Product Reviews

Past reviews have shown that PC Specialist take pride in building a well balanced PC, rather than trying to grab the headlines with a high-end processor or graphics card at the expense of overall quality. So we were intrigued to see that the Apollo Q660XT, modestly priced at £699, comes with a high-end quad core processor as well as a fast ATI graphics card. Our first thought was that this would mean compromises elsewhere.

The Apollo's attractive silver-fronted case will blend into a room's decor rather than screaming for attention, but beneath that understated exterior is a powerful system. The aforementioned quad core CPU is an Intel Q6600, its four processing cores each clocked at 2.4GHz. Quad processors tend to divide opinion at the moment: some buyers reckon they're more future-proof than dual core, while others see them as overkill for a home PC. Until everyday applications are rewritten to make use of more than two cores, it's unlikely that the raw power of a quad core CPU will be used to its full potential. For a mid-range PC, a dual core chip clocked at a higher speed is probably a more sensible choice, giving more performance for the money. But of course that depends on exactly how much money is being asked in each case.

There's no denying that this processor is fast, and it's backed up by 2GB of RAM, so we were prepared for impressive benchmark results. The Radeon HD 3850 sits near the top of ATI's graphics card hierarchy, and offers solid performance for its price. But ATI's

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rival, nVidia, currently offers a better card in this price range, namely the GeForce 256MB 8800GT. We'd have preferred to see one of these under the hood.

The inclusion of the expensive graphics card and processor must have left little flexibility in the budget, so the modest 19 inch widescreen monitor is forgivable. In fact, its 1440x900 pixel resolution is a perfect match for the Radeon HD 3850, which can't handle higher resolutions in the latest 3D games. Though it's outwardly unbranded, the screen is made by ViewSonic. The black frame and stand are neat and attractive, though a little basic. The display itself proved good, with a glossy coating boosting perceived contrast and giving richer, more punchy colours. It also updated fast enough to play games without any obvious problems such as blurring or ghosting. Reflections were a problem in our harshly lit labs, but this shouldn't be hard to fix with softer lighting.

External questions

Apart from a decent monitor, the other essential ingredients of a desktop PC are the mouse and keyboard. They're often skimped on by system builders, but these are among the components that dictate how pleasurable your system is to use, day in and day out. The Apollo Q660XT comes with a wireless Logitech set that's clearly from the budget end of the range: the mouse was fine, but the keyboard suffered from a slight sponginess, without the precision to facilitate serious typing.

The speakers are also a bit of a let-down. If you only listen to the occasional song, the Logitech S220 2.1 setup will suffice, but if you fancy making full use of the subwoofer and pumping up the volume, you'll quickly find the super-lightweight stereo units sound harsh and raspy.

The Apollo Q660XT provides plenty of silicon for your money, but a few tweaks to the internal spec list could have made it so much better. Dual core processors offer better value, and a 256MB GeForce 8800GT would have improved the system's gaming performance without breaking the bank. This is a decent system for £700, but not the best possible mix.