Desktop PCs

In the last couple of years Tranquil has diversified from their core consumer business, quite Media Centre PCs to develop a wide range of low power home server models such as Single Drive T7 Series to the five bay SQA-5H. With the recent release of the ixL Power PC, and its bigger brother, the iXVL, the company seems to get back to its original roots with the all new Media centre chassis. The Media Centre PCs usually suffer from two major issues; either they are hopelessly under-powered, relying on notebook components, or they are just too noisy to stand with all those cooling fans required on the high-level processors. Tranquil is just not a name, as the company is quite serious about silence. Without any fans, the Tranquil PC iXL is near silent. So, it is silent all-right, is it silent performance wise too? Read on to find out.

Design:

Compelling:

Design wise, Tranquil PC has put on a compelling design for the iXL, which is clad in black satin aluminium, with rounded corners which reminds us of the retro radios of the 1950s. The black, brushed aluminium case is just 240 x 250 x 106mm and is styled to fit with other sitting room A/V boxes. In a gist, the iXL is one of the best looking PCs we had ever seen from Tranquil. The ixL Power PC does not come with either keyboard or mouse. Most companies in the current market ship with a lot of shelf components in a cute looking box, but with the iXL, Tranquil has taken a lot more care in engineering a good looking as well as a highly functional design that makes use of a series of fins on the sight side for passive cooling. The entire chassis itself is very robust, very well constructed and when compared to some of the hardware that we had seen from the company. This one has got excellent assembly sans any rough edges; one of the best.

Keep it cool:

Along with the fins on the right hand side of the chassis, you will find some additional cooling vents that are punched into top, rear and base of the chassis. And the main point we have to make here is that, it does an effective job of ensuring that the processor does not overheat, however, you will find the chassis does get hot simply because it acts as a giant heat sink. This is an extremely small price to pay for silence in a Media centre PC. We advise you to leave a little space around the chassis when fitted into you cabinet. Just turn over the Tranquil PC ixL i3 Media Centre PC to its base and hints of attention to detail that has gone into the assembly of the device will be clearly evident. You will find Intel’s generic rear connector sticker that is positioned beneath the PC for reference. It might be very easy for you to just discard these guides, but note that they can be really useful, hence we recommend that you take time to place them on the PC. The four short legs that prop up the iXL provides way for cooling through the base. However, if you wish to slide the iXL into a small space, you can do so as they can be removed with a central securing screw.

Slots and Connectivity:

The fascia of the chassis is as sober as you might expect it to be in your TV cabinet. It has an unobtrusive slot loading CD/DVD or Blu-ray, a flush power button with a dim blue LED, two USB ports, a card reader and an integral infra-red sensor for your media centre remote control. The integral infra red sensor has a red LED which illuminates when commands are sent to the PC. That is not it, turn it around and you will find an array of connectivity options.

It is fair to say that the Tranquil PC ixL Desktop Computer is kind of over specified as far as the external options are concerned. You get six USB ports, three eSATA and even a Gigabit Ethernet for networking. Video is taken care of by the HDMI or DVI, and audio is fired out through the HDMI, optical audio or the five analogue audio ports. The only PCI expansion slot has a twin-tuner Freeview TV card fitted and this is pre-configured to work with Windows 7 Media Center on the Home version which is installed as standard. Graphics are provided by the main board Intel HD chipset and full 1080p HD output is supported via DVI and HDMI. Here too, there is the neatly positioned Intel Inside sticker that shows the detail in the design. Perhaps the most surprising omission is wireless networking.

Set-up:

Connecting the iXL i3 to your PC is very simple. It is just a matter of connecting the HDMI port, optical audio cable, network, power plus any USB tuners if you had not chosen of the integrated iXL tuner. Having an internal IR receiver, it is not necessary for any additional peripherals to be used with your media centre remote, and then simply boot. The Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) OS option will be ok for most users, but it is a no go option if you own a Windows Home Server. This is simply because of the lack of its remote access features. If you decide to access and control the PC through a remote desktop connection, then you have to make sure that you opt for the Windows 7 Professional, which also includes the Windows Media Centre.

Features:

The retro analogies end with the design, as the iXL is loaded with a whole lot of cutting edge hardware.

Customisation options:

Stripped down or all-inclusive:
Before we go deep into the features of this Tranquil ixL Media Centre PC, you have to be aware of the fact that the Tranquil PC iXL is available in a range of configurations. The iXL Power PC is available in Silver, Gold and Platinum versions, and the Silver version, reviewed here, is based on a Core i3-530, with 2GB of memory and a 500GB, 2.5-inch hard drive. There is a basic stripped back bare bones edition which sells for about £289; here, you choose the processor, RAM, Storage, OS and even the optical drive. Then, you also have the fully built models costing £389, which are fully arranged and assembled for you by the company. You can even personalise it with some lacer etching if you look forward for that. Tranquil even offers a Core i5 variant of the PC for those consumers looking for animal performance. However, we feel that the Core i3 processor is perfectly adequate when it comes to Media Centre usage.

Other upgrade options:
The other customisation options on offer include an integrated TV tuner, with support for an internal low-profile tuner DVB-T FreeView or dual DVB-T + DVB-S/S2 for the sake of satellite owners. There is also a range of standard DVD or Blu-ray drives available. Now, that is quite a strong specification for a modern Media Centre PC. While the consumers do have a range of lower power options available in the market, including a notable range of nettops offering an Intel Atom + NVIDIA ION combination that do quite a decent job, you can be rest assure that the Intel Core i3 has the capability to handle any media oriented task you throw at it, without any hiccups.

