PC Specialist Fusion 945 review

PC Specialist’s Fusion 945 isn’t particularly fast by current standards, especially not at this price.

Its AMD Phenom II X4 945 is hardly slow, but doesn’t compare well against the Intel Core i5 PCs that are available at the same price. The Fusion 945 is a fast PC and would have been in the running for an award if we’d seen it a few months ago. However, by opting for a cheaper processor, PC Specialist can afford to spend a bit more on the other components. Among the best of these is the monitor. The Acer 22 W is an excellent 22in widescreen display, with accurate colours and wide viewing angles.

The Fusion 945’s case is sturdy, reasonably attractive and adequately cooled. It doesn’t do much in terms of sound damping, but the fans don’t make a great deal of noise. The Asus M4A78 motherboard has three free PCI slots and one free PCI-E x1; a second is blocked off by the graphics card, a 512MB ATI Radeon 4670. This isn’t up to graphically intensive games such as Crysis without compromising on settings such as anti-aliasing, but it managed to run the less demanding Call of Duty 4 at a whisker under 30fps. If gaming is a priority, there are better-equipped PCs at this price, such as Mesh’s Matrix II 925 HD.

The 750GB hard disk provides plenty of storage. The memory card reader can handle all the usual digital camera formats except xD and brings the total number of front USB ports up to three. There are six at the back, along with an eSATA port, plus serial and parallel ports, which could be useful if you need support for old hardware. The keyboard and mouse – a wired Logitech set – are comfortable to use.

The collect-and-return warranty saves you the cost of sending the PC back to PC Specialist if a fault develops within 12 months. Unfortunately, despite this and the large 22in monitor, the Fusion 945’s specification pales next to Mesh’s Blu-ray-equipped Matrix II 925 HD and is totally outclassed in terms of power by the sheer might of the Core i5 PCs. RL Supplies’ Modula Performa is a better choice if you want great performance, particularly if you’re prepared to add extra RAM.