Scan 3XS

Scan 3XS GW-HS10

This Small Form Factor (SFF) workstation may be bulkier than many rivals, but its ability to host a high-end graphics card makes it stand out from the crowd.

Small Form Factor (SFF) workstations are big business these days. Why have a colossal tower on your desk when you can get everything you need in a cleverly engineered, compact chassis?

SFF machines from the likes of Dell, Fujitsu, HP and Lenovo pretty much follow the same formula: quad core CPU, entry-level to mid-range GPU, up to 64GB of RAM and a handful of storage drives.

But what if you need a bit more ‘oomph’ from your desktop and don’t want an imposing tower to take over your desk? Well, in that case, Bolton-based Scan might have something for you.

Scan’s new 3XS GW-HS10 is probably best described as a low-rise tower. The 250mm x 374mm footprint of its Fractal Design Node 304 chassis is similar to that of a standard desktop workstation, but standing 210mm high, it’s significantly shorter.

This squat form factor is in contrast to most SFF workstations, which are slimline by design and can only take a special sub-50W, low-profile graphics card, putting a cap on 3D performance.

The 3XS GW-HS has no such restriction and has 3D graphics potential to rival most towers. Indeed, with its spacious interior and powerful 600W Corsair CX600 PSU, it can even take a high-end, double-height graphics card like the AMD FirePro W8100 or Nvidia Quadro M5000.

With this in mind, our test machine’s mid-range AMD FirePro W4300 GPU doesn’t really do the mini workstation justice. In fact, as this low profile GPU was primarily designed for slimline workstations like the HP Z240 SFF, speccing it for 3XS GW-HS doesn’t really make sense.

For £30 less, you could bag of the motherboard, you could yourself a full-height AMD Product spec in theory add a high-perforFirePro W5100 and not only ■ Intel Core i7-6700K mance NVMe SSD, such as the save money but also boost 3D CPU (clocked to Samsung SSD 950 Pro. performance. In some CAD 4.2GHz) (Quad Core) With such a big focus on software, this could be by as ■ 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance storage and graphics, there are much as 10%. LPX DDR4 3000MHz some compromises. The mini

As with most of Scan’s memory ITX Asus Z170I Pro motherdesktop workstations, the ■ 256GB Samsung SSD 850 Pro + board only has two DDR4 3XS GW-HS features an overclocked quad core CPU – the ever-popular Intel Core 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD ■ AMD FirePro W4300 (4GB GDDR5) RAM slots, so memory is limited to 32GB, half that of a typical ‘Skylake’ SFF workstation. i7 6700K. However, due to GPU (15.201 driver) With the only PCIe slot taken its compact chassis and ■ Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit up with the GPU, you can’t more challenging thermals, ■ 250 (w) x 374 (d) have any additional add-in Scan only gives you 4.2GHz x 210mm (h) boards, such as USB Type-C, and not the full 4.4GHz, ■ 3 years – 1st year which is notably absent among which is typical of Scan’s onsite, 2nd and 3rd years RTB (parts the ten USB Type-A ports on tower workstations. The and labour) the rear and side of the machine CPU is matched with 16GB ■ £1,150 + VAT (two of which are USB 3.1). of Corsair Vengeance LPX 3xs.scan.co.uk DDR4 memory running at Conclusion 3,000MHz. With the potential it has for

Overall, we found the machine’s acous- high-end graphics and multiple drives tics to be very good. The CPU is liquid the Scan 3XS GW-HS offers an interestcooled with a Corsair H80 hydrocooler, ing alternative to most SFF workstations. while two 92mm fans at the front and one It should appeal in particular to 140mm fan at the rear help keep air run- designers who need more 3D perforning through the machine, to stop the mance for high-end CAD, design internal components overheating. viz or GPU rendering, though only For day-to-day 3D CAD work having a maximum of 32GB RAM could we only noticed a gentle be a barrier. hum from the fans. It Taken as a mainstream CAD machine was only when as reviewed here, the benefits over a trawe started ditional SFF workstation are less obvihammer - ous. Yes, you get a decent boost from the ing both overclocked CPU, but the squat chassis CPU and lacks the elegance of a slender SFF GPU con- machine. currently In saying that, even though the footwith a highly print is still significant, it certainly impractical makes you feel less ‘penned in’ at your barrage of ren- desk than a traditional tower. Added to dering and that, compared to a standard tower, it’s graphics tests relatively portable, making it an interestthat the volume ing option for those who need to take went up a notch – CAD on the go. but, even then, noise lev- Greg Corke els were still perfectly acceptable. Of course, this could change with a more powerful 150W to 200W GPU. The AMD FirePro W4300 is only rated at 50W.

For a machine of this size, it has great storage potential. Our test unit came with the classic CAD combination of a 256GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD and 2TB Seagate HDD, still leaving space inside for two more 2.5inch or 3.5-inch drives. In addition, with an M.2 slot on the rear