Storage overkill:
Tranquil has done a bit of overkill when it comes to storage expansion, for which it can be forgiven for. For instance, the Intel’s DH57JG motherboard, which is heart of the iXL, is already generously specified with an eSATA port as well as six USB2.0 ports; to this monster, Tranquil has added two extra, front mounted USB ports and a further two eSATA ports on the rear. While we agree there is a decent amount of logic and convenience involved with a front facing USB port, three eSATA ports looks quite a lot for a HTPC. As far as networking is concerned, it is handled by the motherboard’s integrated Gigabit Ethernet Socket. This option does a decent job of taking care of high definition video. One thing that is notably absent is an integrated 802.11n wireless option, which will be a big concern for those who do not have their living room networked.

Powerful Specs:

The iXL has blended some off the shelf and custom components in order to create quite a powerful as well as a silent Media Centric PC. Tranquil has opted for Intel’s DH57 JG Mini-ITX motherboard, which is a highly capable product that was recently featured in the Vail Windows Home Server Self-build feature. The board accepts both Core i3 or Core i5 processor with low heat and noise output, an integrated HDMI port for 1080p video, with support for Intel’s ten channel HD video with Dolby Home Theatre. While Tranquil offers about 4GB of RAM on the iXL, the board can support up t0 8GB DDR3 RAM across its two sockets. You get the audio through an integrated SPDIF optional audio out or HDMI, as well as the standard 5 port analogue audio option. If you are hungry for more details on the DH57JG, you can find it on Tranquil PC’s technical guide and also at Intel.com. We can stop here on the note that it is an excellent selection for the iXL.

Upgrade-friendly:

Though the CPU block looks like it is permanent, there is nothing to worry about as it can actually be removed to free the processor in order to upgrade it. For instance, a Core i5-650 or i5-655K processor can be installed in the socket with great deal of ease. Overall, the internals of the iXL is pretty tidy indeed. When you remove the cover of the chassis, courtesy of lot of screws on the base and side panel, you can reach the motherboard by just removing the top plate to which the slot loading drive and hard drive have been attached to. It simply screws out easily, but note that you have to unplug the SATA cables completely to remove the drives. From here on, it is very easy to upgrade all of the elements of the PC.

You have a memory slot free for additional RAM and an easily accessible hard drive for some additional storage too. The additional custom components are in evidence with the front ports supplied by a branded Tranquil PC daughter board. Again, if you are looking for some guidance around the motherboard design, Tranquil have positioned Intel’s handy schematic beneath the chassis lid, which is very helpful and contributes to a great customer experience. While it is true that Tranquil PC’s hardware is not the cheapest ones around, its combination of custom engineering, attention to detail and great design justifies the premium price tag, when compared to many of the mass produced options available from the far-east. You are the one paying the money, but we have to educate you that it is certainly a well designed, engineered and constructed PC.

Awkward silence:

Switch on the power and you will immediately notice the lack of noise from the Tranquil iXL. It will be really strange to you if you had never experienced a completely silence PC. You will get a small girr from the optical drive and that is it, tranquility. This is the kind of silence that has been achieved with all the toiling from the cooling components installed on the iXL. So, when Tranquil claims that its PC is silent, it is not a gimmick, it is plain truth. The best part is that, even the WD Green Power Drive is inaudible, how did they manage to do that?

Passive cooling:

Tranquil has fitted it with its own passive cooling system to silently cool the Intel Core i3-530 processor. Operating at 2.93GHz, there is quite a bit of work to be done to cool off the system to keep the heat of the processor in check, and even the heat emanating from the on-board 500GB Western Digital WD500AADS Green Power Drive. The company’s custom cooling kit for the processor does most of the job, while a heat pipe conducting the heat out to the aluminium side fins.

Software:

As soon as you have booted the Tranquil PC, you will realise that it has been pre-installed with the K-Lite Codec Basic Pack, which has support for MKV and a range of some of the other more esoteric formats. Since Windows Media Centre does not offer support for MKV, we would have preferred to see the Standard pack installed, which includes the crowd favourite Media Player Classic HomeCinema and FLAC support. The MicroSoft Silverlight has also been pre-installed, along with all the other drivers that are required to support the Intel motherboard.

Tweak it:

While you might spend a good deal of time configuring the PC correctly for your specific home cinema set-up, there are potentially far too many options to do it via Window’s own controls, Intel’s graphics and audio dialogs, the DirectShow filters, the included FFD Show and heaps more. However, if you really spend some time on it, we guarantee that the results are going to be great. The Intel Motherboard has no issues identifying the AV receiver as the Output device, but the images still needs some tweaking as in Windows Media Centre. On balance however, the setup did not take too much time at all and we could get on with installing Media Browser, Media Center Manager and the Windows Home Server Connector to ensure the best Windows Media Center experience.

Performance:

Processing:

Performance wise, the Core i3 is definitely a superior processor with a significant step-up performance when compared to the Intel Atom. We are not trying to say that the Atom is not capable of doing a decent job, but the Core i3 or Core i5 are in a different class altogether. The result is superb streaming of high definition video directly from the home server through the Gigabit Ethernet connection.

