Palicomp Alpha Excite review
Overclocked, great graphics, ample storage and great upgrade potential; this is a fantastic PC
Specifications
4.5GHz Intel Core i5-3570K, 8GB RAM, 24in 1,920×1,080 display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
As expected, our gaming benchmarks were no match for the AMD Radeon HD 7850 GPU, which Palicomp has overclocked for even greater performance. Completing Dirt3 with an average frame rate of 60.6fps, and Crysis 2 with an average 25.3fps, you’ll be able to play pretty much anything without having to drop detail settings. Desktop performance was equally impressive, scoring 142 overall in our multimedia benchmarks.
The Full HD Asus VS247H monitor included with the Alpha Excite has a matt display, so you won’t have any trouble with light reflections. Its colours are slightly muted compared to most glossy displays, but they also look a lot more natural. Viewing angles aren’t the best, but the LED backlight looked even and the HDMI, VGA and DVI inputs provide plenty of flexibility. A very basic Cherry Keyboard and mouse set completes the bundle.
Palicomp has done well to include a high-end graphics card with its Ivy Bridge system, yet still keep the price below £800. The three-year return-to-base warranty is a welcome inclusion, too, as is the massive overclock. It might not have an SSD boot disk, but in all other respects it’s an excellent PC.
Basic Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Rating | ***** |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-3570K |
| Processor external bus | 100MHz |
| Processor multiplier | x45 |
| Processor clock speed | 4.5GHz |
| Processor socket | LGA1155 |
| Memory | 8 |
| Memory type | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory | 32GB |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte Z77-D3H |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel Z77 |
Ports | |
| USB2 ports (front/rear) | 2/8 |
| Firewire ports (front/rear) | 0/0 |
| eSATA ports (front/rear) | 0/0 |
| Wired network ports | 1x 10/100/1000 |
| Wireless networking support | none |
Internal Expansion | |
| Case | Midi tower |
| PCI-E x1 slots (free) | 3 (2) |
| PCI-E x16 slots (free) | 2 (1) |
| Free Serial ATA ports | 4 |
| Free memory slots | 0 |
| Free 3.5in drive bays | 6 |
Hard Disk | |
| Hard disk model(s) | Seagate Barracuda (ST2000DL003-9VT166) |
| Interface | SATA3 |
| Total storage capacity | 2,000GB |
Graphics | |
| Graphics card(s) | 2GB ATI Radeon HD 7850 |
| Graphics/video ports | DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort |
Sound | |
| Sound | VIA HD Audio |
| Sound outputs | 7.1 line out, optical S/PDIF out |
| Speakers | none |
Removable Drives | |
| Supported memory cards | none |
| Optical drive type(s) | BD-ROM + DVD+/-RW +/-DL, DVD+/-RW +/-DL |
Display | |
| Viewable size | 24 in |
| Screen model | Asus VS247H |
| Native resolution | 1,920×1,080 |
| Screen inputs | DVI, VGA, HDMI |
Other Hardware | |
| Keyboard | Cherry KU-0556 |
| Mouse | Cherry M-5400 |
Software | |
| Software included | AVG Antivirus, OpenOffice |
| Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| Operating system restore option | restore disc |
Buying Information | |
| Warranty | Three years RTB |
| Price | £830 |
| Details | www.palicomp.co.uk |