It’s tough for a cast-on-stone PC gamer to admit out loud, but the days of building your own PC to save money might be over. Nowadays, it’s really hard to beat boutique built gaming rigs in value by assembling your home-brewed PC. Most of them combine premium components, but can be had for reasonable amounts of money.
Building your own gaming rig is still a rewarding and incredible experience, but if it’s your first time in the world of PC gaming, computers like the SkyTech Omega can be had for better prices than buying individual components and assembling them.
The SkyTech Omega specifically is built around Intel’s new Core i7-8700K Coffee Lake family of processors. There are versions of the same model with Intel i7-6700K and Intel i7-7700K chips, and all but only two models run Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti series graphics cards.
Our review unit comes with a fine pedigree, that should be held in high regard when it comes to gaming. It is the only iteration tucking a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and a Coffee Lake chip into the chassis. It’s a viable high-end gaming PC to have in your room, that makes financial sense for the reasonable price.
Design
On the outside, the ST-OMEGA-8700K-1080TI looks everything the part of a gaming PC, just like its predecessor the SkyTech ST-OMEGA-VR1080-7700K. In buying the OMEGA, you’re going after power and size, in a package that’s meant to be seen as much as it’s meant to run your games and productivity tasks smoothly.
It sports a clean, modern design with a white finish measuring 19.6 by 8.4 by 18.8 inches (HWD), meaning you’ll need enough room on your desk for it to fit perfectly. At 42 pounds, it isn’t one of the lightest systems around; hopefully, you won’t have to move it once you place it in position.
Once inside, there is enough real estate to move around, and intricate cable management raceways ensure that everything is neat and tidy. It’s great that SkyTech give you a sneaky-peek into the interior components viewable through a tampered side glass door that swings open and latch perfectly.
The first thing you’ll notice is a delicate liquid-cooling system alongside a pair of pre-installed cooling fans on the front panel to provide the best cooling effect even on strenuous battles. There is intricate red LED case lighting, but it doesn’t go overboard with the bling.
To access the internal components, there’s no feeling around for latches, or straining to figure out the trick of opening the side windows. In fact, you can easily tell where much of the cost comes from by looking through the windows. Overall, the system is finely assembly to perfection, and there are few DIYers out there who can match this caliber of work.
Connectivity
The number of I/O ports is definitely one of its strongest features. It doesn’t have an optical drive, which is fine given that most games are downloadable from digital services like Steam and Origin. Plus, having one on the front would be a scratch on the case’s stylish austerity.
Better yet, majority of the ports are USB 3.1 or better, so multiple high-speed gadgets can be connected. Rounding up the port selection are: 1 x DVI, 3 x Display Port (Version 1.4), 1 x HDMI, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C, 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A, 2 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0. The system is Wi-Fi ready, and comes with a bundled keyboard and mouse.
Storage
The Nvidia GeForce 1080 graphics card, overlain with liquid-cooling plates, is the main feature for showcase here. There’s 16GB of G.Skill 2400GHz memory, a 250GB SSD with 3D NAND technology, and a huge 2TB hard drive for storage. The power supply is a Thermaltake 700W, far better than what you’d find in most systems, and wrapping it all; the latest Intel Core i7-8700K processor.
The motherboard underneath is a high-end Gigabyte Z370, that’s continuously themed with red lighting. All these parts are highly customizable when ordering, or later, though you won’t need to do much in terms of upgrades.
Performance: SkyTech Omega 8700K-1080TI
With its raison d’être being exquisite planning and design, and premium components, the SkyTech Omega is a real workhorse. Our review unit comes with a 4.2GHz eighth-generation Coffee lake i7-8700K processor and an Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti graphics card with 11GB of DDR5 RAM. Both of these components haven’t been superseded by any recent models, except for those with dual graphic cards, they should be sufficient enough to deliver decent performance in games played at high settings.
For general performance, the Omega performs well, with Windows 10 feeling fast and responsive. It gets a deserved hang-on among high-end desktops we’ve tested recently. Multimedia projects should be a breeze, should you need to work on video or photo editing while not gaming. You won’t even be concerned about loud fans, since the four 120mm Thermaltake HSP fan reduces noise and vibration greatly.
Graphics Performance
Gaming and 3D performance is where the OMEGA really separates itself from the pack. Most of its immediate competitors are fast desktops equipped with GTX 1080s in SLI, but the GTX 1080 Ti upgrade steers the system to the front, delivering the best frame rates per second (FPS) in the category. Set to Ultra quality settings and 1080p resolution, the OMEGA-8700K-1080TI doesn’t struggle to soar 269 frames per second on Heaven test and 154 frames per second, far ahead of the usual 60 fps target.
To get a grip of its resilience, bumping the same tests up to a 4K resolution, indeed very demanding for any system, it still managed to 73.4 fps on Hitman 4, 61.5fps on Rise of the Tomb-Raider and 72fps on Battlefield 1. These are still smoothly playable frame rates, and not far off the standard 60fps for games played at 4K resolution. It stacks well against pricey systems like Alienware Area-51, but still remains affordable.
The Bottom Line
Our first impression of the SkyTech Omega 8700K-1080Ti was that this could be a gaming PC that married the best things about desktop PCs with the latest components. As it turns out, it is a gaming rig that exhibits some of the best features that doesn’t cost too much. If you’re not interested in game consoles, the Omega performs well, and it won’t be easy to find a gaming desktop out there that beats this value, especially at this price range.
If you’d go for similar components in an HP or Asus desktop, you’ll likely pay double what you’re spending on this gaming PC. However, if you’re more interested on performance and versatility over a brand name, this system is worth a longer look. It is powerful, well-designed and offers seamless customization in a super-exclusive package. Factoring all this together with its forward-looking potential, the Omega 8700K-1080TI easily earns our Editors’ Choice award for midrange gaming desktops.
Recommended Configuration
SkyTech Shadow 3.0 Gaming Computer PC Desktop - Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core 3.6GHz, RTX 3060 12GB, 1TB SSD, 16GB DDR4 3000, RGB Fans, AC WiFi, 600W Gold PSU, Windows 10 Home 64-bit, Black
The Review
SkyTech Omega
Loaded with Intel’s flagship Coffee Lake i7-8700K CPU and GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, the SkyTech Omega 8700K-1080TI is a compelling fusion of gaming and processing prowess at a reasonable price.
PROS
- Laptop-leading performance
- Latest GTX 1080 ti graphics capable of 60 fps 4K gaming
- Useful port options
CONS
- Vertical orientation means clumsy port layout
Review Breakdown
-
EDITORS RATING