Here again, we are not trying to say that the iXLis faultless. The integrated IR sensor only offers basic support for Windows Media Centre. You will be able to get a more advanced USB IR sensor from Tranquil PC for just a £10 upgrade, which provides alphanumeric controls and other “advanced” features. Tranquil has then offered to supply the advanced USB IR Sensor for free when a Media Center remote is purchased with the iXL. A new integrated IR Sensor is in development which will offer full control of Windows Media Center. Another issue with the PC is that, its DVD drive, which appears to work absolutely fine when inserting discs, but then, fails to read them and indeed, appears that it is not able to eject the discs too and fails with a DVD error message. As the drive is slot loading, with no external control, that means you have to open the chassis to remove the disc.

Gaming:

Though it has plenty of power to be an excellent media centre and for most other tasks, the ixL is not a gaming machine. The Core i3′s integrated graphics chip does not offer improved performance over Intel’s previous efforts where intensive 3D is concerned, and even casual gamers should probably steer clear of Intel’s integrated graphics, as with an old and undemanding title like Call of Duty 4 you’ll be lucky to get beyond 10fps.

Audio:

The 7.1 sound output is good enough for most home cinema systems, and video output of TV and DVD is smooth, with no noticeable artefacts.

Package contents:

When you open the Tranquil iXL, you will find your new PC that is packed for complete protection in a Tranquil PC branded rucksack; now that is a first for us. Apart from the Tranquil PC iXL Power PC, an external power supply unit, power cable, Intel DH57 JG Driver CD and a Sparse SATA Cable. You might be asking us where are the manuals? Well, they are fed in the PC itself in HTML format, and there are both online and offline options available. Hence, rest assured that you can have the latest version of the manual when you need it.

Power consumption:

At idle, Tranquil PC’s ixL consumed around 20W, while under load power usage generally stayed well below 50W. This is excellent considering the amount of power on offer and will be even lower if it’s configured with an SSD only.

Warranty:

Tranquil PC offers its iXL Media Centre PC one year warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

Apart from a couple of minor niggles, the Tranquil PC iXL is easily one of the best hardware we had seen from the company in the last three years. The design of the chassis is remarkable, well built and assembled with care and it is also important for you to note that the Tranquil’s custom components have also been engineered to a high specification. As a result, you have a compelling blend of fantastic off the shelf components from Intel, with custom wrapping that passively cools the iXL’s internals without let go of the aesthetics required for any PC that is going to reside under the telly. It is the subtle touches like internal motherboard schematic on the underside of the chassis and the connector schematic on the iXL’s base that takes up the iXL package from its rivals.

The base specification of the Tranquil PC iXL is a very powerful one, with the combination of Core i3, 2GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive is a fantastic combination for a Media Center PC, with the motherboard from Intel handling all the HD audio and video with ease. The Core i5 will provide additional longevity, but with the iXL offering easy upgrade paths to the processor, storage and RAM going forward, the i3 is a great place to start. We are glad to recommend the iXL as a fantastic Media Center PC. There are certainly cheaper options available for those on a budget, but if you’re searching for a great looking, silent and powerful HTPC then look no further. The iXL is Tranquil PC and Windows Media Center at their finest.

Tranquil ixL i3 Power PC – Technical Specifications, Configuration Details

Chillblast is a UK PC specialist that is well-known for its overclocked gaming PCs. Their latest addition to the list is the Chillblast Fusion Challenger that has a specification that is especially devised for the upgraders. The backbone of the system being a superlative Asus motherboard, it also comes in quality casing, video card and PSU, which means you are ready for years together of quality gaming. With a price tag that is less than £700 including VAT the Fusion Challenger is more affordable than most. As far as this PC is concerned, the company is looking to convince that the dual core CPU is the best for a mid range gaming device. Read on to find out if its dream really worked.
Design:

As far as the design of the Fusion Challenger is concerned, it will vary depending on the type of components that you choose. For instance, going for the HAF 932 casing will provide you with a chassis that provides a lot of fans and a lot more flexible bigger casing. However, there is a little fault with the base system that Chillblast has to offer. The Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite is of better quality value casing and feels more solid and looks attractive too. The components inside are of quite good value, with branded components from Samsung, Kingston and Asus. The only minor issue is with the wiring behind the motherboard tray as we feel that it could have been much better. But we can appreciate the loose wiring which is not quite normal; this makes future upgrading quite easy.

Features:

Graphics card:

As we are already aware, a good graphics card in a PC will take away a great deal of load off the CPU, when it comes to gaming. Hence, in order to keep the costs down, Chillblast has equipped the Fusion Challenger with a dualie, especially one that has Intel’s HyperThreading shizzle. Well, its idea just seems to be working.

CPU:

Having said that, the hard job of keeping the things solvent in terms of gaming, has been taken care of the impressive overclock that is allowed by the 32nm lithography and Intel Core CPU headroom. The chunky overclock has been made possible by pairing of the i3 530 with the P55 Asus board. Even in 768MB trim, with the GTX 460, it is highly unlikely that you would ever want to switch it off in favour of the integrated graphics.

The heart of the PC, that is, this CPU is a decent performer at its stock state, but is nowhere near it, when compared to the pricier Core i5 or i7 cousins. The good news is that, the Fusion Chillblast has been turbo charged it to a mouth watering 4GHz, which is an agile increase of about 40%. This kind of overclocking wizardry has been made feasible by the inspiring Asus P7P55D-E, which is a motherboard that has a lot more gimmicks than the flagship LX version.

