The 27in iMac is the ultimate home PC –
faster and more connected than ever before. Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 chips
are more powerful yet more frugal – although an expected Ivy Bridge refresh
failed to appear at WWDC 2012. Still, it does come packing ATI graphics, a
higher-than-hi-def IPS screen, and two ultra-fast Thunderbolt ports. There’s no
Blu-ray drive, nor a touchscreen controls, but with a Magic Trackpad and OS X
Mountain Lion’s gesture controls, you won’t need it. And there’s simply no
other desktop PC that can match its all-in-one aluminium design
Killer
feature
Using Thunderbolt you can turn it into a
three-screened monster
Our
ratings: 5/5 stars
The all-in-one Mac may not have Ivy Bridge,
but it’s powerful, gorgeous and whisper it – great value
Zotac ZBox nano XS AD11 Plus from $453.5 5/5 stars
A PC for the post-PC era, the Zotac manages
to pack a dual-core 1.65GHz AMD Fusion processor, 2GB of RAM a 64GB SSD into
its sub-Mac mini frame – making it the ultimate net-top or media centre. You’ll
need to supply your own OS, mind you
Asus ET24INTS $1797.9 5/5 stars
If looks could kill this Asus would be a
weak prod from a blunt pencil. But what it lacks in aesthetics, it more than
makes up for with its fantastic 23.6in multi-touch screen, 6GB RAM, Core i5 processor,
great graphics and 1TB HDD. The perfect Windows 8-ready PC
Alienware from $1360.5 5/5 stars
This is a PC that’s as happy sat by a TV as
it is under a desk. It’s the size of an Xbox 360 but runs a whole lot faster –
and it’s whisper-quiet. A Core i5 processor – upgraded to Ivy Birdge – 8GB of
RAM and 1GB of Nvidia GTX 555 graphics five it plenty of punch.
Chillblast Fusion Triton $4665 5/5 stars
This 20kg gaming monster actually
represents value for money. Alongside a scarily quick Core i7 processor, 16GB
RAM, 1TB disk and a 120GB SSD, it comes with three 3D monitors (!). it’s also
refined – stick it behind the sofa and your girlfriend will never know
Dino PC Mini Carnivore HTPC $1020.5 5/5 stars
Ok, so it’s not as mini as the Zotac, but
at the size of a year’s worth, the Dino is lounge-friendly indeed, while
Blu-ray, near-silent operation, low power uptake and Xbix-quality gaming all
help. Surround sound outputs allow a home cinema setup
Wired2Fire Hellspawn Ultima $1174.5 4/5 stars
A little basic from the outside, maybe, but
appearances can deceive. Packing a Core i5 2500K processor and Radeon HD 7850
graphics, this budget black box blasts through games, running Skyrim and
Battlefield 3 at max settings without dropping a frame
Raspberry Pi $48.5 4/5 stars
Designed to teach children how to code,
this tiny PC has a mere 256MB of RAM and a single-core ARM11 chip. For those
willing to get their hands dirty, it’s a hobbyist’s dream – tiny and endlessly
customizable, its uses are limited only by your imagination
Scan 3XS Carbon SLI $6203.9 4/5 stars
Beautifully built and astonishingly
powerful, this six-core 4.6GHz, quad-GPU beast is one of the fastest PCs
around. There’s just one flaw: you can get almost-as-good for an awful lot less
cash – for near four grand, you don’t even get a monitor or keyboard
Apple Mac Mini from $858.5 4/5 stars
No computer is more beautiful than the
seamless, aluminium Mac Mini. It’s refined, too, operating with barely a
whisper and using thimblefuls of electricity. But it’s also pricey, especially
for the more powerful Radeon version, and the lack of DVD limits its outlook
Instant expert
Stephen
Graves Deep Thought
Raspberry Pi – the $48.5, everything-on-a-board
mini computer that has slotted straight into our Top10 – is about to be pureed
by the Gooseberry ($64.5), which is ripening its way towards full-time
production. The Gooseberry comes packing a more powerful, overclockable 1GHz
A10 processor, 400MHz Mali graphics, 512MB RAM, a tasty 4GB of onboard storage
(expandable via SD card), and – most importantly – Android 4.03 Ice Cream
Sandwich. And as it delivers three times the performance for just $16 more,
it’s a pretty good deal. The first batch of fruit from the Gooseberry tree has
already been dispatched, so keep your eyes peeled for more
“Raspberry Pi is about to be pureed by the
Gooseberry”
What to look for
1.
Processor speed
Still the defining component of a PC’s raw
power. Look for one of Intel’s Core i5 or i7 CPUs, or AMD’s FX-8150, if you
want the best. Remember, a fast processor may also need a lot of cooling, which
could be noisy
2.
Graphics chip
If you want to game on your computer, look
for a graphics chip by Nvidia or ATI and ensure that it has discrete memory. A
sign that it’s fast enough for fragging is if it supports DirectX 11. Powerful
graphics chips also speed up task such as video encoding
3.
Screen quality
Don’t buy an all-in-one unless you’re sure
its screen is one you can look at all day. Ideally you’ll want a color-rich IPS
or MVA panel for accurate photo editing
4.
Storage
The fastest computers combine solid-state
drives and hard disks for raw speed. Media center? Get at least a 1TB hard disk
for recording TV, and look out for Blu-ray dirvers
