All-round desktop PC that’s beyond the ordinary
Everyone in science fiction has a silly name. It’s always Grand Phage Zebulus Ka’alantis, Fourteenth Lymptus of the Bliquity of Strope – never Emma Hodgkins. There’s a lot of fun to be had in this, of course, but it can get confusing.
That hasn’t stopped marketing departments inventing daft titles for things. Cars, appliances, razors, phones – they all get the fantasy moniker treatment. And, occasionally, PCs too. Thus ‘Vibox Exile’, which sounds less like it should be sitting on your desk and more like it should be wandering lost through an apocalyptic wilderness in some dystopian sci-fi epic. If you think that’s exotic, the chassis in which it’s built is officially known as the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv. And it’s kept cool by a processor heatsink called Raijintek Themis.
The Exile has suitably space-age styling, with a ‘stealth’ feel to its squat, angular black case. Vibration-damping screws and brackets give the impression of a design that’s been carefully thought out, and because its 200mm main fan is so huge, it doesn’t have to work hard, so you’ll never hear more than a whisper
from it.
The Mini-ITX format makes this PC less bulky than a full tower, but also leaves less room for manoeuvre inside. There’s only one fast PCI-Express slot, which is already used by the graphics card, and with Wi-Fi included, no free slots are left for any other cards, such as a TV tuner. Two spare drive bays (one 2.5in and one 3.5in) let you add storage, but none is big enough for a DVD drive. Most extras can be connected externally, of course: there are plenty of fast USB 3.0 ports.
As it stands, the Exile is already a well-equipped PC. Although the quad-core Intel i5 processor isn’t the latest available, it’s still towards the upper reaches of the mid-range, and will handle office and creative tasks efficiently. 8GB of memory should be adequate, but it comes as two 4GB modules in order to maximise speed. You’d need to replace both to upgrade to 16GB, which is the upper limit.
In our tests, the GTX 960 graphics card just about coped with the most demanding 3D games even at Full HD resolution with the highest quality settings, so you’ll certainly be able to play whatever you want by turning things down a bit. Having a proper graphics card also helps with tasks like video editing, which are possible but annoyingly slow on less powerful PCs.
The PC itself is currently selling for a very reasonable £600, and for an extra £100 Vibox will add an Asus 22in monitor plus keyboard and mouse. The screen is a tad smaller than average, and obviously a budget model, but it displays nearly 96 per cent of the sRGB colour range, which is excellent at this price. We’re back in sci-fi territory with the keyboard and mouse set, Cooler Master’s CM Storm Devastator. These are made for gamers, but that’s good news for the rest of us, because the mouse is precise and the keyboard’s traditional clicky keys will please typists more than the flat tiles or mushy buttons often supplied with PCs.
Unless you want to add multiple drives, twin graphics cards or specialist extras, this is a capable all-round PC in a high-quality case. The bundle deal that includes a monitor, keyboard and mouse is great value.
VERDICT
Don’t banish it from your shortlist: the Exile has everything you need in a desktop computer except space.
SPECIFICATIONS
3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 4690 processor • 8GB memory • 1TB hybrid drive • MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming graphics • 6x USB 3 ports • 2x USB 2 ports • 802.11ac Wi-Fi • Gigabit Ethernet port • DVI port • HDMI port • 3x DisplayPort • 22in 1920x1080 monitor • Keyboard and mouse • Windows 10 Home • 375x230x395mm (HxWxD) • Two-year warranty