Samsung Series 7 Chronos for Windows 8 Boasts Blazing RAM Accelerator

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Origin Chronos: Awesome Things in a Small Space

The Origin Chronos packs a ton of power in a (relatively) small package. This performance PC is built inside a low-profile Silverstone case, and offers blazing-fast performance on our new WorldBench 7 benchmark suite.

Our review model, priced at $1399, sports an overclocked Intel Core i5-2550K processor (at 4.7GHz, over the stock 3.4GHz), 8GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU, and it runs Windows 7 Home Premium. It also has 750GB of hard-drive space, and a 90GB SSD boot drive for quick boot times.

On the PCWorld Test Center's new WorldBench 7 benchmark tests, the Chronos scored an impressive 204. Our baseline testing model (which has a score of 100) is similarly specced, with an Intel i5-2500K processor (at the stock 3.4GHz clock speed), 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti. The key differences that lead to the Chronos's considerable performance bump lie in its heady overclocking and its solid-state drive. (You can read up on our revamped testing process in Jason Cross's "How We Test PCs.")

The Chronos also does well in our graphics tests, managing frame rates of 38.4 on our Crysis 2 benchmark at a resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels. At a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, it earns 70.3 frames per second. These tests are at high settings, so dialing down the resolution a tad (if you're not equipped with 30-inch displays) will give you lots of legroom. In Dirt 3, the Chronos achieved 87.4 frames per second at that 2560-by-1600-pixel resolution. If you're a fan of Codemasters' rally-racer, this isn't a bad place to start looking for your new compact racing rig.

The Chronos is housed in a low-profile Silverstone SG08 case. The chassis features a thick (0.39 inches) black aluminum front panel, and thinner metal sides with lots of vents to help keep components cool. The front panel is elegant and simple, with brushed aluminum styling, Origin's logo in the bottom-right corner, and a large brushed power button in the bottom-left corner. The front panel also has a tray-loading DVD-RW drive, two USB 3.0 ports, and headphone and microphone jacks.

The rest of the Chronos's ports are on the back of the machine. The Zotac Z68ITX-A-E motherboard sports four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, dual gigabit ethernet, two HDMI-out ports, one mini-DisplayPort, one PS/2 port, support for 7.1 surround sound, and optical audio out. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti has two DVI ports and a mini-HDMI out.

Opening up the Chronos is easy enough, but good luck if you're thinking about upgrading or otherwise modifying the interior. The top is held in place with three screws, and slides off easily once those screws are removed. But the Chronos is packed: the CPU is kept cool by Origin's own Frostbyte 120 liquid cooler, coupled with a large fan, and doesn't leave much room to manuever. Don't get me wrong, everything is neat (wires are encased in black mesh), but this very small case just doesn't have a lot of room.

It's a little disappointing that such a speedy machine doesn't include a Blu-ray disc drive, but spend a little more and get one. The hard drive is also a tad on the small size at 750GB, and the system has no card reader (where would you put it?).

But really, there's little to knock about this machine--it's small, lightning-fast, and under $1500. If you don't feel the need to crack open your PC's case and muck around inside, the Origin Chronos does everything a gaming rig should do--deliver astonishing performance at an affordable price.

So--go buy it.

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Samsung Series 7 Chronos Review: Pretty Without Breaking the Bank

If you're looking to satisfy your craving for brushed-metal exteriors, look no further than the mesmerizing 14-inch Samsung Series 7 Chronos. The machine's subtle minimalism and smooth curves may suggest a MacBook Pro wannabe, but it bears the comparison quite well.

The Series 7 Chronos is a very pretty machine. The cover, bezel, and wrist rest are adorned in gunmetal-gray brushed aluminum, and the keyboard deck and trackpad are free of unnecessary lines or buttons. Even the power button is stylish, with just the chrome-covered symbol raised up.

The system does have a couple of minor design flaws. First, the curved bottom of the computer is made of plastic, so there's a thin line around the edge of the keyboard deck where the plastic meets the aluminum. And second, the backlit keyboard features two-tone keys with black tops and white edges, which allow for a lot of light to seep through. Another consideration: For a slim 14-inch machine, it's surprisingly heavy (5.3 pounds with accessories), but on a positive note the entire machine feels rock-solid.

Our review model, priced at $1100, sports an Intel Core i5-2430M processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 750GB hard drive. It also comes with Bluetooth, a built-in webcam and microphone, and Wi-Fi, as well as switchable graphics (with a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics card). Our test model ran the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.

The Chronos's performance was somewhat disappointing. In our WorldBench 6 benchmark test suite, the Chronos finished with a mark of 118, which is a few points lower than the average score posted by other all-purpose laptops we've tested recently--and several points lower than the 125 turned in by the much thinner Asus Zenbook UX31E. Chalk that up to the Chronos's lack of a solid-state drive. The laptop's battery life was a little better than average for its class, clocking in at around 6 hours.

Samsung arranged the Chronos's ports in an array typical of a slim machine such as the MacBook Air or an Ultrabook, but of course the Chronos isn't that slim. You get two USB ports (one 2.0 and one 3.0), an HDMI out, a mini DisplayPort, an ethernet port, a combination microphone/headphone jack, and a lock slot. Because the laptop curves underneath, the ethernet port is hinged to accommodate a full-size connector. Samsung also provides a four-in-one memory card reader, a slot-loading DVD-RW drive, and an included VGA adapter that plugs into the mini DisplayPort slot. For additional networking, the Chronos offers built-in Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n.

The Chronos comes with a 14-inch matte LCD screen, with a native resolution of 1600 by 900. Matte screens do a nice job of reducing glare, but they often cause images to look less crisp and to have softer edges. Nevertheless, images on the Chronos's screen looked sharp enough, and color representation was good, though a little oversaturated at times. The screen was sufficiently bright for comfortable use in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, Samsung turns the auto-brightness setting on by default, which I found annoying because the sensor is extremely sensitive. Unless you're working in extremely consistent lighting the screen will flicker often as it alters its brightness level.

Video looked and sounded merely okay on the Chronos. In my multimedia tests, the laptop streamed HD video seamlessly but with occasional artifacts (blockiness) in the clips, especially during dark scenes. In PCWorld's Far Cry 2 graphics tests, the Chronos managed an acceptable frame rate of 37.8 frames per second (at low quality and 1024-by-768-pixel resolution), and a less-than-ideal frame rate of 22.1 fps (at high quality and 1024-by-768-pixel resolution).

The Chronos's speakers are adequate for basic multimedia consumption, but I wouldn't recommend them for audiophiles or DJs (even dorm-room DJs). The audio was acceptable, but the speakers had little bass, a tinge of tinniness, and a slightly muffled quality. The speakers' maximum volume is fairly low.

Overall, the Samsung Series 7 Chronos is a very attractive machine. Unfortunately, looks can take you only so far, in laptops and in life. The Chronos is larger, heavier, and a worse performer than some Ultrabooks, but it's a great budget-friendly choice for Windows users who lust after MacBook Pros.

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