You can’t beat a desktop PC. Although they’ve been overshadowed by just about everything recently, the fact that they’re comfortable to use and can be upgraded easily means that they’re still our weapon of choice when it comes to both gaming and general computing.
1. Acer Revo RL100 – $474
A triumph of form over function, Acer’s ultra-tiny media center PC includes a slide-out backlit touchpad keyboard. It also packs a Blu-Ray/DVD-RW combo drive, with an Nvidia Ion 2 processor to power those high-definition films and a touch of light gaming. An integrated digital TV tuner means that it will compliment a plush home cinema set up quite nicely, and it runs very quietly. It’s not the cheapest media center option, but it does perform perfectly adequately.
2. Shuttle SX58H7 - $469
A great place to start your media centre PC. Stick a Core i7 CPU, some DDR3 RAM and a DX11 graphics card in this barebones PC and you’ll have a fully-fledged unit that’s actually capable of running the latest games. It’s got a compactl form factor, and it’ll certainly look the part next to a TV of epic proportions. It is a tad pricey for what it is, but in recent years Shuttle has got tiny PCs like these down to a fine art.
3. Dino PC Evolution 2600K – £1,799
£1,800 is a lot to drop on a PC, but you get what you pay for. This cutting edge machine includes an Intel i7 2600K chip overclocked to an immense 5GHz. It’s one of the fastest PCs we’ve ever seen, and able to handle just about everything we threw at it. It comes packed in a lovely, ultra-cool case, with SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0 ports for high speed connectivity. This particular Dino is far from extinct.
4. Cryo PC Nemesis – £1,850
Another pricey i7 2600K-based system, and this one comes with a fetching pink case. Although the chip’s overclock is 0.1GHz lower than Dino’s offering, it’s still a beast of a machine, and eminently capable. You get a mouse, keyboard and two-year warranty thrown in for the price, as well as a 64GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. Graphics are covered in the shapely form of the Nvidia GTX 580. There are better systems out there, but they cost far, far more.
5. Lenovo IdeaCentre C200 – £445
Despite the hype, all-in-one touchscreen desktop PCs never really took off, no thanks to the ubiquitous iPad and subsequent tablet PCs. If you’re going to get one, though, make sure it’s the Lenovo IdeaCentre C200. Its luxurious black finish and curvy aesthetics make it stand apart from the crowd, and a wonderful 18.5″ LCD display begs you to reach out and touch it – literally. Perfect as a family PC in the living room, or as an addition to a technologically-augmented bedroom.
6. Apple iMac 27-inch 2011 – $1,896
The mighty Apple’s first venture into the world of Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors comes in a 21.5-inch form factor (below), and this whopping 27-inch model. It’s the most powerful iMac we’ve ever seen, and it totes a 2TB HDD in partnership with a 256GB SSD so it doesn’t get too bogged down. Graphics are catered for with an AMD Radeon HD 6970M, and as gaming on Macs becomes more popular you’ll need every megabyte of its 1GB of DDR5 memory. It looks pretty darn nice, too.
7. Apple iMac 21.5-inch 2011 – $1,421
Apple’s smaller all-in-one addition is a powerful upgrade from 2010 models, and not hugely pared down from its bigger 27-inch brother. Its 21.5-inch screen doesn’t need quite as much power, and the price reflects this. The graphics chip – a HD 6750M in this case – can handle games and video editing, and there’s even a built-in 720p camera to take advantage of Apple’s FaceTime. Just about everything impressed us here, and it’s a great first step if you want to move away from Windows.
8. YoYoTech Dragon F-58 – £599
Sitting firmly at the cheaper end of desktop PCs, YoYoTech’s scaly computer packs a surprising amount of power for the price. The graphics card – an AMD Radeon HD 5850 – is at the heart of the beast, and it’s able to chomp through demanding DirectX 11 titles. It comes overclocked out of the box, too, and we have a lot of faith in YoYoTech’s expertise. It’s not the best PC you can buy, but it’s certainly the best at this price point.
9. NoFan SET A40 fanless bundle – from £399
Not hearing the whirr of a fan when you power up your PC may be a little discerning to some, but, as the name suggests, NoFan’s PC is completely silent. This is thanks to a humongous passive cooler that sits atop the CPU, and a completely silent 400W PSU. You’ll need to add all the usual components (motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive and graphics card), but QuietPC will provide a pre-built rig for a premium. Totally innovative, and worth paying extra for a little piece and quiet.
10. Chillblast Fusion Rocket – £750
Another reasonably-priced gaming rig, the Chillblast has a trick up its sleeve: flash the BIOS of its AMD HD6950 and you get a fully-fledged HD6970, giving you a £300 graphics card for the price of a £200 one. Chillblast has installed this transmographying graphics card in conjunction with some reasonable components, such as a Core i5 2500K processor overclocked to 4.5GHz, and a 1TB hard drive. A great little performer, especially given the reasonably low price.
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