Although it doesn’t have an unlocked
processor, it’s still a powerful PC well-built with an excellent monitor.
Price: $1,260
Ranking: 4/5
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Value G20
At its core, Value G20 has a 3.1GHz Intel
Core i5-3450 processor. This processor doesn’t have an unlocked multiplier, so
it’s not easily overclocked; however, its overall score of 102 in our tests
shows that it’s equally as powerful as the Intel Core i5-2500K, which used to
be our favorite processor of 2012.
The motherboard is the usual Gigabyte
H61MA-D2V. It has only two memory slots, both of which are occupied by high-quality
4GB DDR3 memory modules running at 1600MHz. However, if you want more than 8GB
of RAM, you will have to replace the existing modules; the motherboard can
handle up to 16GB. There is one PCI-E x16 slot, which is used by the graphics
card, but the motherboard has three PCI Express x1 slots. One is blocked by the
graphics card, one contains the specialized sound card, but there is still one
left for additional uses like TV tuner or USB expansion card.
The graphics card is the EVGA version of
GeForce GTX 650 with 1GB of memory. Currently, it’s not the most powerful
graphics cards, but it did a good job in our challenging Crysis 2 test, achieving
the frame rate of 16.6fps at 1920x1080 and Ultra detail. Reducing the
resolution to Very High produced a playable frame rate of 29.4fps, and the game
looked still brilliant. The graphics card has two DVI ports and one HDMI port, which
you can make use of to connect to three monitors at the same time.
The Asus Xonar DGX sound card of this PC is
a wonderful addition. Though it is a cheap card, its C-Media CMI8786 audio
processor is related to the C-Media CMI8788 processor, which was renamed to Asus
AV100 in the higher-level Asus Xonar DX card. It has a low sample rate of 96KHz/24bit
for audio playback, but it is still an outstanding audio processor. The Xonar
DGX sounds great and its drivers also provide high-quality software for
processing movie and gaming audio.
The
motherboard has only four SATA ports, three of which are in use.
The motherboard has only four SATA ports, three
of which are in use. However, as the PC has an SSD of 128GB to get the faster
boot time and a 2TB hard disc as the storage, it is not likely that you will
need to expand in the future. Nonetheless, those who love films may want to get
a Blu-ray drive along with a pre-installed DVD-RW drive.
We are big fans of the AOC 23.6-inch IPS
i2352Vh monitor, which has the excellent color accuracy and impressive wide
viewing angles. The Logitech MK120 cheap wired keyboard and mouse set is a bit
lightweight, especially for gaming, but they just do a great job here.
Although the Value G20’s processor is not
overclocked, which decreases its benchmark test score to a lower one than that
of its other rivals like Chillblast Fusion Blaze, this is still a brilliant PC with
a remarkable monitor and plenty of power to run any latest applications. If the
monitor display and quality are of special interest to you, this is a very good
buy, but when it comes to gaming and 2D applications. Fusion Blaze is more
powerful, though.
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Basic
Specifications
·
Part Code: Value G20
·
Rating: 4/5
·
Processor: Intel Core i5-3450
·
Processor external bus: 100MHz (DMI)
·
Processor multiplier: x31
·
Processor clock speed: 3.1GHz
·
Processor socket: LGA1155
·
Memory: 8
·
Memory type: PC3-12800
·
Maximum memory: 16GB
·
Motherboard: Gigabyte H61MA-D2V
·
Motherboard chipset: Intel H61
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