Mesh Matrix A10 7850K – CS review

The Mesh Matrix A10 7850K – CS is packing the most powerful of AMD’s new Kaveri processors, the quad-core A10-7850K. Running at 3.7GHz, it’s the most capable of the range in terms of both raw processor power and 3D graphics performance.

In our application benchmarks, the Matrix A10 managed an excellent overall score of 72 which, although not quite the best score we’ve seen from this processor, puts the Matrix A10 firmly at the more powerful end of the budget PC market. The on-chip GPU’s performance was also good, with a frame rate of 55.3fps in Dirt Showdown at a resolution of 1,280×720, 4x AA and High quality. It wasn’t quick enough to play our 1,920×1,080 Ultra quality test smoothly, but if you want to take advantage of the supplied monitor’s native resolution in games, you’ll be pleased to know that dropping Showdown’s quality settings to High was enough to bring the frame rate up to a smooth average of 35fps. Even the minimum frame rate in this test was still a playable 29.4fps.

The PC’s interior looks a little cramped at first glance, but there’s around 340mm of depth to play with if you want to fit a large graphics card at a later date, although it’s nearer 300mm if you also want to fit a front fan. The drive cages, which provide two 5 1/4in bays, an external 3 1/2in bay and two internal 3 1/2in bays, are a little bulky and you have to unplug the PC’s hard disk to get at the RAM, but we had no major difficulty in accessing any of the other components. The system is fitted with a single rear fan, but most of the PC’s noise comes from the generic 500W PSU, the fan of which emits a high-pitched whine. Fortunately, the case’s side panel, although heavily perforated, does a fair job of cutting this noise out.

The MSI A78M-E35 motherboard is compact, with only two memory slots, both of which are populated by 4GB modules of 1,600MHz DDR3 RAM. This makes upgrading a little more complicated than we’d like: if you want more memory in the future, you’re likely to have to buy a new set of two 8GB modules. As well as a PCI-E x16 slot for a possible future graphics card upgrade, the PC has a PCI slot and a PCI-E x1 slot. Note, though, that the PCI-E x1 slot will be blocked by most graphics cards if you populate the x16 slot. The motherboard supports AMD Dual Graphics to link the on-chip GPU with a compatible graphics card for extra performance.

There are six SATA3 ports, four of them vacant, one connected to a 1TB hard disk and the other plugged into the system’s DVD-RW drive. The motherboard has a USB3 header, which is hooked up to one of the two ports on the front panel. The other is connected to a standard USB header. The motherboard’s back panel has six USB ports, two of which are USB3, as well as PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports. There are three 3.5mm stereo outputs which can be configured for 5.1 analogue surround sound and three graphics outputs: HDMI, DVI and VGA.

The PC comes with an Iiyama ProLite E2278HSD monitor, which is a 22in matt LCD screen with DVI and VGA inputs. Its matt finish means it suffers less than glossy displays from reflections from overhead light sources, but the disadvantage can be that matt displays often have somewhat less vivid colour than their glossy counterparts. Fortunately, the E2278HSD is pleasing to the eye and did well in our contrast test, with our calibration device reporting a contrast ratio of 942:1 with a deep black level of 0.23cd/m2. We also ran colour tests, which reported that the monitor was accurately reproducing 91% of the sRGB colour gamut: excellent for a display supplied with a low-cost system.

The PC’s keyboard and mouse are a standard Logitech MK120 set: cheap but comfortable to use and sturdy enough to be a reasonable long-term choice for a family computer. The Mesh Matrix A10 7850K – CS comes very close to being our new favourite £500 PC, with an excellent processor capable of good performance in both our gaming and application benchmarks. However, it’s pipped to the post by the Palicomp AMD Kaveri Evolution, which has greater upgrade potential and a larger monitor.