PC Specialist Aurea i5-650 HD review

PC Specialist's first Core i3-based system shot to the top of the Value PC category of the A List in January, but with several manufacturers already putting together more powerful Core i5 systems, this higher-end PC faces stiffer competition for the prize. To differentiate itself from the raft of recent systems, the Aurea ditches the popular i5-750 for the newer 32nm Core i5-650.

The Clarkdale core brings a host of benefits, not least a lower TDP of 73W. The increased efficiency allows the i5-650 a lofty core clock speed of 3.2GHz, and it contains the memory controller and an integrated GPU in the same package, albeit on a separate 45nm die. Together with 4GB of RAM it powered the Aurea to an excellent score of 1.94 in our benchmarks.

The ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card didn’t disappoint, either. An average of 81fps in our 1,280 x 1,024 Medium quality Crysis test was followed by 42fps in our High test, which demonstrates how comfortable the card is in the latest games despite its mid-range positioning. Only at Very High settings did the HD 5770 falter, although its 25fps average still borders on playable.

The rest of the specification is decent but with few surprises. The 750GB hard disk provides enough room for the largest of media collections and it has a DVD writer rather than a Blu-ray drive.

The chassis is solidly built but disappointingly basic. There’s no removable motherboard tray, for instance, so nowhere obvious for cables to be discreetly tucked; instead, the colourful wires from the budget PSU are strewn throughout the interior with only a token effort made to bunch them together.

The mess makes changing components a bit of a pain, but the lack of upgrade potential means that you’ll rarely have cause to remove the side panels anyway. The tiny Asus P7H55-M Pro motherboard has one PCI socket and two DIMM slots empty, and there are single hard disk and 5.25in bays free, but there's no scope for a second graphics card or any PCI Express expansion cards – if you want to add a TV tuner or wireless adapter it will be via USB.

The interior is also adorned with a large plastic funnel to improve airflow, but we found it interfering. It’s not properly aligned with the low-profile Intel CPU cooler, and we doubt such mainstream components even need assistance. The cooler itself wasn’t particularly loud: we only noticed a faint, high-pitched hum when the processor was pushed to its limits.

The rear of the Asus P7H55-M Pro offers six USB 2.0 ports, a PS/2 socket, one optical S/PDIF output and little else. The front fares slightly better, with a further three USB 2.0 sockets and a card reader.

The 22in Hanns.G Hi221 monitor exposes its budget price with a native resolution of 1,680 x 1,050 – most of today's 22in models have progressed to 1080p – and its matte grey finish doesn’t compete with the sleek design of Samsung’s panels. Screen quality is just about good enough to cope with the daily rigours of gaming and general work, although we noticed backlight bleeding on the sides and bottom of the panel.

The rests of the peripherals are better, with a decent pair of 2.1 speakers, and a comfortable if basic wireless keyboard and mouse, both provided by Logitech. These budget peripherals undoubtedly contribute to the low price.

The Aurea doesn't appeal in aesthetic terms or as an all-round purchase, but as a way to get high-end application and gaming power at an affordable price, the PC Specialist does the job.

Author: Mike Jennings