PC Specialist PowerGlide Extreme review

The all-in-one PC market is dominated by Apple’s iMac and, to a lesser extent, Sony and HP’s machines, so we didn’t expect PC Specialist to offer serious competition. But the firm has done just that, albeit by rebranding an OEM system made by Gigabyte.

The PowerGlide Extreme has an Ivy Bridge Core i5-3570K whose four cores, 3.4GHz stock speed and 3.8GHz Turbo Boost delivered a healthy benchmark score of 0.93. That compares well with other all-in-ones: the expensive Intel Xeon-powered HP Z1 scored 1.02, and the 27in Apple iMac scored 0.83 with an older Sandy Bridge processor.

Graphics power comes from the Nvidia GeForce GTX 670, which is by far the most powerful GPU we’ve seen in an all-in-one. Its 64fps average in Crysis at Very High settings is stratospheric compared to rivals: the iMac only managed 26fps at High settings and the Sony VAIO L21 scored 33fps at Medium settings thanks to its mobile graphics chip. The PC Specialist is a gaming expert.

That performance comes with reasonable thermal figures, too. The processor’s idle and peak temperatures of 32°C and 73°C are fine, and the graphics card’s peak of 86°C is warm, but not dangerously high. There’s a high-pitched noise from the graphics card when stressed, but we’ve heard far worse from many desktops. The PowerGlide Extreme’s peak power draw of 264W is what we’d expect, although bear in mind the need for wall sockets: due to the lack of space, it requires three separate external power supplies.

It has 8GB of RAM, a 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K SSD hosting Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and another 1TB of storage in the form of a 2.5in Western Digital Scorpio Blue hard disk in a hot-swappable dock at the top. There’s 802.11n wireless, a Blu-ray reader, and speakers that provide plenty of volume and a reasonable amount of bass, even if the audio kit is lacking when it comes to clear treble sounds.

The screen is a 24in, 1,920 x 1,080 panel and, although its touch function is responsive, it feels like a nod to the future rather than useful today. PC Specialist hasn’t added any touch-specific software, so you’ll have to wait for Windows 8 to make use of it.