Wired2Fire Diablo Skylake review

The imposing, angular frame of the Wired2Fire Diablo Skylake  gaming PC immediately sets it apart from the competition. With a distinctive ridged top panel illuminated in blue and scarcely a straight edge to be seen, the sweeping curves and bulging protrusions of the hefty Zalman Z11 Neo case convey power and style – perfect for a modern gaming PC.

The Diablo Skylake is also based on the Intel Core-i5 6600K processor, overclocked from 3.5GHz to 4.4GHz and fitted with 16GB of 2400MHz DDR4 RAM. Graphics performance comes from an Overclocked MSI GeForce GTX 970 graphics card identical to those used by both Chillblast and Vibox in their Skylake systems, featuring boosted performance and an enhanced cooling system driven by a pair of twin fans.

The processor is air-cooled by a Prolimatech Basic 68 heatsink and 128mm fan combo, while the case itself features additional cooling fans at the front, back and top of the case. The first and last of which light up with a cool blue glow.

Storage comes from a 250GB crucial BX100 SSD and a 1TB hard drive. Both pretty standard fare for a PC at this price point. However, what’s not so standard is the performance. The Diablo Skylake may not be clocked as fast as the Vibox Spawn X, but this system manages to edge ahead of the competition in many tests, including the Vibox PC.

Chillblast’s Fusion Krypton offers faster storage, but there’s less available than on the Diablo Skylake, which proves itself to be an excellent all-round performer with a great balance of features.

The system uses an Asus Z170-P motherboard, the same as that found in Eclipse’s SuperNova i566n970OCm but Wired2Fire’s system is noticeably faster – and 95 pence cheaper. The motherboard doesn’t provide quite was many features as dedicated gaming boards like the MSI Z170A Gaming Pro or Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3, but key features such as USB 3.1 Type C and M.2 support are both present and correct.

You also miss out on SLI certification, which is not ideal if you were thinking of adding a second graphics card later and an upgrade. Speaking of upgrades, the power supply included in this system is a little on the weak side, at only 500W. Power draw remained comfortably under 295W during our stress tests, but if you think you might go crazy with internal upgrades in the future, this could be something to watch out for.

Our review PC was shipped with an Asus VS247HR 1080p display – a £100 optional extra – which is a good match for the PC, but the graphics card could drive a higher-resolution model if you prefer. We wouldn’t suggest trying 4K with this level of graphics card, but a 2560×440 monitor would be perfect, depending on your budget.