports modules of standards from DDR4-1866 to DDR4-2667 MHz. If desired and with top components, you can try to run the modules at higher frequencies, but success is not guaranteed. As for our specific case, the system is equipped with one DDR4-2400 HyperX Fury Black (KHX2400C15/16G) module with a capacity of 16 GB with a stylish design and an efficient low-profile heatsink. This amount is more than enough for modern games and comfortable work with heavy software. Three slots remain free for future upgrades.