Storage:

Apart from the CPU, the Chillblast Fusion Challenger as a whole is a machine with excellent set of specifications. The Asus Mobo is one of every gadget geek’s favourite P55 boards. Sporting 1TB of storage is more than enough, and backing the entire system to perfection is the 4GB of overclocked DDR. This 4GB of DDR memory is kind of standard these days. However, in comparison with an i5 760 system, it still puts a fly in the ointment. This storage is enough for your current set of games, but you always have the option to expand it to 12GB or, if you wish to, thank the 2 free memory slots.

If you can chuck out some more cash, a decent performance will be offered by the full-fat 1GB GTX 460. This is the kind of combination that is existent on the coveted CyberPower GameCube with is available for under £860, gives a concrete edge in gaming power. If you are hoping to do anything other than gaming on this PC, irrespective of how good the GTX 460 may be, you will end up being hobbled by the dual-core CPU.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro:

The perennial Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro does an excellent work at keeping an eye on the temperature of this Chillblast. This one is a very famous heat sinker and is amazing at keeping this gaming beast noise-free as well as heat-free. In addition to this, the enhancements made to the mounting, it has made upgrading a CPU, a matter of minutes. The silent nature of this gaming PC has been further enhanced by the inclusion of a 600W Xigmatek power supply, which is a 80+ Bronze certified PSU, which is clearly a quality unit that features an oversized 140mm fan. As we had mentioned previously, it is a upgrader’s heaven and it has plenty of extra cables for future upgrades and remained virtually inaudible throughout our benchmark tests.

Performance:

When it comes to performance, the Fusion Challenger puts on a gaming performance that contradicts its price tag. Games run quite smoothly at maximum detail on the 1920 x 1080 pixels display and its frame rate of more than 60fps ensures an imposing sense of speed.

Value:

It is true that £700 does not sound like that much of a budget price and it is also possible for you to just shop around and find something similar with a better CPU (the awesome Core i5 760), at about the similar sort of price.

Warranty:

Chillblast offer shipping with full tracking and a 2-year collect and return warranty in addition to the free overclocking of the i3 CPU which some manufacturers charge for.

Verdict:

The Chillblast Fusion Challenger Gaming PC provides you with a great deal of performance, for its price tag. We have to complements its very choosy components. The best components include the motherboard and PSU which is the best choice as they provide the most wanted backbone for years of upgrades that are yet to come. Overall, it is quite a well designed gaming PC with performance that does not show any signs of its budget price tag. It is a great purchase for the consumers who update the system components regularly. It will turn out to be the best choice if you are a dedicated gamer on a very strict budget.

Chillblast Fusion Challenger Desktop PC – Technical Specification Table

Though CyberPower is not very popular for its range of desktop PCs, it has vast global backing from some of the leading technology brands such as Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Asus and Microsoft etc. Now a days, there are heaps of budget PCs in the market, such as CyberPower Infinity i5 Hercules SE and even the Scan 3XS i3 OC and for those with some cash to spare, the  £2,750 Fujitsu Celsius ULTRA Gaming Workstation with disappointing performance, stood to be the only recent entrant, until the £2,800 CyberPower Infinity i7 Phoenix. So, let us find out if this PC lives up to its £2,800 price tag.

Design:

Casing:

Similar to CyberPower’s previous generation high end Ultra Perseus, the Phoenix Gaming PC also comes in Antec’s Twelve Hundred gaming case. At 60cm high, this makes it an imposing beast, and it has also generously provisioned with blue LED lighting. Sporting blue backlit fans, a backlit water-cooling reservoir, it takes up two of the case’s phenomenal twelve 5.25” drive bays. It also possesses transparent reactive blue water pipes that are visible through the large side window. Overall, this is certainly a machine that grabs the attention. Moving on, the Twelve Hundred is very well built and is also an impressively featured case. However, it does lack the tool free option that is available on many of its rivals. It is made out of thick steel, which is painted matte black inside and out, and without a sharp edge in sight. Physical speed switches are provided for all case fans, which include five 120mm ones and a huge top-mounted 200mm fan. All intake fans also sport removable dust filters.

Display:

The display of the CyberPower Infinity i7 Phoenix Desktop PC comes with a 24in BenQ monitor which supports a full-HD resolution and comes with LED backlighting, but no external speakers are provided.

Connectivity:

The connectivity is pretty good and in addition to the usual twin USB ports and headphone and microphone jacks found at the front of the case, there is also an eSATA port, which is a great addition, especially considering that the Antec Twelve Hundred’s build allows you to securely place an external hard drive on its top. CyberPower has added a 3.5″ card reader below the optical drive. This offers a third USB 2.0 port and can read every memory card available, guess what? Even SIM cards! Speaking of the optical drive, as you would expect at this price point the company has included a Blu-ray rewriter, specifically LG’s BH08LS20 sporting an attractive fascia with silver trim, it goes well with the casing. This drive offers 8 x BD, 8 x BD-R and 2 x BD-RE speeds.

At the i7 Phoenix Gaming PC’s rear, the motherboard connectivity is relatively sparse. You will find a further six USB ports, one FireWire and one eSATA port, a single Gigabit Ethernet connection and good old PS2 mouse and keyboard inputs. A nice selection of analogue and digital audio connections are also on hand from the board’s integrated audio, though these are made superfluous by those found on the installed Creative X-Fi Gamer sound card.

