Arbico
i5357 eXcel
With excellent performance, updated
components and compact case, Aribco i5357 is a useful PC for home use or
business.
Arbioco 85357 eXcel comes with 24in monitor,
Blu-ray disk drive and two stereo speakers, no subwoofer for bass enhancement.
Our Arbico model provided runs on Windows 7
OS, yet its motherboard gains Windows 8’s certificate. Intel B57 Express
chipset offers natural support for SATA 6Gbps connection and USB 3.0.
Powered by Intel Core i5-3759 3.4GHz, with
SSD OCZ Agility 120GB HDD accelerating speech of loading apps, Arbico impressively
got 176pts in our WorldBench 6 test. Only systems from Chillblast and Quite PC might
achieve higher score, both used “K” version which can be overclocked due to
Core i5 CPU. Chillblast also doubled RAM’s capacity.
Gaming and media performance were enhanced
by AMD Radeon HD 7770 graphic card, which provides sufficient power for you to
enjoy latest games without any decrease in quality. If gaming is not favorable,
you can ignore this card, though we suggest upgrading processor to Core
i5-3750K which delivers faster integrated graphic processor.
In tests of converting via CyberLink
MediaEspresso, we completed in 5min and 23sec. If you are due to make more
video conversions, Virtu utility installed on motherboard will accelerate the
process more. Virtu uses integrated GPU, thus K-version will be useful,
accordingly.
Arbico is one of the most expensive computers
in our group. Meanwhile, Elite Raven, from CCL is $195 cheaper and Chillblast
Fusion Orb also provides better value ($1199), with Wi-Fi, card reader and
webcam.
|
Info
·
RRP: $1,199
·
Website: www.arbico.com
Verdict
·
This PC brings good performance and compact
case. Its motherboard is compatible with Windows 8, plus Arbico also features
Blu-ray drive. However, it doesn’t have Wi-Fi and subwoofer.
·
Design: 3.5/5
·
Feature: 4/5
·
Performance: 4.5/5
·
Value: 3.5/5
·
Total: 4/5
|
CCL Elite Raven
CCL
Elite Raven
For $1049, CCL Elite Raven is cheaper than
any rivals in our group test, by nearly $195. Despite the low price, its Intel
Core i5-3450 quad-core 3.1GHz processor enables CCL to perform well. Elite
Raven’s 161 score in WorldBench 6 test was an obvious evidence of a processor
corresponding home use.
CCL also includes AMD Radeon HD 7770
graphic card which allows for as fast gaming as priciest PCs in this test. Raven
got 147fps and 102fps in Crysis 720p at Low and Medium setting.
There’s no room in the budget for SSD, and
you won’t find things, like Wi-Fi or webcam, but you have 24in monitor and
Blu-ray disc drive. For $37.5, you can also add an external Logitech S220 audio
system.
Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D2V (v2.0) motherboard uses
Intel H61 Express chipset. It lacks some features (SATA 6GBps, for instance) of
some later chipsets, but Gigabyte added support for USB 3.0 and PCI Express
3.0. As a result, a budget but powerful PC was born. Although this version of
the board didn’t obtain Windows 8’s certificate, the board’s remade version
(v2.1) is compatible with Windows 8.
Given lack of space, CCL’s case (the
group’s smallest one) appears an appealing option. However, it is not the most
impressive. The case doesn’t provide any cable management, despite that CCL did
use wires to bind messy cables of 450W XFW power supplier.
|
Info
·
RRP: $1,049
·
Website: www.cclonline.com
Verdict
·
CCL Elite Raven is the most budget system of
our group test due to a reason: improving performance, speaker, Wi-Fi and SSD
to making it on par with rivals will increase the price accordingly. If you
don’t prefer these features, CCL is a good value system in a compact case.
·
Design: 3/5
·
Feature: 3/5
·
Performance: 3.5/5
·
Value: 4/5
·
Total: 3.5/5
|
Chillblast Fusion Orb
Chillblast
Fusion Orb
Chillblast Fusion Orb provides best
performance as well as components in this group. It may rank the first in price
segment, yet it offers better value than many PCs costing around $1,169.
Like Eclipse and Quite PC, Chillblast used Intel
Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz processor. This version can be overclocked whereas Orb’s
Intel B75 chipset doesn’t support this feature. It, of course, is useful for
faster graphic integration.
Fusion Orb achieved very high score: 193pts,
in WorldBench 6’s speed test. Partially thanks to the processor, Chillblast’s
quick response could result from OCZ Agility 3 120GB SSD. Orb was the only
system equipped with 16GB of DDR3 RAM (1600MHz).
Chillblast chose AMD Radeon HD 6850 graphic
card, which is older than Radeon HD 7770 model presenting in most systems here.
However, it also comes from higher level of performance, thus they basically
eliminated each other. HD 6850 card and 7770 HD card provide similar
performances.
24in Iiyama screen is a standard feature. It
uses IPS technology for improved color reproduction and viewing-angle far more
excellently than other screens in the group. Therefore, Chillblast is really
suitable for image-calibrating and video-playing.
Fusion Orb includes a handy card reader and
webcam, plus Wi-Fi connection via external USB adapter. One Blu-ray drive and a
pair of Logitech subwoofers would complete this suit.
Chillblast Vantage case is not fashionable
at all but it has good managements for cables and disk trays without any tool.
|
Info
·
RRP: $1199
·
Website: www.chillblast.com
Verdict
·
As one of our group’s priciest systems, yet
excellent, Fusion Orb provides much performance for Windows and gaming. It is
well equipped with IPS display, card reader, webcam and Wi-Fi, making it
deserving the price of $1,199.
·
Design: 4/5
·
Feature: 4.5/5
·
Performance: 4.5/5
·
Value: 4.5/5
·
Total: 4.5/5 |
