Labs

Asus's T3-P5945GC has the same attractive white and silver appearance as the company's AMD-based T3-M2NC51PV. This similarity is more than skin deep, and the procedure for installing components in each is exactly the same, except that this kit takes Intel LGA775 processors.

The similarity between the T3-M2NC51PV and the T3-P5945GC is no bad thing, as both kits are easy to build. The two are so similar that they share the same instruction manual, with different pages covering the variations between each model. The black-and-white diagrams are easy to follow and cover building your PC in great detail.

The cage containing

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the two hard disk bays and power supply swings out of the way to give easy access to the motherboard. Unlike the T3-M2NC51PV, which has four RAM slots, the T3-P5945GC has only two, but this isn't a critical limitation as it has the same 4GB of RAM limit as the T3-M2NC51PV.

The T3-P5945GC has the Intel cooler mount. You don't get a cooler in the box, but we found that a stock Intel model was unobtrusive and quiet. There's a PCI-E x16 slot, but our full-length test graphics card wouldn't fit, as the memory card reader is in the way. As this also contains the power switch connector, it's impossible to remove it. The T3-P5945GC has a single PCI slot for expansion, which is handy if you want to add a TV tuner or wireless network adaptor.

Performance was very good, and the T3-P5945GC was the third fastest Intel-based barebones kit in our Shopper application benchmark tests.

Although the T3-P5945GC isn't perfect, it's one of the best LGA775 barebones kits in our group. It's easier to build than Asus's cramped P3-P5G33 and it's almost £100 cheaper than Shuttle's SG31G2. It's a great choice if you want a cheap, easy-to-build barebones system and don't want to fit a high-end graphics card.