Mesh Matrix A10 7850K – CS review

There are six SATA3 ports, four of them vacant, one connected to a 1TB hard disk and the other plugged into the system’s DVD-RW drive. The motherboard has a USB3 header, which is hooked up to one of the two ports on the front panel. The other is connected to a standard USB header. The motherboard’s back panel has six USB ports, two of which are USB3, as well as PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports. There are three 3.5mm stereo outputs which can be configured for 5.1 analogue surround sound and three graphics outputs: HDMI, DVI and VGA.

The PC comes with an Iiyama ProLite E2278HSD monitor, which is a 22in matt LCD screen with DVI and VGA inputs. Its matt finish means it suffers less than glossy displays from reflections from overhead light sources, but the disadvantage can be that matt displays often have somewhat less vivid colour than their glossy counterparts. Fortunately, the E2278HSD is pleasing to the eye and did well in our contrast test, with our calibration device reporting a contrast ratio of 942:1 with a deep black level of 0.23cd/m2. We also ran colour tests, which reported that the monitor was accurately reproducing 91% of the sRGB colour gamut: excellent for a display supplied with a low-cost system.

The PC’s keyboard and mouse are a standard Logitech MK120 set: cheap but comfortable to use and sturdy enough to be a reasonable long-term choice for a family computer. The Mesh Matrix A10 7850K – CS comes very close to being our new favourite £500 PC, with an excellent processor capable of good performance in both our gaming and application benchmarks. However, it’s pipped to the post by the Palicomp AMD Kaveri Evolution, which has greater upgrade potential and a larger monitor.