The noisy Insides:

Opening the casing of this CyberPower Infinity i7 Phoenix Gaming Desktop PC is just a simple case of removing two thumb screws. Inside the casing, the Phoenix is quite a tidy affair, with all the cables neatly tied away. The interior of the device is totally dominated  by the CyberPower liquid cooling system that combines the reservoir and pump at the front with a radiator cooled by nothing less than four120mm fans in a push pull configuration at the rear, all of which are hooked up to an XSPC Delta V3 water-block. This results in the CPU remaining very cool, that is, below 50 degrees under load, despite its heavy over-clock, but it also means this is a noisy beast. Even with all the case fans turned to their slowest setting, the Phoenix is audible from quite a distance, and very distracting close to.

We are not sure why, but turning down the fans to their minimum speeds for a slightly quieter experience resulted in the overclock regularly failing, requiring a cold boot. Since the CPU remains within operating temperatures, we can only assume some other component is actually getting overheated. Speaking of noise, it is also worth noting that the 850W CoolerMaster modular PSU used in this system seems to develop an irritating whine after a while. However, given CoolerMaster’s good reputation and usual quality, we hope it is just a once off fault.

Features:

As far as specifications are concerned, despite the premium £2,800 price tag, CyberPower has managed to squeeze into the Infinity i7 Phoenix a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-920 processor and an Asus X58-chipset motherboard. The Other highlights include an AMD ATI Radeon 5970, which is the fastest graphics card money can buy and 80GB Intel X25 SSD main drive.

Processor:

The Infinity i7 Phoenix processor might not sound too impressive, as it is the cheapest and lowest clocked offering in the i7 9xx line-up, but CyberPower has added water cooling to push this CPU up to a stable 4GHz, which is significantly faster than the slightly over-clocked Core i7 975 Extreme Edition found in the Celsius ULTRA. It has more RAM than you can shake a Villazon at, a lightning-fast SSD boot drive and the fastest single-PCB GPU around. As you can imagine, there have been some compromises made, so, the question is, where? However, f or the most part these have been made intelligently, minimising the performance hit. The Intel Core i7-930 with triple channel memory architecture demands memory is installed in groups of three. Hence, 6GB of system memory is installed in this Infinity PC rather than the 8GB found in the Arbico and Chillblast.

Motherboard:

As we had mentioned earlier, the CyberPower Infinity i7 Phoenix Desktop Computer is based on the Asus’ socket LGA1366 X58 P6T motherboard, which is a very popular choice among the assemblers and it is also used in PC Specialist Vortex i950; which is hardly surprising. Though it is not as fancy as the one we might have expected out of the price tag of this PC, nonetheless, it is quite reliable and provides all the basic features you need.

Memory:

Memory comes in form of Samsung SpinPoint F3 ‘traditional’ hard drive for your multimedia collection. This provision of the CyberPower Infinity i7 Phoenix desktop PC is more than adequate for most people. However, you will be able to experience faster setups from SSD or Raid 0 arrays. The Phoenix also doubles that machine’s already prodigious memory capacity, coming with an incredible 24GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 RAM. This is pretty much the most memory you will find in any non-server or high-performance PC, and it is a large factor in the machine’s price. The storage array is where the biggest drop in performance will be felt, though plumping for only a single X25 M SSD as the boot drive will still give you an enormous boost over any HDD-based solution you are used to. The not so humble 80GB Intel X25 SSD is the fastest overall SSD we have yet tested.

The RAID pairing is incredible, but the twinning of the single drive and the massive 24GB RAM means that the desktop speed of the Phoenix is still lightning quick. You could arguably halve the RAM and save yourself some cash without impacting performance too much, especially if you went for faster memory as well.

Graphics:

The major disappointment is with the choice of the graphics card. When you are spending between £550 and £620 on the graphics the cash difference between getting two HD 5870s in CrossFire and a single dual- GPU HD 5970 is negligible. The performance difference though can be huge. This is where the Phoenix drops performance points and in a place where it really did not need to. You will still end up having to cope with the vagaries of CrossFire with the HD 5970 so, you might as well drop another £50 odd on the faster cards. Customise the rig on the site with 12GB of 1,800MHz RAM and swap out the 5970 for twin 5870s and you will be able to save over £200 on the list price.

Software:

When it comes to software, CyberPower has left you with a very clean PC in every regard: there is no excess software and the wallpaper is plain, with only shortcuts for the CyberPower UK Steam Game Clan and forums on the desktop. Naturally a 64 bit version of Windows 7 Pro is installed to take advantage of all that memory, but aside from some Creative apps that’s pretty much it.

Performance:

Though there have been a few compromises with the specification, the performance seems to be very good nonetheless. Its factory over-clocked graphics card means that the gaming performance from its GTX 470 is just as good as the DinoPC’s GTX 480. What we have here is a responsible specification on a machine that is ready to take whatever you throw at it, whether you are just gaming or breaking your head with your own version of Avatar. The PC’s Asus P6X58D-E motherboard supports both USB 3.0 and 6Gbps SATA. You can also expect better performance from its X58 chipset than the P55 model used by the Core i7 800 series CPUs. What is more? Apart from the six memory slots and the triple channel memory supporting up to 24GB, there are also three PCI Express x16 slots, two of which operate at x16 speed simultaneously.

