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Arbico has decided to go all out for screaming 2D performance with the QC 8400 Pro. Its Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 processor runs at 2.66GHz and is incredibly quick. It helped this PC achieve the top spot in our 2D tests, performing particularly well in the video-editing test, which makes full use of all four processor cores. On the downside, the Q8400 is also the most expensive of the processors this month, so to stay within the budget, Arbico has cut back in other areas. The graphics have been worst hit, with Arbico fitting a Radeon HD 4350. This £30 budget card is only a small step up from integrated graphics. It couldn’t handle our benchmarks at 1,680×1,050, and Crysis returned a miserly 1.5fps. Still, if you’re not bothered about playing 3D games, you’ll appreciate the card’s passive cooling, which keeps noise levels down. It also has an HDMI output, so you could easily connect this PC to your HD TV. A 19in Hanns.G HW191D monitor comes as part of the package, and at its native resolution of 1,440×900, Call of Duty 4 still struggled along at 10.1fps. It has VGA and DVI inputs, but viewing angles are relatively poor and colours look slightly washed out. Inside, airflow is aided by both front- and rear-mounted case fans. The 500W power supply will cope with a few extra components, which will be handy if you want to supplement the 320GB hard disk. It has 4GB of RAM, all of which is available for use, thanks to the choice of 64-bit Vista Home Premium. The keyboard and mouse clearly weren’t priorities for Arbico. The Sumvision Gaia keyboard is woefully uncomfortable to type on, and so light that you’ll be pushing it around your desktop as you type. The mouse is similarly disappointing and has a bright LED that stays lit even when the PC is switched off.
If the QC 8400 Pro’s processing prowess tempts you, just remember to factor the cost of a replacement keyboard and mouse (around £30) into the total price.
