Chillblast Fusion Rapier review

£586
Price when reviewed

Nvidia’s mid-range graphics card, the GeForce GTS 450, is beginning to appear in an increasing number of PCs. It might not be able to keep up with the GTX 460, but it’s built around the same revised Fermi core and is obviously making a good impression with PC builders.

Its results show why: a score of 33fps in our 1,920 x 1,080 High quality Crysis gaming test is extremely impressive for a budget machine. Despite the low price, the Fusion rapier is clearly capable of playing top titles, even if you’ll have to reign in your resolution or quality settings: we had to scale the system back to 1,600 x 900 to get a near-playable 26fps from our Very High quality benchmark.

Chillblast’s overclocked Intel processor is the ideal companion for the mid-range graphics card, and here the Core i3-530 has been overclocked from 2.93GHz to 4GHz. That results in an application benchmark score of 2.36: one of the best we’ve seen from a budget system, even if it can’t match the 2.56 of the Palicomp Core i3 Blast 530OC44, which achieved its score by running the same processor at a faster 4.4GHz. Still, it’s plenty of power and should sate all but the most demanding users.

It’s the second time Chillblast has used the EZCool A200D chassis recently and we’re glad to see it. It’s undoubtedly a budget enclosure, but few corners have been cut to meet the price. It’s one of the better looking low-end cases around and build quality is fine throughout. It’s also a little larger than most cheap cases, which allows for a motherboard tray and, consequently, an extremely tidy build.

Chillblast Fusion Rapier

Noise isn’t an issue, either. Barely a hum escapes from the graphics card cooler or the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro processor heatsink, although we’re disappointed by the heatsink getting in the way of one of the motherboard’s vacant DIMM slots. This is the only real black mark against the Chillblast’s upgrade potential, though, thanks to hard disk bays that face the side of the chassis and a decent selection of empty slots and sockets across the motherboard.

The monitor makes a good impression, too, with Chillblast plumping for the popular AOC F22+. This combines a 22in diagonal and 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution with decent quality. Colours are reasonably accurate and text is sharp. It lacks a little vibrancy when compared with more expensive panels, but it’s fine for everyday use.

Elsewhere, the wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse set is comfortable and comes with a range of media buttons, and the Gigabyte speakers, which don’t come with a subwoofer, still offer reasonable quality alongside a surprising amount of bass.

We have few quibbles with this PC. Performance is strong, the monitor is good and we like the fact that speakers have been included too. Some rivals are better in individual areas but, thanks to its all-round excellence, the Chillblast Fusion Rapier is our new budget system of choice.

Warranty

Warranty1 yr return to base

Basic specifications

Total hard disk capacity500GB
RAM capacity4.00GB
Screen size22.0in

Processor

CPU familyIntel Core i3
CPU nominal frequency2.93GHz
CPU overclocked frequency4.00GHz
Processor socketLGA 1156
HSF (heatsink-fan)Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Motherboard

MotherboardAsus P7H55/USB3
Motherboard chipsetIntel H55
Conventional PCI slots free2
Conventional PCI slots total2
PCI-E x16 slots free2
PCI-E x16 slots total3
PCI-E x8 slots free0
PCI-E x8 slots total0
PCI-E x4 slots free0
PCI-E x4 slots total0
PCI-E x1 slots free1
PCI-E x1 slots total2
Internal SATA connectors6
Internal SAS connectors1
Internal PATA connectors1
Internal floppy connectors0
Wired adapter speed1,000Mbits/sec

Memory

Memory typeDDR3
Memory sockets free2
Memory sockets total4

Graphics card

Graphics cardNvidia GeForce GTS 450
Multiple SLI/CrossFire cards?no
3D performance settingLow
Graphics chipsetNvidia GeForce GTS 450
Graphics card RAM1.00GB
DVI-I outputs1
HDMI outputs1
VGA (D-SUB) outputs1
DisplayPort outputs0
Number of graphics cards1

Hard disk

Hard diskSeagate Barracuda 7200.12
Capacity500GB
Hard disk usable capacity465GB
Internal disk interfaceSATA/300
Spindle speed7,200RPM
Cache size16MB
Hard disk 2 make and modelN/A
Hard disk 2 nominal capacityN/A
Hard disk 2 formatted capacityN/A
Hard disk 2 spindle speedN/A
Hard disk 2 cache sizeN/A
Hard disk 3 make and modelN/A
Hard disk 3 nominal capacityN/A
Hard disk 4 make and modelN/A
Hard disk 4 nominal capacityN/A

Drives

Optical driveSony Optiarc AD-5260S
Optical disc technologyDVD writer
Optical disk 2 make and modelN/A
Optical disk 3 make and modelN/A

Monitor

Monitor make and modelAOC F22+
Resolution screen horizontal1,920
Resolution screen vertical1,080
Resolution1920 x 1080
Pixel response time5ms
Contrast ratio1,000:1
Screen brightness300cd/m2
DVI inputs1
HDMI inputs0
VGA inputs1
DisplayPort inputs0

Additional Peripherals

SpeakersGigabyte GP-4600
Speaker type2.0
Sound cardRealtek HD Audio

Case

ChassisEZCool A200D
Case formatFull tower
Dimensions191 x 475 x 440mm (WDH)

Power supply

Power supplyEZCool PS-05 650W
Power supply rating650W

Free drive bays

Free front panel 5.25in bays3

Rear ports

USB ports (downstream)8
FireWire ports1
PS/2 mouse portyes
Electrical S/PDIF audio ports0
Optical S/PDIF audio output ports1
Modemno
3.5mm audio jacks6

Front ports

Front panel USB ports2
Front panel FireWire ports1
Front panel memory card readerno

Mouse & Keyboard

Mouse and keyboardLogitech Wireless Desktop MK250

Operating system and software

OS familyWindows 7

Noise and power

Idle power consumption85W
Peak power consumption276W

Performance tests

Overall application benchmark score2.36
Office application benchmark score2.13
2D graphics application benchmark score2.41
Encoding application benchmark score2.10
Multitasking application benchmark score2.81
3D performance (crysis) low settings118fps
3D performance settingLow

Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way.

Todays Highlights
How to See Google Search History
how to download photos from google photos