Mesh Bianco X4 5750CS review
The Bianco X4 5750CS is a feature-packed system with a massive screen, but Core i5 PCs at same price have better performance.
Specifications
3.4GHz AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, 4.000000 RAM, 24in 1,920×1,080 display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
With its dazzling white case, keyboard and mouse, Mesh’s Bianco X4 5750CS looks fantastic and very different from the standard desktop PCs we’re used to seeing. If it’s a bit much for your tastes, don’t worry, as you can buy the same system in traditional black as the Nero X4 5750CS.
The system is rather noisy thanks to a lack of insulation and the constant whirr of the fast-spinning CPU fan, although it shouldn’t pose too much of a problem when it’s tucked underneath a desk. Mesh’s own-brand keyboard and mouse look and feel cheap at first, but proved to be comfortable to use. The keyboard provided an excellent typing position, although the mouse may be rather too compact for large hands.
The PC’s innards are cleanly laid out inside the compact tower case. There’s a spare 3.5in drive bay and one 5.25in bay, so you can easily add a couple of hard disks using an adaptor for the large bay. You’re unlikely to want to add anything else, as Mesh has installed a DVD writer and memory card reader.
The PC comes equipped with a 1GB ATI Radeon 5750 graphics card. It’s a decent card and supports DirectX 11, so you’ll be able to play games that support this technology. Performance is excellent, and it managed to get 53.1fps in our Call of Duty 4 test and a respectable 29.6fps in Crysis. Simply put, you’ll be able to play modern games at high resolutions and graphics settings.
Fortunately, the 24in widescreen Iiyama ProLite E2407HDS will let you play games at high resolutions thanks to its 1,920×1,080 (1080p) resolution. With an HDMI input, you can also use it for connecting other devices, such as a games console or Blu-ray player. Image quality is great, with realistic colours, although mono images have a slight blue-tint to them.
The card has two DVI outputs, an HDMI output and a DisplayPort, although you can only use three outputs at once (one must be DisplayPort in this configuration). The graphics card renders one of the Asus M4A785T-M motherboard’s PCI slots inaccessible, but that still leaves one PCI and one PCI-E slot free for upgrades, such as a soundcard or TV tuner. The system comes with 4GB of RAM but can be upgraded to a maximum of 16GB, all of which can be used by the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.
The Bianco X4 5750CS put in a good performance in our tests, thanks largely to its 3.4GHz quad-core AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. This powerful AMD processor is unlocked, which makes it simple to overclock, although you’ll definitely want to invest in larger heatsink if you plan on doing so. At its standard clock speed, the processor is impressive and the overall score of 114 shows that this PC can easily cope with any task.
The Bianco X4 5750CS is a great PC with a large high-resolution monitor, but it can’t quite compare to the overclocked might of YoyoTech’s Warbird i650cs.
Basic Specifications | |
---|---|
Rating | **** |
Processor | AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition |
Processor external bus | 200MHz (2GHz HyperTransport) |
Processor multiplier | x17 |
Processor clock speed | 3.4GHz |
Processor socket | AM3 |
Level 1 cache | 4x 128KB |
Level 2 cache | 4x 512KB |
Memory | 4.000000 |
Memory type | PC3-10600 |
Maximum memory | 16GB |
Motherboard | Asus M4A785T-M |
Motherboard chipset | AMD 785G + ATI SB710 |
Ports | |
USB2 ports (front/rear) | 3/6 |
Firewire ports (front/rear) | 0/0 |
eSATA ports (front/rear) | 0/0 |
Wired network ports | 1x 10/100/1000 |
Wireless networking support | none |
Other ports | VGA, DVI, HDMI |
Internal Expansion | |
Case | midi tower |
PCI-E x1 slots (free) | 1 (1) |
PCI-E x16 slots (free) | 1 (0) |
Free Serial ATA ports | 4 |
Free memory slots | 2 |
Free 3.5in drive bays | 1 |
Hard Disk | |
Hard disk model(s) | Samsung HD502IJ |
Interface | SATA 300 |
Total storage capacity | 500GB |
Spindle speed | 7,200rpm |
Graphics | |
Graphics card(s) | 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5750 |
Graphics/video ports | 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort |
Sound | |
Sound | Realtec ALC889 |
Sound outputs | 7.1 line out, optical S/PDIF out, stereo out, mic in |
Speakers | none |
Removable Drives | |
3.5in floppy drive | no |
Supported memory cards | CF, SD, SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick Pro, SmartMedia, xD |
Optical drive model | TSST SH-S223C |
Optical drive type(s) | DVD+/-RW +/-DL |
Display | |
Viewable size | 24 in |
Screen model | Iiyama ProLite E2407HDS |
Native resolution | 1,920×1,080 |
Response time | 2ms |
Screen inputs | DVI, VGA, HDMI |
Other Hardware | |
Modem | No |
Keyboard | Mesh KA-7A82000080 wireless keyboard |
Mouse | Mesh MA-C223+G5 wireless optical mouse |
Software | |
Software included | CyberLink DVD Suite |
Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
Operating system restore option | Windows disc |
Buying Information | |
Warranty | one year (three months colllection & return, nine months RTB) |
Price | £724 |
Supplier | http://www.meshcomputers.com |
Details | www.meshcomputers.com |