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Palicomp Phoenix i5 Sniper review

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Verdict

Lashings of power, a stunning monitor and excellent case, and all for £799. What's not to like?

Review Date: 28 Feb 2011

Reviewed By: Mike Jennings

Price when reviewed: £799 (£959 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
5 stars out of 6

Value for Money
6 stars out of 6

Performance
5 stars out of 6

PCPRO Recommended

Palicomp’s Phoenix i5 Sniper uses the Core i5-2500K processor, which is our current Sandy Bridge favourite thanks to its devastating combination of price and performance. It’s an impressive part at its stock speeds, but Palicomp has extracted even more grunt, tweaking the base clock from 3.3GHz to 4.8GHz.

The result is an overall benchmark score of 3.47. That’s one of the best we’ve ever seen, and isn’t far behind much more expensive rivals: the Yoyotech Fi7epower 4.8 scored 3.49 in the same tests. It’s also proof that the Phoenix i5 Sniper is more than capable of handling the most demanding software.

Graphical grunt is provided by the AMD Radeon HD 6950, AMD’s second-best single-chip card. An average frame rate of 50fps in our 1,920 x 1,080 Very High quality Crysis test is excellent, with few proving faster.

The Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 motherboard is loaded with 4GB of DDR3 RAM, but, while there’s a spare PCI Express x16 slot alongside two PCI Express x1 and two PCI sockets, they’re tricky to access. The graphics card is held in place by a plastic scaffold that’s attached to the chassis with a pair of thumbscrews, and this needs to be removed first. Elsewhere, the system is more conducive to upgrades, with five side-facing, tool-free hard disk bays and a modular PSU.

The Phoenix’s £799 exc VAT budget had to bite somewhere and, as such, the rest of the specification is devoid of luxuries: there’s an admittedly capacious 1.5TB hard disk instead of an SSD and a DVD writer instead of a Blu-ray drive. Still, we’re pleased to report that Palicomp has spent the leftovers on a superb chassis instead, with the Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced boasting build quality and design that’s up there with the best in the business.

Samsung’s 24in SyncMaster B2430L is another excellent choice: the 24in diagonal and 1,920 x 1,080 make it large enough for most, and quality is good throughout. There’s no sign of backlight bleed, and colours are vivid and accurate without being oversaturated. The keyboard and mouse are responsive, too, even if the Labtec branding isn’t as familiar as Logitech or Microsoft.

The only major issue is noise: while the Phoenix i5 Sniper was quiet when idling, the graphics card proved loud during stress tests.

Noise aside, though, there’s plenty to like about a system that punches far above its weight in most departments: it’s barely slower than Core i7-powered machines, the graphics card is among the best around, and its chassis and monitor are both superb. At this price it's a steal.

Author: Mike Jennings

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Comments

User comments

ok Palicomp is getting a new customer me thinks. Although I'm not sure if it's this one or the dual graphics card monster Hydra X. How quick does Windows 7 load on an SSD?

By TimoGunt on 28 Feb 2011

SSD BOOT TIME

@ TimoGunt
Thanks for yourinterest in this PC and the Hydro-X. But PCs have reviewed very well. In answer to your question an SSD typcailly boots into Windows in about 10-15 seconds. If you go to our site and search for the product code in the top right hand side of the page for this spec which is 'PHOT1' then you can see the configuaration options for the i5 Sniper. You can upgrade to an SSD drive for an extra £50. Also all Phoenix Sandybridge PCs on our site, are not being built with the new range of motherboards which are not been affected by the Intel recall. Hope you decide to place an order.

By Palicomp on 28 Feb 2011

SSD BOOT TIME

By Palicomp on 28 Feb 2011

Is there any chance of getting this base unit without the monitor?
Also with 2 graphics cards on the Hydro-X are some games not able to make use of the extra card?

By TimoGunt on 28 Feb 2011

"...all for £799. What's not to like?"

The fact that it ISN'T £799 but £959 inc VAT.

When is PC Pro going to join the real world where almost all their readers will have to pay VAT, and show prices INCLUDING VAT?

By JohnGray7581 on 28 Feb 2011

Prices and VAT

"Price when reviewed: £799 (£959 inc VAT)"

Right there, slap bang at the top of the page.

If you're VAT exempt you pay the fist figure, if you have to pay VAT you pay the second. As stated.

As very clearly stated.

I really can't see why this upsets people so much - exactly what is so complicated about it?

I think it's moaning for the sake of moaning, I really do...

By Mr_John_T on 28 Feb 2011

Arguably we all pay VAT, some can just claim it back. I always quote kit costs inc. VAT to management because that's the upfront cost of the item.

By bubbles16 on 1 Mar 2011

VAT

I've always thought it ridiculous the price is quoted primarily without VAT. If you order this product, the company will charge you £959. The fact that business users can claim VAT back later is irrelevant, unless this mag is aimed at mainly business users. Not sure how many business users are interested in the frame rate you can attain in Crisis though !