Audio is as important as the graphics when it comes to gaming and the CyberPower Infinity i7 Phoenix also lives up to its price tag. It sports the Creative X-Fi Gamer sound card that brings EAX 5.0 HD for the best sound effects in games without placing much added load on the CPU. Though a distinct sound card is no longer the necessity it once was in terms of features, they still greatly outshines onboard solutions for absolute quality.

Warranty:

CyberPower offers Infinity i7 Phoenix desktop PC three years warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

CyberPower’s Infinity i7 Phoenix desktop PC delivers tremendous upgrade potential, excellent performance and good value. The options of graphics card is disappointing, still, the Phoenix is a well put together rig, spotlessly tidy inside and stress tested to within an inch of its life to make sure the setup is stable when it gets to you. If your question is if this PC is worth its bulky price tag, then when compared to the recently released Fujitsu Celsius Ultra gaming PC, the answer is a big yes. This one has an excellent built and also has a faster, water-cooled CPU; more connectivity and features; a graphics setup that’s quieter, more frugal and yet offers better performance; double the RAM; a far faster primary hard drive, and the list goes on. It is simply a superior machine in every way. It is one of the fastest gaming machines around. CyberPower has managed to provide a clever combination of components to give you close to the best of everything. We give this model a big recommended.

Check other Gaming Desktop PCs Reviews in this website.

CyberPower Infinity i7 Phoenix Gaming PC – Technical Specification Table

For a long time now, Apple’s Mac Mini has been the manufacturer’s odd child, as it has been the only mass range desktop machine from the brand that does not have a complete in-built experience. However, people had fallen in real love with this weird thing and they seem to be doing some really awesome stuff with it. These Mac Minis have been stuffed inside anything and everything and, one thing that is very well known is that, people have been long connecting it to the HDTVs and doubled them as media players.

The Mac Mini is small, compact, silent, comparatively potent, and above all, it is a real computing system, and hence, you will be able to play any file you feed into it. Now, it seems to have become much more striking as a home theater computer as Apple has given it a complete makeover. It has its price up by a considerable amount too, so, let us find out if the Mini is worth the high-end price tag and if it is the nicest tiny computer for your lounge.

Design:

Make over:

The Mac mini has always been a beauty, but this one seems to be a super duper model. Apart from the obvious beauty, as soon as you look at it, it will be great beneath your television. Since Mac Mini’s introduction in the year 2005, it is this 2010 version that has received a major redesign. While this has been partly a evidence to the modest good looks of the earlier design, obviously, it has managed to merge very well with each and every Apple designing that has been around in the previous 5 years. At the same time, the new make over is promising to be equally attractive by being simple and given a deep thought. As you can see, the major real estate of the casing is the anodised aluminum unibody, that is less thick than the predecessor models by a 1 ¼”, but quite big around at 7 x 7 inches square.

Actually, fact wise, the latest and old Minis are basically the similar size by volume. Hence, the new Apple Mac mini 2010  is just a flattened version of the previous model. Having said that, this Mini does not actually sit flat, it is raised off the ground by a few millimeters on a spherical pedestal. This is caused by two reasons, one being the fact that the lip on the fascia sports an inlet, which is vented out the rear and the second reason being its creative concealing of the WiFi antenna, which would otherwise be muted by that all aluminium enclosure. You will also find a 2nd matching WiFi antenna and a Bluetooth placed on the plastic rear panel that provides a very essential 360degree coverage. And, the new mini looks like nothing similar to the Apple TV but we will discuss in detail about this comparison in a while.

Connectivity features:

Moving on to the all important connectivity in the rear, we have to say that they are pretty standard. The SERIES of ports include four USB, HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, mini DisplayPort, FireWire 800, an SDXC card slot, mic in, and audio out, supporting optical out as well. As we have just indicated, Apple has tried and included everything you will ever need with this PC, so that you will be able to experience all of its features as soon as you unpack it. Again, to fulfill this quench, they have also included the HDMI to DVI adaptor and, hence, can also get a VGA mini DisplayPort adaptor. Since the HDMI included in HDMI1.3 compliant, it will also be able to give you about 8 audio channel and even displays of resolution 1920 x 1200 pixels. Similar to the predecessor Mini, you can use both of the display ops at the same time, it supports a max res of 2560 x 1600 pixels.

We have to mention here that, this is the first time Apple has included an SDXC slot, mounted at the rear, which makes it slightly more convenient to transfer media to or from external devices such as a digital camera. So, now you have the right to expect to see that on other SD equipped Macs as time goes on.

Features:

Reveal the RAM:

On flipping over the Mac Mini 2010 Version PC, you will be able to find a circular access door that can be twisted off to get your hands over the RAM. You will find it really hard not to marvel the sheer Apple-likeness of the panel the very first time you place your eyes over it and interact, it just reminds us no other brand takes computers like Apple. As standard, this PC has 2GB of 1066MHz DD3 memory, which is separated into 2 1GB modules. This memory is upgradable to a max of 8GB for a really costly price tag. And, you get to choose between a 500GB and 320GB.

But, on opening this panel, you will not be able to get into anything else than the RAM as the hard drive of the Mini is not user replaceable. We feel this is very silly as most hard drives have the bad character of failing specially when they are run on non stop servers and video playback devices. And, we would much rather have a hard time upgrading the RAM once at the birth than feel helpless about replacing a faulty hard drive.

