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PC Specialist Vanquish HD review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £999
inc VAT

This is a very capable PC with a great range of features, but we've seen similar systems with more powerful graphics

Specifications

4.4GHz Intel Core i5-3570K, 8GB RAM, 23.6in 1,920×1,080 display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

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The graphics card is a 2GB AMD Radeon HD7870. It’s a reasonably powerful card, easily up to running the latest games at full quality. We got a playable frame rate of 29fps in Crysis 2 and a blistering 80fps in Dirt 3. The card can run up to triple-monitor Eyefinity multi-screen displays connected via its two Mini DisplayPorts and one of either its DVI or HDMI port.

The matt 23.6in AOC E2450SWDA monitor’s 1,920×1,080 resolution gives you plenty of space to work in, although the display only has VGA and DVI inputs. It also has a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse set. They’re functional, but nothing special.

PC Specialist Vanquish HD

Sadly, the Vanquish doesn’t have quite as many ports as we’d have liked. There are two USB ports at the front, alongside an eSATA port and the usual 3.5mm headphone and microphone ports. At the back there are another six USB ports, of which two support the new USB3 standard. There’s also a PS/2 port that you can use to connect a mouse or keyboard, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and surround sound audio outputs.

The Vanquish HD is a capable PC that we’d be glad to own. Features such as a Blu-ray reader and an SSD with sufficient space to install software that benefits from faster read-write speeds are also points in its favour. However, the Chillblast Fusion Vantage packs in more features for the same price.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ****
Processor Intel Core i5-3570K
Processor external bus 100MHz (DMI)
Processor multiplier x44
Processor clock speed 4.4GHz
Processor socket LGA1155
Memory 8
Memory type PC3-14900
Maximum memory 32GB
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LX
Motherboard chipset Intel Z77

Ports

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

Internal Expansion

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

Hard Disk

Hard disk model(s) Kingston SH103S3120G + Seagate Barracuda ST200DM001-9YN164
Interface SATA3 + SATA2
Total storage capacity 2,120GB

Graphics

Graphics card(s) 2GB AMD Radeon HD 7870
Graphics/video ports DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort

Sound

Sound Realtek ALC887
Sound outputs 5.1 line out, optical S/PDIF out, line out, mic in
Speakers none

Removable Drives

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

Display

Viewable size 23.6 in
Screen model AOC E2450SWDA
Native resolution 1,920×1,080
Screen inputs DVI, VGA

Other Hardware

Keyboard Logitech K260
Mouse Logitech M210

Software

Software included CyberLink Blu-ray Disc Suite
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Operating system restore option Windows disc

Buying Information

Warranty one year collect and return, one year parts, three years labour
Price £999
Details www.pcspecialist.co.uk

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