Chillblast Fusion Modernist - Quadro P2200 Architectural Workstation

The Fusion Modernist does away with outdated and frankly inaccurate preconceptions of what makes a good computer for professional architects. It unashamedly has an Intel Core i3 processor at its heart, a consumer graphics card for running your viewport and sits in a small form factor case that takes up a fraction of the desk space a conventional workstation commands. It’s also very affordable, yet delivers incredible performance in your key architectural applications that will eclipse a system costing twice as much from your existing PC supplier.

Having a Core i3 processor at its heart and a consumer graphics card running the viewport might seem like madness according to conventional wisdom, but we’ve done the testing and live by our data. Many professionals spend much of their lives in AutoCAD; an incredibly powerful application, but one that actually runs at its best on high clock-speed, low core-count processors. It derives little or no performance improvement from multiple CPU cores, beyond the division of labour enjoyed by its host operating system. The i3 9350KF with its exceptionally high 4.6GHz clock speed actually delivers better performance in AutoCAD than a 12-cored  Xeon E5-2687W v4 costing more than ten times as much.

The 9^th generation Core i3 processor is unrecognisable from its 8^th generation predecessor. It has a powerful native quad-core architecture, an unlocked multiplier and incredible instructions-per-clock performance, making it competitive with a Core i7-7700 in CPU-dependent architectural applications like V-Ray, Rhino and Vectorworks.

Architectural programs thrive on graphics cards with powerful shader processors, plenty of VRAM and advanced memory architectures. To find a card that matches or beats the NVIDIA QUADRO P2200 in the Modernist you’ll need to invest in an NVIDIA Quadro P4000 – a card that at time of writing costs almost as much as this entire Workstation. Application compatibility is assured, and you can lean on Chillblast’s legendary support team – 8 time winners of the PC Pro Excellence award - for assistance if you have any compatibility problems.

All of this carefully selected and optimised hardware is shrouded within a stunning aluminium and steel modernist case, complete with tempered glass fenestration that won’t look out of place in even the sleekest of practise boardrooms.

Don’t be left in the slow lane by buying under-powered, overpriced workstations from your traditional supplier. Isn’t it time you started buying smart?

This is the upgraded version of the review system seen in the Architect’s Journal

Standard Parts List:

Processor: Intel Core i3-9350KF Coffee Lake CPU, 4 Cores / 4 Threads, 4.0GHz - 4.6GHz
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Case with Tempered Glass Window - Black
CPU Cooler: Chillblast 120 CPU Water Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 I AORUS PRO WIFI Motherboard
Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Memory (2 x 8GB Sticks)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA Quadro P2200 5GB Graphics Card
OS Drive: 250GB Samsung 860 EVO Solid State Drive
Hard Drive: Seagate 2TB BarraCuda 7200RPM Hard Disk
Power Supply: Corsair CX750 80 PLUS Bronze 750W PSU
Sound Card: Onboard High Definition Audio
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Anti Virus Software: Bullguard Internet Security - Free 90 Day Licence
Warranty: 5 Year Warranty, 2 Years Collect & Return UK only