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I have enjoyed my time over the last week with the PCSpecialist Ignite X2 Gaming PC. It has proven in our tests to be a capable, no frills gaming PC, priced at a point to appeal to a wide audience.
When the Ignite X2 arrived with me it coincided with the release of the new Call of Duty Warzone Battle Royale, a game that I had been looking forward to trying out. I hooked up the Ignite X1 system to my 1080p 144Hz monitor and decided I would use this system instead of my own gaming PC to play the game. With the majority of graphics detail at high settings, the Ignite X1 produced solid 144 FPS in Warzone and it was a very enjoyable experience.
The Ignite X1 also performed very well at both 1080p (1920 x 1080) and 1440p (2560 x 1440) resolution in our synthetic gaming benchmark tests. However, 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution gaming is really pushing the limits of a system with this specification and the Ignite X1 struggles to maintain 60 FPS at this high resolution. Therefore, I would recommend using either a high refresh rate 1080p or 1440p monitor with this system for the best gaming experience.
Not only is the Ignite X1 system an extremely capable gaming rig, with its 12-core 24-thread AMD Ryzen 3900 processor, it is also an excellent PC for multitasking workloads and could be an ideal choice for gamers who are looking at getting into streaming on Twitch or for someone who needs a solid system for photo or video editing as well as for gaming.
The PCSpecialist Ignite X1 may not be the best looking system in the world when it's powered off with its stealthy understated looks. However, I quite like this approach as it shows that PCSpecialist don’t believe in wasting budget on unnecessary gimmicks to sell the system, such as an over-styled case or an expensive water cooling system. Instead, the bulk of the budget has been spent on high-quality components that complement each other well.
The AMD Ryzen 9 3900 processor, B450 motherboard and the XFX RX 5700 XT graphics card inside this system are an excellent combination. 16 GB RAM is just about optimal for a gaming system still and the addition of a high performance 500 GB NVMe M.2 SSD means there is space for quick access to a few of your favourite, most played games which further improves the gaming experience due to fast loading times.
When I first got my hands on this system, I was a little dubious about the compact CPU tower cooler that was installed on such a high-performance processor. However, after using the system for a reasonable period of time and testing the thermal performance of the whole system, I found that this was more than adequate for the job.
In fact, the high-flow mesh fronted case does a great job of keeping the temperature of all components well under control, which is very important in a gaming PC that will no doubt be used for long periods and under intense workloads. Even the XFX RX 5700 XT graphics cards ran at very acceptable load temperatures in this system, which is impressive.
Taken as a whole, I was very impressed by all aspects of the Ignite X1 system from PCSpecialist. The build quality, careful selection of components and configuration of the system is all at a very high standard. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the purchase of this system to anyone, it is the ideal choice for PC gaming beginners looking for a solid, well-built and high-performance AMD based system.
The PCSpecialist Ignite X1 gaming PC is available to purchase directly from PCSpecialist for £1349 HERE.
Pros:
- Good choice of components.
- Configurable RGB lighting that can be turned off.
- Solid gaming performance at 1080p and 1440p resolutions.
- Understated, compact chassis.
- High-performance CPU for multitasking.
Cons:
- Power supply could be better.
- Struggles with 4K gaming.
- Multi-coloured PSU cables and green Wi-Fi card PCB.
KitGuru says: Considering its price and the high-quality components that make up the Ignite X1 gaming PC, it really does seem like great value for money and is certainly worth adding to you shortlist if you are currently in the market for a high-performance gaming PC at an affordable price.