The Insides:

The insides of the Mini is quite similar to the MacBook. CPU and graphics have had a makeover too, though the Intel Core 2 Duo CPU has got just a small improvement from 2.26GHz to 2.4GHz.  The most noticeable change is the new Nvidia GeForce 320M GPU that has managed to get an upgrade from the old 9400M chip, bringing 3D performance up to the level of the entry level MacBook Pro. This chip will not pull up any trees, but does offer some promise for gaming. The one omission that can be felt is a Blu-ray drive.

Mini in living room:

While consumers have been making use of the Mini as the basic Home Theater PC for a number of years now, the HDMI port in the new model has made it seem as if Apple has given this little machine its approval to conquer the lounge. It is not as simple as you think it is; if you are eager to just replace your Apple TV with the Mini, well you have something very exciting coming on the way. To begin with, all of the HDMI ports gives you an easier way of interconnection, which otherwise means you are still sitting with a complete computer, and not a media PC.

That said, the mini is a capable little Home Theater PC once you get it set up and going with the software of your choice. Since the mini can output up to eight audio channels over HDMI, it is also capable of technically running a full 7.1 surround system from it. As we had mentioned earlier, you will not be able to just hook this up to a TV and go, you will have to pamper it a little if you want the best experience out of it.

Performance:

What We Know:

As far as performance of this Mac Mini is concerned, we sure know what a core 2 duo2.4GHz can do with a 1066MHz, as this is what Apple had employed in all of its systems since 2008. Its performance is similar to that of a mid range laptop. Because of its 5400rpm hard drive, the disk intensive applications can be slow. The graphics processor is better than the ones in previous generation and reasonably fast too.

WiFi:

When the Mini was tested for its WiFi smartness on a 5GHz WiFi network, it suffered zero problems. This just implies that this little trick of the second antenna that had been placed at the rear for 360 degree coverage effective. Now, we will examine how it fares with others having larger or more complex WiFi setups fare.

Gaming:

One major area where the Apple Mini struggles is, when it comes to gaming performance. Even though the GeForce 320M will be able to handle the less taxing games and even the ones with lower resolutions, it just hangs once you crank things up.

Cool and Quiet:

We guarantee that you will hear any kind of noise from the Mini as it is exceptionally quite and the fan’s noise never seems to kick in, even as you play games or watch any kind of videos. We are not trying to say that there was no fan working, but it is just that we never heard of it. With the recent experiences with incredibly obnoxious MacBook Pro fans, we are subjected to marking that in the boons part. The Apple Mini also seems to be laudably cool and we were never able to feel it get even slightly warm after a full day of testing.

Power Saver:

On testing we could say that it was not a ton of a computer as you will be able to get any number of Core i5 PC towers with similar GPUs at the same price tag. But as always with Apple, that is not exactly what it is aiming for, and what you lose in raw computing power you gain in saved power and this is because the Mini consumes lesser than 10 watts of power when idle, peaking at 23W during its boot sequence, which is lesser than almost every other rival machine.

Warranty:

Apple Mac Mini 2010 comes with one year warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

The new Mac Mini 2010 is a beautifully engineered piece of equipment, it brings in a better graphics, more memory and a brand new design. Other notable additions to the Mac mini: an SD card reader, integrated power supply with lower energy consumption and HDMI output, you can plug the Mini straight into your TV. And that is really just it and the Mac Mini is simply yet another Mac, except the fact that it is one that is much simpler to connect to your television. If you wish to have a complete computing machine in your lounge, it is a great way to begin with, since it is quite small, noiseless, chill, and speedy.

You need to be just aware that enjoying the best out of the Mini is not necessarily just that easy, unless you are eager to spend a great deal of time playing around with the semi vague apps such as Audio MIDI Setup, and having a Mini beneath your telly may cause a lot of issues than it might actually solve. As a first for any mac, its HDMI port addition has made it dead simple to be added to your HDTV set. However, on the other side, the base price of the only stock consumer has gone up by a considerable level, and to be straightforward, some of the much cheaper PCs have had a HDMI port forever. Once you factor a monitor and peripherals into the equation, Apple’s entry-level MacBook offers similar specs and better value. The entry level consumer model, reviewed here, will set you back £650. The mini with Snow Leopard Server is available for a starting price of £930, and trades its optical drive for twin hard disks.

Apple Mac Mini 2010 Desktop PC – Technical Specification Table

Asus has had encouraging sales in the laptop segment for a few years now, but we have not seen the Taiwanese company dishing out many products in the desktop PC segment. However, over the past couple of months they have launched several mini PC models such as the Asus Nova P22 and Asus Nova PX24.  Their product the Asus Nova Lite 2L PC hopes to compete with Apple’s highly successful mini PC – the Mac Mini.  Dubbed by some as the ‘World’s smallest PC that can play HD’ the desktop is a viable choice for people who find space a big constraint.  The Nova Lite 2L PC happens to be a Media centre PC and that is reasonably priced and well styled giving a gap from all the dull models in the market. Is this the PC you are looking for? Read on to find out.

Design:

Incredibly small:

The Nova Lite Mini 2L is easily the best looking Media centre PC in the market. But the first thing that captivates anyone’s attention is the incredibly small size of it. Roughly around the size of a Da Vinci code paperback, we wonder how something this small could be a PC. It measures 231 x 184 x 51mm and weighs a meager 1.5kgs.  That means it is roughly about the size of the Mac and a pound heavier. This small beauty has an inner volume of two L when compared to the 20-30 liters a standard desktop has.

