Aria Proteus Mirage GTK Family PC review

As well as the empty PCI slot, there’s also a spare PCI-E x16 slot. There are two PCI-E x1 slots, but one is entirely blocked by the graphics card. If you’re interested in adding more storage to supplement the 1TB hard disk, there are four free SATA ports, too. There aren’t any eSATA connections on the case or motherboard, but there is a pair of USB3 ports on the back, alongside eight standard USB ports and Firewire. There’s also a PS/2 connector for a mouse or keyboard, but the supplied Microsoft 700 wireless keyboard and mouse set require USB anyway. They’re serviceable, although the keyboard is a little light and spongy, while the mouse was sometimes slow to come out of standby.

There are only two USB ports on the front, but there’s also a memory card reader that can handle formats including SDHC, xD, microSD – often found in mobile phones – and Memory Stick. It also has a slot for a 2.5in hard disk, which lets you plug a laptop drive into while the PC is running for instant external storage.

The Proteus Mirage GTK Family PC isn’t the fastest or most powerful PC we’ve seen, nor does it have the biggest graphics card money can buy. It’s not exclusively designed as media centre and it’s not ideal for heavy duty rendering or video editing. However, it’s capable of doing all of these things competently. Whether you want to watch Blu-rays, play games or just do the household accounts, it can handle it. Such broad competence comes at a price: £800 without a monitor is at the high-end of the PC price range.

This is an excellent general-purpose PC with a specification that will last for years with only minor upgrades, but the Chillblast Fusion Whisper is quieter, has more memory and a more powerful graphics card.