Palicomp Core i5 Blast 760OC4-24 review

We’re not massive fans of the bulky case with carry handles that Palicomp has used in its Core i5 Blast 760OC4-24 PC, but it’s something that we’re willing to overlook as the rest of the system is so good.

In fact, place the case under your desk and you won’t even notice it. This makes sense in more than one way, as it’s here that front-mounted eSATA, audio and four USB ports make more sense, as the case is angled at the top to make them easier to reach when the case is placed on the floor.

Inside, there’s plenty to love about this computer. A Core i5-760 processor is a fantastic choice, as it’s got four real cores compared to the majority of the rest of the CPU range, which are all dual-core with Hyper Threading. To boost performance further, Palicomp has overclocked the CPU from 2.8GHz to a massive 4GHz.

Needless to say, when combined with 4GB of RAM (all of which can be used thanks to a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium), the Core i5 BLAST is a fast machine. It zipped through our benchmarks with an overall score of 185, and produced a stunning score of 193 in our video editing test.

The only slight downside of this overclocking is that the system is fairly noisy due to the system fans required to keep it cool. If you place your computer under a desk you’ll be fine, but we noticed that the system was significantly louder than other PCs at this price.

Gaming performance was just as impressive thanks to the 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 graphics card. This managed a stunning 86fps in our Call of Duty test and 51.6fps in our Crysis test when run at a resolution of 1,680×1,050. Higher resolutions were no problem, either, and we managed a frame rate of 45.6fps when running at a 1,920×1,080.

This is great news, as it means that you’ll be able to use the BenQ G2420HBL monitor to its full. This 24in, Full HD model is absolutely fantastic. We found that contrast was spot-on, with bright whites and deep blacks. Viewing angles were fantastic across the board, while rich, vibrant colours produce a stunning picture. It has only VGA and DVI inputs, but it’s HDCP compliant, so you can use an adaptor to connect HDMI devices, such as a games console. There’s no need to connect a Blu-ray player as this PC comes with a BD-ROM drive already.

The quality of the supplied keyboard and mouse can often be lacking with desktop PCs, but the wireless Microsoft set isn’t bad at all. We found that the keyboard was a little bit spongy to type on, but we still managed a decent error-free pace. The mouse is basic with only two buttons and a scroll wheel, but it feels comfortable in the hand.

There’s plenty of room for connecting your peripherals, with a total of 13 USB ports. Two of these are USB3, so you can connect super-fast external storage easily for backup or should you fill the internal 1TB hard disk. A memory card reader at the front, which supports all of the common standards, is a nice addition and lets you quickly copy content from your digital camera or video recorder.

The specification of this PC means that you shouldn’t need to upgrade it, but if you want more you’ll be pleased. There are two free memory slots and the motherboard will take up to 16GB in total. There’s also plenty in the way of expansion ports, with three free PCI-E x1 and two free PCI slots.

With the Core i5 Blast, Palicomp has built a powerful machine that’s extremely fast in games. Throw in the superb monitor and you’re really getting your money’s worth. If you want a computer that can do everything, this is the one to buy.