Corsair Bulldog 2.0 Barebones 4K & VR Living Room Gaming PC Review
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
When looking to add a component to your home theater, one thing you look at is the aesthetics of the component. Some might like the looks of the Corsair Bulldog, while others might not be a fan. I tend to like the aggressive angular design of the Bulldog, and would have no issues at putting this in the living room as a Home Theater gaming system. The external design aside, the size of it might be another issue for some. The two modern gaming consoles the X-Box One and PlayStation 4, are much smaller than the Corsair Bulldog, so some might have an issue calling the Bullding a “mini” system. Keeping in mind that aethestics and size concerns are personal preference.
What we are mostly concerned about is how well the Corsair Bulldog 2.0 can keep the internal components cool with the newly designed Hydro H6 SF Liquid Cooler with the Magnetic Levitation fan and whether the SF600 power supply can keep up the demand for power with modern components. Both of these we found are not an issue for the Corsair Bulldog 2.0. The CPU reached a maximum high temperature of 71.5C when we ran the system at it’s stock speeds, and even overclocked to 5GHz, it stayed within an acceptable temperature range when it reached 88.75C (still a little toasty). As for power, that wasn’t an issue either, the Bulldog 2.0, with the Intel i7-7700K and the Corsair Hydro GFX GTX 1080 we pulled a maximum of 257W, plenty of overhead left on the power supply.
In a world where video streaming is becoming extremely popular, having a 5.25in optical drive isn’t always necessary, however some still prefer to have an optical drive. This is especially useful for those that want to use the Bulldog as the center of their 4K entertainment center. With a 4K capable optical drive, Windows 10, Intel Kaby Lake, and the right video connections on the TV or Monitor, you could watch 4K Blu-Ray discs, however with the Bulldog that won’t be an option until a USB 4K optical drive comes out.
If you are building a system to be the center piece of your entertainment system, or a VR-Ready system, the Bulldog 2.0 Barebones system is a great start. You can pre-order it for $399, which includes the MSI Z270 mITX motherboard, Corsair’s Hydro H6 SF CPU Liquid Cooler, the SF600 power supply and the Bulldog 2.0 chassis. If you break the price down, the MSI motherboard runs $179.99, SF600 power supply is $119.99, there is no price on the Corsair Hydro H6 SF cooler, however the Hydro H5 SF costs $74.99, purchasing these components individually you’ll spend close to $375, leaving $25 for a chassis. This makes the Bulldog 2.0 a great price, if it is aesthetically pleasing to you.
Legit Bottom Line: If the Corsair Bulldog work for your home theater environment, there is no reason not to give it a closer look when building a VR-Ready gaming system. It is powerful enough to support the latest Intel Kaby Lake processors, and some of the most powerful graphics cards on the market, with enough cooling power to keep everything running smooth.