By aprogers on 1 Mar 2011

Mmm, rule of thumb says that businesses usually don't buy gaming machines, probability of VAT being claimed back on this PC is extremely low. So to be fair, the price *is* £959 after all, not £799.

By Lomskij on 1 Mar 2011

well this mag was aimed at business users which is why it was PC Pro but over the past few years it is more and more consumer till now we have reviews on an iPad stand. Now I'm not starting any flame war here because the iPad is a relevant piece of tech but it's moving away from PCs when you review a stand for an iPad. We'll have phone cases getting reviews soon

By TimoGunt on 1 Mar 2011

Noise prevention

This is a very tempting machine but I have an allergy to noise. What graphics card options are there for someone who wants to retain excellent performance but really really keep the noise down? (I'm talking nigh on passive cooling levels of quiet.) No water cooling allowed either. Thoughts?

By SirRoderickSpode on 1 Mar 2011

Very very tempting, may beat my choice to get a Fi7epower 4.8, but what temperature did it peak at during stress tests?

Apologies if it was mentioned, couldn't find it in the review.

Like the above poster, noise is an issue, obviously a degree of subjectivity, but how loud are we talking? haha

By EBear92 on 1 Mar 2011

Reduce Noise Levels

Hi All,

As the review states the PC is quiet when idling, but like most top end graphics cards out there, they get loader when gaming and under stress, at which point you have headphones or speakers on usually so wouldnt here it. On most tasks Id say you wouldnt notice any abnormal noise from the PC. On our site you can upgrade to the Arctic Freezer Pro 13 Which is a new heatsink we have just started stocking, maybe worth upgrading to this to make it quieter, or we have water cooling options on there as well. Also just a final note that we now have the new range of Sandybridge boards available so theres now no issues with the Intel recall.

By Palicomp on 3 Mar 2011

PC Pro review scores

OK, I'm confused.
I have just got the May print edition of PC Pro, and this PC is the labs winner (but not top of the A-list).

What is confusing is the difference between the scores - here it is "recommended" and has three five star scores and one six star score, but in the magazine it is the labs winner and has all six star scores.
It is the same PC (the text of the review is the same), just the scores are different...

By davest8 on 8 Mar 2011

Hi Mike, one question, the review mentions an fps of 50 for VH Crysis, what rate did it get at 16x AA?

By EBear92 on 10 Mar 2011

Sales

Just ordered one of these.

The website (suspiciously?) didn't acknowledge my order, so I had to phone and speak to a sales guy.

He was very helpful.. managed an up-sell on QJump, and 3-year Carefree Warranty (which included a sweetener of price reduction and upgraded motherboard [Asus P8P67- Pro] and upgraded power supply).

However, due to 'stock' having to swap the reviewed Samsung Monitor with an 'AOC' monitor, and update the case (for free) to the Coolermaster Sileo.

Looking forward to Monday delivery :)

By ckbridge1 on 15 Mar 2011

@Sales Update

Good news, I can have the Samsung Monitor as advertised.

Great service. Even more looking forward to Monday delivery :)

By ckbridge1 on 15 Mar 2011

@Palicomp support

Received my new computer today, as promised.

Sadly it won't boot to the BIOS screen... the fans whirl for a while then it turns itself off.

Expect a call tomorrow morning.

Very disappointed to say the least.

By ckbridge1 on 21 Mar 2011

Quick Reply

Hi,

Sorry to hear you are having an issue, Palicomp Support Dept will be on this today for you and will resolve your issue whatever it is. We have an excellent team here who can help you through setting it up and if anything has gone wrong in transit we will of course collect the PC and sort out a new one for you ASAP.

By Palicomp on 22 Mar 2011

@Support Update

Palicomp have fixed the issue with the machine, in a friendly and efficient manor. Throwing in a small upgrade owing to the inconvenience.

I can confirm the fixed/replacement machine is working, and initial impression are good, and would expect the machine to live up to it's PCPro Recommended award for many years to come.

By ckbridge1 on 30 Mar 2011

sales feedback

Also had the upsell on queue jump and warranty. Also had the upgrade on the case, so this seems standard sales practise but quite pleased anyway. Had to settle for the Benq monitor and although on spec it is a £25 upgrade, would have preferred the Samsung. They offered to take £100 off but where can you get a 24" monitor for that price! Had to phone up for a dvi adaptor for the monitor interface which they readily forwarded - got a cable from work anyway in the meantime. Pleased with the system when up and running and all in all is great value for money

By taffman on 6 Apr 2011

@palicomp support

like ckbra similar type of problem nothing on screen. new sniper delivered thursday. I intend using my own copy of windows 7. I am using tv/monitor dont know if this makes a difference ? sad to see no support available. on saturdays !

By Gorbalsbhoy on 16 Apr 2011