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Eclipse Fusion i32R679 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £500
inc VAT

It comes with a great monitor, but the PC is a little underspecified and lacks the expansion potential of rivals

Specifications

3.3GHz Intel Core i3-2120, 4GB RAM, 22in 1,920×1,080 display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Like many PCs this month, Eclipse’s Fusion i32R679 comes with a 500GB hard disk – half the storage space you’d expect these days, even in a budget PC. The company hasn’t cut any other corners though, and the roomy case has plenty of room for expansion. Inside it, you’ll find an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a branded 650W power supply. Plus, you also get the excellent 22in BenQ G2220HD monitor.

Eclipse Fusion i32R679

This Full HD display may be two years old, but it still holds its own against the competition. Its CCFL backlight may not be as bright and even as LED-equipped monitors, but it makes up for this with bold colours and good contrast. It has a choice of VGA and DVI inputs, and Eclipse has included a DVI cable in the box, so you’ll get a crisp, pixel-perfect digital image.

There’s no dedicated graphics card – the video output is connected to the integrated Intel HD Graphics chip on the Core i3-2120. It’s powerful enough to play HD video content, but it’s not suitable for 3D gaming – in our forgiving DiRT 3 benchmark, it scored barely 13fps.

Eclipse Fusion i32R679

The Core i3-2120 is a low-end chip, but it still managed a respectable 64 overall in our multimedia benchmarks. Although this isn’t a great score, it’s still more than enough performance for most Windows tasks, and it’s only when working with large photos or videos that you might notice a drop in performance.

Eclipse has fitted the 4GB of RAM in one DIMM module, leaving a single spare slot for upgrades. However, unless you’re working with large photos or video files, you won’t notice any improvement in performance by adding more memory. There’s a free PCI-E x16 slot for a dedicated graphics card, and the branded 650W power supply should provide enough power for even the fastest cards. However the power cables are so well tidied away inside the case that you’ll have to cut them free to access a power plug for any graphics upgrade.

Eclipse Fusion i32R679

Fitting a graphics card will inevitably block one of the two free PCI-E x1 slots, but there’s also a free PCI slot. There are only two spare SATA headers so if you want to add more disks or drives, you may need to invest in a PCI SATA port expansion card: a 2-port model will cost about £25. There are plenty of free drive bays, including four that have external access.

Eclipse Fusion i32R679

Externally, expansion is somewhat limited. You get two USB ports on the front of the case and six on the rear, two of which are the faster USB3 standard. You also get three 3.5mm audio sockets for 5.1 surround sound, but there’s no optical output, and there aren’t any alternative ports such as eSATA or FireWire to support older external drives. There’s also no HDMI option for audio and video over the same cable, so this isn’t a great choice for a media PC to connect to a home cinema system.

It’s a reasonable PC for the money, but there’s nothing to get excited about here. The Palicomp Hyper Flame comes with a 1TB hard disk, Blu-ray drive plus superior gaming performance – making it the better buy.

Basic Specifications

Rating ***
Processor Intel Core i3-2120
Processor external bus 100MHz (DMI)
Processor multiplier x33
Processor clock speed 3.3GHz
Processor socket LGA1155
Memory 4
Memory type DDR3
Maximum memory 16GB
Motherboard Asustek P8H61-M LE/USB3
Motherboard chipset Intel H61

Ports

USB2 ports (front/rear) 2/6
Firewire ports (front/rear) 0/0
eSATA ports (front/rear) 0/0
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support none

Internal Expansion

Case tower
PCI-E x1 slots (free) 2 (2)
PCI-E x16 slots (free) 1 (1)
Free Serial ATA ports 2
Free memory slots 1
Free 3.5in drive bays 6

Hard Disk

Hard disk model(s) Seagate Barracuda (ST500DM002)
Interface SATA3
Total storage capacity 500GB

Graphics

Graphics card(s) Intel HD Graphics 2000
Graphics/video ports VGA, DVI

Sound

Sound Realtek HD Audio
Sound outputs 5.1 line out
Speakers none

Removable Drives

Supported memory cards none
Optical drive type(s) DVD+/-RW +/-DL

Display

Viewable size 22 in
Screen model BenQ G2220HD
Native resolution 1,920×1,080
Screen inputs VGA, DVI

Other Hardware

Keyboard Microsoft Wired Keyboard 400
Mouse Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0

Software

Software included none
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Operating system restore option Windows disc

Buying Information

Warranty one year RTB
Price £500
Details www.eclipse-computers.com

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