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This review looks at the Starforge “Lowkey,” a limited edition mini-ITX pre-built PC assembled and designed by Starforge Systems, a Texas-based system integrator (SI) that builds gaming PCs. This is part of our prebuilt gaming PC reviews series and gives us a more positive product to look at, following a series of less well-designed products in review recently. We previously reviewed Starforge’s Horizon II Ultra gaming PC and found it to be overall good quality, with a few issues on screw torque and attention to detail items. Starforge is owned by streamers who are part of OTK, such as Asmongold, Tips, and others, and started after the collapse of Artesian Builds. You can learn about that story below.
Watch our previous Starforge Horizon II Ultra review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9YiOLX5uQU
Watch the Collapse of Artesian Builds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2xMi7inB28
Watch our HW News episode about the US Govt bans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjZp_pt-Gfs
Correction: The chart software truncated the X-axis label for the frequency spectrum plot. The last two frequencies in the range are 10,000 Hz and 20,000 Hz. This has been resolved going forward by expanding the ‘buffer’ space between the axis label and the axis line itself.
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RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links]
If a pre-built PC isn’t your style, consider going DIY with some of the parts below:
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D on Newegg: https://howl.me/cllaalhBBgZ
AMD R7 7800X3D on Amazon: https://geni.us/bah9
NVIDIA RTX 4090 on Amazon: https://geni.us/cCOH
AMD RX 7900 XT on Newegg: https://howl.me/clk984JJPpe
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Starforge Pre-Built Lowkey Gaming PC Review
03:08 – Who Starforge Is
03:57 – Tear-Down of Starforge PC
10:47 – Tear-Down Inspection Pass
11:11 – Starforge Customer Support for Intel
12:34 – Intel Settings Rant
13:48 – Interesting BIOS Changes
15:12 – Intel Microcode Bug
17:20 – Starforge Thermals (CPU Only)
18:12 – Starforge Fan Curve (CPU Only)
18:35 – Starforge Frequency vs. Temperature
19:04 – Starforge 13600KF vs Intel Default
20:10 – GPU Full Load Thermals
20:43 – Fan Change Test
21:22 – AIRFLOW ANIMATION
23:03 – Noise Levels in Hemi-Anechoic Chamber
23:50 – Acoustic Frequency Spectrum
25:09 – Power Consumption Testing
25:55 – Software & Bloat Inspection
26:52 – Packaging Inspection
28:28 – Conclusion
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Steve Burke: Host, Testing, Writing
Patrick Lathan: Testing, Writing
Vitalii Makhnovets: Video Editing, Camera
Andrew Coleman: 3D Animation
source
Note: The chart software truncated the X-axis label for the frequency spectrum plot. The last two frequencies in the range are 10,000 Hz and 20,000 Hz. This has been resolved going forward by expanding the 'buffer' space between the axis label and the axis line itself.
Support our independent reviews and get our coaster pack in return! https://store.gamersnexus.net/products/3d-coaster-pack-4-component-coasters
Watch our previous Starforge Horizon II Ultra review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9YiOLX5uQU
Watch the Collapse of Artesian Builds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2xMi7inB28
Watch our HW News episode about the US Govt bans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjZp_pt-Gfs
I just blew a bunch of money on their osrs case. But I would rather build my own system
I'm just your average dad who lacks time and has wanted a prebuild for awhile. I haven't pulled the trigger, because they' all arguably suck and not getting ripped off is more important to me. Thank you for doing these reviews GN and pumped to see one that finally is good!
From everything I've seen from the people who do own them. Their CS is insanely impressive and active. Even with just helping as a minor technical support line. They are willing to answer all and every question. The person they have answering emails has such a different tone and feels like a real person compared to all the other companies I've unfortunately had dealings with. The guy they have on the stream a lot will even actively try and help out if you have any questions. No matter how stupid they may seem.
Screw guy redemption and o7 packaging guy
i've assumed that all these prebuilts are subpar, and never wanted one. Now I want Steve to review my build
I'm here for the animation.
Never have I ever dreaded the placement of a temperature probe until I saw that… Carefully milled… IHS… For some reason I squirmed each time I saw that accursed thing
The runes on the case are close enough to "Starforge Systems" (actually seems to read "Starforge sjstems") 😁Fire the "Runic Expert", hire some of your viewers…
Please don't read norse so flippantly. I now have a demon chilling in my living room eating my food!
whao this is my first time on this cannel and the first thing i saw is poseidon fixing computer issues.
asmongold can live another day
Watching a positive review from Steve feels illegal. Awesome vid. Great work guys!
wow, can't wait to watch asmongold's 5 hour reaction video to this 😂
Great Job on the Animations, I think it will help a lot of people ! Great Video
Wouldn't hot air pushed out through the bottom just rise along the sides and be sucked back into the case via the side fans though? Not doubting the numbers from the test, but the explanation provided along with the cool animation didn't convince me entirely. Probably a number of factors involved though, might be that it's better despite bottom exhaust rising and being recirculated if there are even bigger gains elsewhere due to overall internal pressure changing.
Unsure if it was a bit or not. But starforge's runes on the side actually says (Starforge systems) I use bastardized seax wicca runic script as well as other bastardized runic alphabet conversions. The expert may have gotten confused since the runes aren't meant to be fully translated to the English alphabet.
The animation was very informative. Glad you guys took the extra effort to include it.
You could hyave made a 3 second video and said "Actually good" and move on. That's really all you needed. But thanks for all the additional 35 minutes and 54 seconds of content. Btw your coasters are fantastic. Everyone should buy them. They dont look like they can fit cups evenly but they do!
It looks like a solid block
2400$ and only an i5?