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While this system will not be a first choice for hardcore gamers there is a good possibility that many users may have casual demands – wanting to play some less intensive games on their 720p or 1080p HD television. Today we decided to use the Source engine powered Left 4 Dead 2 which is a relatively old engine now, but still looks great.
Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter game. It is the sequel to Valve Corporation’s award-winning Left 4 Dead. The game launched on November 17, 2009, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in the United States; it launched November 20 in Europe. It builds upon the cooperatively-focused gameplay of the original and uses Valve’s proprietary Source engine, the same game engine used in Left 4 Dead. The game made its world premiere at E3 2009 with a trailer during the Microsoft press event.
In a similar fashion to the original, Left 4 Dead 2 is set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, and focuses on four survivors fighting against hordes of the infected. The survivors must fight their way through levels, interspersed with safe houses that act as checkpoints, with the goal of reaching a rescue vehicle at the campaign’s finale.
We settled on the configurations below for two resolutions (720p and 1080p). These settings were ‘playable’ at each resolution, without dipping into the sub 25fps zone.
Performance is pretty decent considering the small form factor design. It won't be breaking any records for game performance, but it is perfectly acceptable if you don't mind dialing down some settings.
I was actually looking at these last week. great idea for people who dont want an ATOM.
Very nice units, a little like the mac mini, but more colourful and more powerful.
Surprised how nippy those little AMD processors are. very capable indeed, much better than ATOM
The lower end models are good value, but the higher quad core with bluray is expensive. over 800 quid would get me a mega gaming rig.
Fl0 – you pay for the size reduction, remember that. this isn’t a gaming system, its a media system with a focus clearly on size and looks for people who want something sexy for display.
Interesting looking little thing, seems to be everyone is making these kind of pcs lately. I can understand why, with familes having a computer in a main room,. some of the full size cases take up far too much room.
Looks ideal for media, but I think I prefer the ASROCK ION 3d system as it is much cheaper and comes with bluray. if it handles 1080p thats all most people will need.
This AMD processor is much better than the ATOM, but as the reviewer says, the cost is more power consumption. For media, I think the ASROCK is the better deal as its cheaper, £399 with bluray, smaller and takes up less power under load. can still handle bluray discs and 1080p streaming no problems.
For a general purpose PC this Dell unit is better. I can see a lot of students liking it.
Zardon can I confirm – the top panel removes with a b utton press, but under it, you need a screw driver to get access to things like the drives?
Funnily enough I was thinking the same. the button concept is great, but why have everything else under a screwed panel? whats the point of the button? just to change colors?
I really dig this system, not sure id buy one though. surprised how good the AMD chip is compared to the ATOM. I know AMD dont have a low power processor like Intel right now, but it seems well worth the extra power drain for those performance gains. maybe on a laptop atom makes a bigger selling point ?
I want a review of an intel core i3/5/7 system 🙂 in this size.
No HDMI 1.4.
No 3D capability
Sony plans to have 40% of TVs next year to be 3D enabled