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Eclipse Solar Crossfire i575R487 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £650
inc VAT

The Solar Crossfire is a good-value gaming system, but the cheap case and monitor are outclassed by the rest of the PC.

Specifications

2.66GHz Intel Core i5-750, 4.000000 RAM, 19in 1,366×768 display, Windows Vista Home Premium

Eclipse Computers

Eclipse’s Solar Crossfire i575R487 is a powerful computer, with benchmark scores that rival those of PCs costing £150 more. This is thanks to a combination of an Intel Core i5 750 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 512MB ATI Radeon 4870 graphics card.

Unfortunately, these components didn’t leave room in the budget for much other high-quality kit. Our biggest problem with this approach is that the monitor tends to suffer, and Eclipse has provided a cheap-looking and small 19in Hyundai BlueH H95W monitor. Its relatively low resolution of 1,366×768 doesn’t give much room on the desktop to keep multiple windows open. Image quality is reasonable, though, and it has a DVI interface.

The Crossfire’s case feels flimsy and became warm to the touch after being left on for a couple of hours. There are no case fans at all, yet the PC is noisy even when idle. It’s power-hungry when idle, too, consuming 140W.

Inside the case, things look better. There’s space on the Asrock P55M Pro motherboard for a second HD 4870 graphics card in CrossFire mode. The PCI-E x1 slot is blocked, but there’s a free PCI slot. Memory can be upgraded to 16GB, but you’ll need to install a 64-bit operating system to take advantage of more than around 3.5GB. Two free SATA ports and five spare 3?in drive bays mean that there’s plenty of room to add storage to bolster the slightly meagre 500GB hard disk. If you want external storage, there are two front USB port and eight rear ports. Two of the rear USB ports also double as eSATA ports.

The mouse and keyboard – a Microsoft Basic set – are adequate, despite somewhat spongy keys. Unfortunately for Eclipse, the poor-quality case and monitor are both at odds with the powerful core components, and leave the Solar Crossfire feeling unbalanced. If you already have a good monitor, mouse and keyboard, however, the PC is worth buying on its own for £550, despite the flimsy case.

Basic Specifications

Rating ***
Processor Intel Core i5-750
Processor external bus 133MHz (2,400MHz QuickPath Interconnect)
Processor multiplier x24
Processor clock speed 2.66GHz
Processor socket LGA1156
Level 1 cache 4x 64KB
Level 2 cache 4x 256KB
Memory 4.000000
Memory type PC3-10600
Maximum memory 16GB
Motherboard Asrock P55M Pro
Motherboard chipset Intel P55
Power consumption standby 3W
Power consumption idle 140W
Power consumption active 268W

Ports

USB2 ports (front/rear) 2/8
Firewire ports (front/rear) 0/1
eSATA ports (front/rear) 0/2
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support none
Other ports none

Internal Expansion

Case midi tower
PCI-E x1 slots (free) 1 (0)
PCI-E x16 slots (free) 2 (1)
Free Serial ATA ports 2
Free memory slots 2
Free 3.5in drive bays 5

Hard Disk

Hard disk model(s) Samsung HD502HI
Interface SATA 300
Total storage capacity 500GB
Spindle speed 7,200rpm

Graphics

Graphics card(s) 512MB ATI Radeon 4870
Graphics/video ports 2x DVI

Sound

Sound Via VT1708S
Sound outputs 7.1 line out, coaxial S/PDIF out, optical S/PDIF out, stereo line out, mic in
Speakers none

Removable Drives

3.5in floppy drive no
Supported memory cards none
Optical drive model TSST SH-S223B
Optical drive type(s) DVD+/-RW +/-DL

Display

Viewable size 19 in
Screen model Hyundai BlueH H95W
Native resolution 1,366×768
Response time 5ms
Screen inputs DVI, VGA

Other Hardware

Modem No
Keyboard Microsoft Wired Keyboard 400 v1.0
Mouse Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse 1.0A

Software

Software included none
Operating system Windows Vista Home Premium
Operating system restore option Windows disc

Buying Information

Warranty one year RTB
Price £650
Details www.eclipsecomputers.com

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