If your budget is limited, then PC Specialist’s Fusion FX-41 still offers a great deal of power for just £649. Featuring a quad-core AMD FX-4100 processor running at 3.6GHz, it offers less overall computing power than the six-core Mithras system from Braebo, but each individual core runs a little bit faster. For a number of applications, this often results in slightly better performance unless you’re running a lot of processes at once. So this is why the Fusion FX-41’s WorldBench 6 score of 134 points come out a little ahead of the Mithras’s 128. See also Group test: What's the best family PC.
The usual 8GB of RAM is included, along with a 1TB hard drive – double the capacity of the Mithras. Also included is a Powercolor Radeon HD 7750 graphics card with 1GB of memory. It’s a newer generation of card than the Radeon HD 6850 and 6870 found elsewhere, but quite a lot slower. It is however, much quicker than the Radeon HD 6450 of the Braebo Mithras.
A budget 23.6in Edge 10 M240 display is included, with full-HD support thanks to its 1920 by 1080-pixel resolution. The PC also comes with a Blu-ray drive for watching HD films on your PC. The ever-popular Logitech S220 speakers provide the sound output, enhanced by a subwoofer for extra bass.
A good set of accessorises is provided, including built-in wireless-n networking, a memory-card reader and a Logitech C210 webcam. You also get a Logitech MK250 wireless keyboard and mouse set which is slightly larger than the MK260 model, but lacks the row of hotkeys along the top.
A long, three-year warranty is provided on this system although it’s a return-to-base, parts-only agreement rather than the best collect-and-return all-inclusive policies found elsewhere.
The PCS Enigma system case is very basic, but tidy and spacious. It offers useful front-facing ports and doesn’t have the imposing looks of those PCs clearly designed to appeal more to boy gamers than families.
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