A Windows 10 desktop PC that puts plenty of power at your fingertips
What is it with PC makers and military hardware? We tested Chillblast’s Fusion Drone, which to our disappointment bore no resemblance to a nuclear-powered unmanned aerial vehicle. Palicomp’s Shockwave comes in a rugged black case that actually does look as if Prince Andrew should be demonstrating it to an audience of Saudi officials. LED lighting behind the grilles even emits an eerie green glow. But it’s really quite harmless.
Like the Drone, the Shockwave is based on AMD’s Athlon X4 860K processor. Palicomp has overclocked this from 3.7 to 4GHz, making it run even hotter. But where Chillblast installed a water-cooling system to prevent meltdown, this machine just has AMD’s regular heatsink and a plastic fan.
We monitored the processor during our speed tests, and it wasn’t affected by overheating. Within the Sharkoon VG5-W case the fans were never noticeably loud, although the Shockwave wasn’t as silent as the Drone. But it did edge ahead in the benchmark tests. For a £500 desktop PC, this is pretty powerful. Just don’t expect miracles: when editing video, for example, you’ll still have to wait for effects to render.
Unlike its rival Intel, AMD also makes dedicated graphics cards, and the Radeon R7 370, which costs around £100 by itself, is becoming a popular choice for its impressive games performance. The Drone had it fitted with 2GB of its own memory, while the Shockwave doubles that to 4GB. This allowed us to run current 3D games smoothly at Full HD resolution, with some quality settings turned down for the most demanding – not bad at all in this price bracket.
A 1TB hard drive with 8GB of flash storage provides decent capacity with a bit of extra speed, and you also get a DVD writer built in. There’s room to add up to six more internal drives on the fast SATA 3 connection as well as two PCI-Express and one basic PCI slot for expansion. You might want to order a Wi-Fi card because it’s not included in the price. The standard 8GB of memory can go up to 32GB. One missing feature is a fibre-optic audio output for modern amplifiers: you only get traditional 3.5mm jacks.
How to choose between the Fusion and the Shockwave? Palicomp’s three-year warranty covers only labour after the first year, while Chillblast’s covers both parts and labour for two years and then labour for three more. Chillblast will pick up your machine for service free of charge in those first two years; Palicomp only includes this for the first week.
Remember the warranty is in addition to your statutory rights, which say that if your PC goes wrong any time in the first six months, it’s presumed to have an inherent fault that the supplier must fix at its own expense. You’re also entitled to a free repair if a problem appears within six years and you can prove that it’s due to a defect, not just normal wear and tear. We’d like to see all retailers being clearer about this, but extra cover like Chillblast’s is very welcome.
On the other hand, Palicomp’s PC clearly gives you a little more performance for your money. Overall, it represents a great deal.
VERDICT
You don’t need Intel inside for a reliable system – the Shockwave shows an alternative processor can give you plenty of power per pound.
SPECIFICATIONS
4GHz quad-core AMD Athlon X4 860K processor • 8GB memory • 1TB hybrid drive • AMD Radeon R7 370 graphics card • 4x USB 3.0 ports • 4x USB 2.0 ports • Gigabit Ethernet • HDMI port • DisplayPort • 2x DVI ports • WIndows 10 Home • 430x200x445mm (HxWxD) • Three-year warranty