Systemax Reliance LT 3402 review

The squat 'pizza box' shape - where a case is much wider than it is high - was the standard for PCs 10 years ago, and we think it's due for a revival. With a TFT perched on top, it makes for a compact system that will fit on any desk.

You wouldn't expect a high-powered machine at this price, so it's not surprising that Systemax has used a budget Celeron D 330 processor and a sensible 512MB of RAM. We were disappointed that it only ran to an 80GB hard disk, which is at the low end of what you should expect nowadays.

We suggested that a compact leisure system should offer some entertainment functions. Systemax took the hint and included an external TV tuner - the AverMedia AverTV USB2.0. Its image quality and bundled software are both good, but it's a shame there's no Teletext support.

The CTX S521A flat-panel LCD only has a 15in screen - although a 15in flat-panel has a bigger viewable area than a 15in TV, so it's not quite as small as it sounds. It has a relatively long response time (the time it takes to react to a changing image) of 30ms, so there is slight blurring of video, but it's hardly noticeable. The biggest ergonomic problem with this system is noise - the din of the fans makes it one of the loudest PCs we've tested. The case also gets worryingly hot after a while.

The Systemax only has four external USB2 ports (three if you connect the TV tuner). Luckily, the inside isn't too hard to get at. There's a spare RAM slot and two free PCI slots for upgrade cards.

With a 2D benchmark score of only 934, the Reliance is no speed demon. Its dedicated graphics card (a MSI GeForce FX 5200) means it will handle basic 3D - its Doom 3 score of 2.5 frames a second shows that it won't handle the latest games, but it could be useful for classic titles or educational 3D programs.

Even if Systemax sorts out the noisy cooling, the overall spec of this system is underwhelming -there are far better value systems out there for the money.