PC Nextday 'Zoostorm 2-3413 Versatile review

PC Nextday's Zoostorm 2-3413 is the first PC we've seen with Nvidia's new budget graphics card, the GeForce 8500GT, and Intel's Pentium Dual Core E2160 processor. The Zoostorm is keenly priced at less than £500.

Despite its name, the Pentium Dual Core E2160 is more closely related to Intel's Core Duo processor, with which it shares the same architecture, than the older Pentium 4 range. Paired with 1GB of RAM, it did surprisingly well in our benchmarks. It attained a high score of 194 in our video-encoding benchmark and also did well in our multiple applications benchmark. NEC's PowerMate VL360 (opposite) was even faster, but the Zoostorm is still capable of taking on tough tasks.

Keen gamers will be disappointed by the results of our 3D gaming benchmarks. You'll have to lower the resolution or levels of graphical detail if you want to play the very latest titles. You can replace the 8500GT with a faster PCI Express graphics card if you wish, but it is quick enough for older games and doesn't share system memory like an integrated graphics chip.

The 19in widescreen monitor is a mixed bag. The 1,440x900-pixel resolution is well suited for watching DVDs or comparing documents side by side. The screen is not ideal for image manipulation, though. Although it managed to produce reasonably smooth transitions in our colour gradient tests, there was some speckling in our greyscale gradient. Large white areas looked greyish and there were some subtle but noticeable shifts in colour accuracy at different viewing angles.

No speakers are included, but the Microsoft USB keyboard and mouse are comfortable to use. The Zoostorm 2-3413's processor fan was alarmingly loud until we turned on the Smart Fan Control option in the BIOS. This made the noise more bearable, but it was still distracting.

There's no shortage of expansion options. There are two PCI slots for adding peripherals such as sound cards and wireless networking cards. There are three bays for adding more internal hard disks if the generous 250GB disk isn't big enough. A memory card reader is already built-in, so the free external 3in bay can also accommodate a hard disk if you don't want to add a floppy drive. There's also space for an extra optical drive to make disc copying easier. You may need to replace the 300W power supply if you plan to add lots of upgrades, though.

PC Nextday's Zoostorm 2-3413 is a decent, inexpensive home PC that's fast in Windows but not particularly suited for games. It is noisy, though, so the NEC PowerMate VL360 is a better choice, although it's even less suitable for games and lacks the Zoostorm's expansion options.