While some PCs concentrate on specific aspects to the detriment of others, Chillblast has put together a very well-rounded machine – at least for the relatively modest price of £599.
We’re used to seeing Intel’s mid-range Core i5-2500K dominate the mid-range, but here it gets a boost from some hefty overclocking: a boost from 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz is enough to return a benchmark score of 1.1, enough to see to all but the toughest of applications and equal to the excellent Palicomp Phoenix i5 Destiny.
The graphics card, an Asus-branded Radeon HD 6850, is equally impressive thanks to a core that’s been overclocked from 775MHz to 790MHz. Its average of 36fps in our 1,920 x 1,080 Very High quality Crysis test means the Fusion Elixir means it’s got the grunt to play games at 1080p – and easily trumps the Palicomp, which included a weaker HD 5670.
The EZCool A200D chassis is a Chillblast favourite for budget machines, and it’s easy to see why. The meshed, chrome-effect design looks dearer than it is, and build quality is good. The luxury of a neat, painted interior and a motherboard tray is a rarity this month, and it helps create a PC that’s both tidy and aesthetically pleasing.
Upgrade room is generous, although not perfect. While there are two spare DIMMs, one of them is impeded by the CPU’s Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2 heatsink, and you won’t be able to easily add a second graphics card: the vacant PCI Express x16 slot runs at just x4 speed, and the EZCool power supply has no spare 6-pin power connectors, despite a healthy 650W rating.
Warranty | |
---|---|
Warranty | 1 yr return to base |
Basic specifications | |
Total hard disk capacity | 1,000GB |
RAM capacity | 8.00GB |
Processor | |
CPU family | Intel Core i5 |
CPU nominal frequency | 3.30GHz |
CPU overclocked frequency | 4.50GHz |
Processor socket | LGA 1155 |
HSF (heatsink-fan) | Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2 |
Motherboard | |
Motherboard | Asus P8Z68-V LE |
Motherboard chipset | Intel Z68 |
Conventional PCI slots free | 3 |
Conventional PCI slots total | 3 |
PCI-E x16 slots free | 1 |
PCI-E x16 slots total | 2 |
PCI-E x1 slots free | 1 |
PCI-E x1 slots total | 2 |
Internal SATA connectors | 4 |
Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec |
Memory | |
Memory type | DDR3 |
Memory sockets free | 2 |
Memory sockets total | 4 |
Graphics card | |
Graphics card | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
Multiple SLI/CrossFire cards? | no |
3D performance setting | Low |
Graphics chipset | AMD Radeon HD 6850 |
Graphics card RAM | 1.00GB |
DVI-I outputs | 2 |
HDMI outputs | 1 |
VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 0 |
DisplayPort outputs | 1 |
Number of graphics cards | 1 |
Hard disk | |
Hard disk | Hitachi DeskStar 7K1000.C |
Capacity | 1.00TB |
Hard disk usable capacity | 931GB |
Internal disk interface | SATA/300 |
Spindle speed | 7,200RPM |
Cache size | 32MB |
Drives | |
Optical drive | Sony Optiarc AD-5280S |
Optical disc technology | DVD writer |
Case | |
Chassis | EZCool A200D |
Case format | Full tower |
Dimensions | 191 x 475 x 440mm (WDH) |
Power supply | |
Power supply | EZCool JSP-650 |
Power supply rating | 650W |
Free drive bays | |
Free front panel 5.25in bays | 3 |
Rear ports | |
USB ports (downstream) | 7 |
PS/2 mouse port | yes |
Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 |
Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 1 |
Modem | no |
3.5mm audio jacks | 8 |
Front ports | |
Front panel USB ports | 3 |
Front panel memory card reader | no |
Operating system and software | |
OS family | Windows 7 |
Noise and power | |
Idle power consumption | 102W |
Peak power consumption | 357W |
Performance tests | |
3D performance (crysis) low settings | 197fps |
3D performance setting | Low |
Overall Real World Benchmark score | 1.10 |
Responsiveness score | 1.05 |
Media score | 1.14 |
Multitasking score | 1.10 |
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