Ginger6 ND450 review

Ginger6’s ND450 is a compact PC base unit with a dedicated graphics card and a quick Intel Core i5-2400 processor – no mean feat for a £450 system. The components are basic but functional, although the Asus motherboard doesn’t provide a great deal of scope for upgrades.

There are just two memory slots, currently occupied by a pair of 1,333MHz 2GB modules. Adding more RAM means ditching the existing memory – not a cost-effective option. The PCI-E x16 slot is filled by a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card, which has DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. It’s a marked improvement on integrated graphics, as it managed a frame rate of 26.5fps in Dirt 3 at 1,280×720. The card doesn’t need a separate power feed, which is helpful as the 500W power supply lacks both 8- and 6-pin PCI-E plugs. It does have a couple of spare Molex connectors, though.

The graphics card doesn’t quite block access to the PCI-E x1 slot below it, but all but the smallest of expansion cards will obscure airflow to the graphic card’s cooling fan. Fortunately, there’s a second PCI-E x1 slot below the first, as well as a PCI slot.

There are just four SATA ports, of which two are used for the DVD writer and 1TB hard disk. The case is fairly sturdy and inoffensive in terms of styling. There’s little to keep dust from getting in or noise from getting out, but the system isn’t noisy. Like the motherboard, the case doesn’t have very much room for expansion, with just one vacant 5 1/4in drive bay and three spare 31/2 in bays, two of which have front-panel access.

If you want to attach external storage, there are two USB ports at the front and another six at the back – two support USB3. There are very few other ports – three minijacks for 5.1 surround sound audio, a PS/2 port and Gigabit Ethernet. There are also minijack mic and headphone ports at the front.

Ginger6 provides a Genius keyboard and mouse set. They’re both basic, but comfortable to use. The keyboard is a bit rattly and lacks a wrist rest, but we had no trouble touch-typing at a decent rate.

Although the ND450 isn’t the greatest for future upgrades, there’s nothing shabby about its performance, with an overall score of 97 in our benchmark tests. The Core i5-2400 processor isn’t as powerful as the more common i5-2500K, but it can handle any application you care to throw at it. The ND450 is a well-rounded budget PC that can handle most games but isn’t the best value you’ll find at this price. The Chillblast Fusion Shadow, for example, performs better and has a warranty that lasts twice as long.