Mesh Turbo 530 OC4.0 review

The stability of Intel's latest processsor range, means we've be seeing more-and-more overlcocked PCs in our regular labs tests. This standalone base-unit from Mesh follows the same trend, and is one of the company's first sub-£1000 overclocked PCs.

As the name suggests the Turbo 530 OC4.0 uses an Intel Core i3-530 processor, the cheapest of Intel's current line up but still with a respectable stock speed 2.66GHz. Here Mesh has pushed the core clock speed up from 133MHz to 200MHz, factor in the 20x multiplier and you end up with a £600 PC running at a fairly staggering 4GHz.

The Core i3-530 is a dual-core processor, and at stock speeds on our reference rig it scored 105 overall in our benchmarks. The overclocked i3-530 shot past that total, with a massive overall score of 140. That's a touch quicker than a Core i5-750 at stock speeds, though of course you could always tweak that processor to get more performance. Mesh has provided some fancy-looking Corsair 1,600MHz memory to aid overclocking too.

The processor is kept cool by a massive heat-sink, in fact this barely fits in the fairly uninspiring compact chassis that Mesh has selected. Airflow through the case is thanks to a 120mm intake fan at the front and an 80mm exhaust fan at the rear. Everything stayed nice and cool, though all those fans make it louder than most Core i3 or i5 PCs we've seen.

One of the first problems we noticed was the power consumption, with the clock speed locked at 4GHz you don't benefit from the usual power management. This meant it idled at a whopping 88W, compared to 53W from the last Core i3-based PC we saw from Mesh. This may not bother some people, but it's a lot of power to be using when you're just browsing the web or even simply playing a game. A 550W power supply in the bottom of the case provides plenty of power, but it's not a flashy modular design.

Overclocking the processor won't be much help in the vast majority of games, but the capable ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card is certainly up to the task. This is our current recommended buy, being good enough for all but the most serious gamers. In our tests it scored 72.6fps in our Call of Duty 4 and 35.0fps in Crysis, which means any modern game will playable at high detail levels.

At the heart of the system is an Asus-branded motherboard. Depsite an ATX-sized case, Mesh has opted for a smaller micro-ATX motherboard. This limits the number of expansion slots available, with the graphics card also blocking one of the PCI-Express x1 slots, leaving just a single PCI-Express x1 slot free, plus a PCI slot which is filled with a wireless adaptor. The latter is a handy inclusion, but bizarrely it's only an 802.11b/g model, so those with 802.11n routers won't get the best possible speeds. The system is rounded off with a reasonably-sized 750GB hard disk and the usual DVD writer.

The Turbo 530 OC4.0 is a powerful PC with good gaming potential, but it falls short in a number of areas, with niggles including a small motherboard and boring chassis. Factor in a decent 22in monitor plus input devices, and you're talking around £750 for a complete PC. Compared that to Eclipse's Matrix i75R577, with its quad-core processor, 24in monitor and 1TB hard disk, and the Turbo 530 OC4.0 starts to look a little underwhelming.