An entry-level family PC, at a good price
We recently had the opportunity to review the Asus M52AD-Xtreme PC, and although it performed well enough, the overall cost of the machine was a little steep.
Now, though, it’s the turn of the Asus M32AD. Labelled as ‘The Perfect Home Computer’, Asus has taken the best elements of the Xtreme series and folded them into a more reasonably priced system that would work well as a family PC.
Inside you’ll find a 3.7GHz Intel i3-4170, 6GB of 1600MHz DDR3 memory and a single 1TB hard drive (with Windows 8.1 on it), along with a selection of Asus programs and tools.
The GPU used in the M32AD is an Asus-branded Nvidia GT 710, with 1GB of memory. It’s not the most powerful graphics card to ever leave the Asus factory, but for things like basic photo and video editing, along with some gaming duties, it’s powerful enough.
Connectivity is quite good. There’s HDMI, DVI and VGA at the rear of the GT 710, with three USB 2.0 ports, blocked (due to the GPU) HDMI and DVI ports, a six-port audio setup and gigabit Ethernet. There’s also a small 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac wi-fi card with an external slim antenna packaged separately in the box.
In addition to that, you’ll also find a six-in-one card reader, a further two USB 2.0 ports and a pair of USB 3.0 ports on the front console, with a DVD-RW optical drive hidden discretely behind the glossy, flip-down drive bay cover.
The design of the M32AD is very similar to that of the aforementioned M52AD-Xtreme. However, in this instance the case is coloured gunmetal grey, with black glossy sections throughout. Thankfully, Asus has decided to leave the large silver metallic, LED backlit power button intact for this model.
In terms of performance, the M32AD didn’t fare too well in the 3DMark11 test, scoring only 1,142, meaning it was rated as being less powerful than a basic laptop. Naturally, you’re not going to be playing Star War Battlefront on this anytime soon, unless you swap out the GPU and processor for something a little meatier. Saying that, though, it did perform well enough for basic work, and photo and video tests.
The PCMark8 test fared a little better, with a score of 3,556, which just emphasises the system’s suitability as a family PC.
Again, much like the M52AD-Xtreme, this Asus system is very neatly presented. It looks good, has enough internal space, and it also has some limited upgrade potential. Thankfully, it’s not as expensive as the M52ADXtreme was, though. At around £470, the M32AD is more reasonable for those who need a solid working PC and are on a tighter budget.
The included Asus apps consist of 100GB of Asus cloud storage, McAfee Internet Security, Cyberlink PhotoDirector and Music Maker Jam audio software, along with a selection of Windows 8.1/10 apps such as Netflix and so on.
Overall, it’s a good enough system for those on a budget, but it does lack some kick in the performance stakes. With a slightly better graphics card, an SSD as the system drive and an i5 in favour of the i3, it would have performed much better and would make a more appealing PC. Plus the final cost wouldn’t have been that much more. David Hayward
Another good family PC from Asus.