First Impressions:

The Nova Lite uses a silver and black colour theme that could be better executed. Most of the desktop has a black glossy finish and is go together by a silver matte ring.  The desktop features a slot loading DVD drive and touch responsive buttons that the steal the limelight.

Flexibility of placement:

The device could be placed either horizontally or vertically giving owners plenty of flexibility. Its stylish appearance makes it easy to be placed in a study, a bedroom or a living room. A separate stand is provided to hold the device in the vertical mode as it gets a little wobbly. We suggest ditch the stand and let it lie horizontally.

Interesting pair of speakers:

Very striking piece of design in the Nova Lite is the in-built speaker. It lies under a mesh on the top panel and is pretty similar to what we see in laptops. However, this is not something common in desktop PCs of the size as the Mac Mini.  We do not expect it to be very loud and would be handy for regular users.

Connectivity:

The Nova Lite Mini 2L does not feature any front facing ports. However, do not despair; there are plenty on the back side: Four USB ports, HDMI and DVI video outputs, Ethernet port and 3 audio ports. These should suffice to most of the regular PC users. One can convert one of the audio ports to an optical S/PDIF port when the need arises to connect to digital surround sound equipment. But had a couple of ports been placed in the front, it would have been friendlier.

Features:

Hardware:

Asus calls the PC a Media centre and hence we expect loads of storage, pretty great graphics and faster processor speed. However, the Nova Lite Mini 2L does not exactly have impressive specifications. It has a 1.2 GHz Celeron M CPU, which has been a standard for entry level laptops in the earlier years. There is 2 GB of DDR 2 memory and 250 GB hard drive.  The hard drive can store about 300 SD movies or about 50 odd HD movies. The graphics are not particularly that amazing either. You can choose for the default Intel graphics or the ATI RV 620LE. Both are able to play HD video as well as handling regular PC uses but the latter is a better choice for graphics demanding applications.

Optional Wireless Adapter:

The Nova Lite  2L Mini Desktop PC features an optional integrated wireless adaptor of the 802.11b/g variety that is slower than the high speed 802.11n version. It fills great for the existing wireless network making it a great way to transfer files from the Nova Lite to devices in your network. However, we do not think that Wi-Fi is a great reason for shelling out extra cash when the Mac comes with better specifications sans Wi-Fi.

Choice of Operating System:

If you happen to buy the PC from Asus, you can choose the operating system of your choice. While it offers Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, we suggest you go for Windows 7 for all the obvious reasons. Windows XP is outdated and Windows Vista makes this machine slower than it is.  The Windows 7 Home Premium features a Media centre interface that complements the multimedia files.

Infrared Remote Control:

There is a remote control provided along with the Nova Lite Mini 2L which can be used to control the PC. The layout is rather simple and is responsive. Pressing the green Windows button would automatically launch the Media Centre that allows you to watch recorded shows, play music and video files and watch DVD movies. Like other Media centre remotes, it feels cheap  and one cannot move the on screen cursor with it.

Like most small desktop PCs, the Nova does not come along with a keyboard, mouse or a monitor which means you will have to shell out extra for spare peripherals.

Hard to Upgrade:

Customisation options are limited and Asus themselves do not offer upgrades. While one can get an upgrade done after purchase, by unscrewing the screws on the Nova, the warranty would go void.

Performance:

We have to admit it; there is no way that the Nova Lite Mini 2L could have passed our bench marks. The 1.2 GHz Celeron PC and the 250 GB RAM are not exactly great specifications but the device is capable of playing HD movies of the 720p sort assuming it does not run other multifaceted applications at the same time.  Like many other PCs of the mini variety, the device is not capable of playing games even with the high end configuration.

Movies:

The Nova Lite does a decent job of playing 720p content. However, the inbuilt speakers do not match up well. It does all the basic tasks such as Internet browsing etc perfectly well making it a decent choice for a home PC.

Audio:

The speakers are not loud at all and we suggest you connect to an external speaker if you can.

Negligible Heat and Noise:

Because the device is so small and uses low end components, it does not create much temperature and hence there is no need for a great amount of cooling. Asus claims to have used a unique tranquilizer technology that allows integration of an optimized system air flow and a unique heat dissipation module. That explains the presence of a lone fan that was so quiet we could not even hear it even when we put our heads on it.

Power Consumption:

The CPU consumes 18W while in operation and about 5 W when in idle mode. So not only is the size small, but also the power consumption.

Warranty:

There is a warranty of one year on the Asus Nova Lite Mini 2L. The warranty includes toll free support as well as free hardware support. The Asus site also contains a list of trouble shooting FAQs that are sufficiently clear.

Verdict:

The Asus Nova Lite Mini 2L is of a decent price for the incredulously small form factor. It also lives up to the claims of being a media centre. There are analogue and digital outputs as well as Wi-Fi available. Also it is highly handy if you have space constraints or need a PC for the living room.  However, the PC has underwhelming specifications that render it useless for gaming. The so called hi-fi speakers are not loud even in the remotest sense of the definition. It is definitely not a hardcore office computer or a full on media centre as Asus A33 but it does its job well when the tasks are basic.  However, if you do not have intensive needs and are on a tight budget, this is a decent choice.

Check other Mini Desktop PC Reviews in this website.

Asus Nova Lite Mini 2L Desktop PC  – Technical Specification Table