Introduction
There’s never been a better time to get into PC gaming. For a few hundred more pounds you can buy a machine that outperforms the PS4 and Xbox One and plays thousands of downloadable games in just a few clicks.
Like the cheap and capable Zoostorm Gaming Desktop PC, the Deluxe from XBC (formerly going by the name Xebec Tech) can be picked up for a palatable £499 from Amazon and aims to deliver 1080p (or Full HD) gaming straight to your door.
XBC has gone with NZXT’s quietly attractive S340 mid-tower case. It’s about as reserved as gaming PC cases get, opposite the in-your-face Acer Predator G3’s tank-like shell.
That’s not to say it’s unattractive – its durable steel construction sports a glossy black finish that looks quietly classy. The design is best described as ‘minimal’ in the absence of anything except an NZXT logo on the front panel.
Along the case’s right-hand edge is a large window that lets you peer inside at components without having to remove the side panel. The inside is lit up by 16 individually-lit spotlights that offer three levels of brightness when controlled using a switch at the back of the machine
There isn’t a great deal of variation between the different lighting strengths, which are there for visual effect rather than a means to see what you’re doing.
On the inside, there’s 280mm of radiator support, which helps NZXT’s Kraken X61 cooler draw in cool air from the outside before expelling it through two fans located in the case’s back panel and roof.
They operate with an audible hum that’s constantly there but isn’t annoying, and you can download NZXT’s CAM 2.0 desktop software or mobile app to control fans manually to keep their noise levels down.
The X61 draws your eyes away from its other components, thanks to its blue, light-up logo, with an MSI-branded Radeon R7 260X graphics card (due to be an R7 360X in future models) and two silver-edged sticks of Corsair Vengeance memory also vying for attention.
Specifications and performance
A glance at the XBC Deluxe’s spec sheet reveals a host of components that were selected to keep costs down. Unlike the Zoostorm gaming Desktop PC, which pairs an Intel Core i5-4460 CPU with Nvidia’s GTX 960, the Deluxe has its feet firmly in the AMD camp where its main components are concerned.
Spec sheet
Here is the configuration of the XBC Deluxe sample provided to techradar for review:
- CPU: 3.90GHz AMD FX-6350 (hexa-core, 8MB Cache, Boost up to 4.2GHz)
- Graphics: AMD Radeon R7 260X (2GB GDDR5)
- RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (DDR3, 1,600Mhz, 2 x 4GB)
- Storage: 1TB Seagate Barracuda Sata HDD (6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 7,200 rpm)
- Optical Drive: No
- Ports: 1 x PS/2 keyboard port, 6 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x RJ-45 LAN, HD Audio Jack: Side speaker/ rear speaker/ central/ bass/ line-in/front speaker/microphone
- Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
The Deluxe is powered by AMD’s FX-6530 six-core processor, a gaming chip based on AMD’s Bulldozer architecture that targeted budget-conscious buyers when it launched in 2013. XBC has paired it with the company’s Radeon R7 260X from the same year. Featuring 2GB of GDDR5 video memory, it’s an entry-level GPU that’s only suitable for modest gaming.
The processor is backed up by two 4GB sticks of 1,600MHz DDR3 memory. Although the RAM is slow in speed, it’s on the borderline for the recommended amount of memory for gaming.
Storage is taken care of via a roomy, 1TB spinning hard drive. So far, so standard.
There’s no optical drive or Wi-Fi card inside the machine, so you’ll need to purchase an external drive to use CDs and DVDs. The Deluxe’s ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 motherboard has two PCIe 2.0 (16-pin) slots, one of which is taken up by the graphics card, leaving the other free.
Ports
A healthy selection of ports can be found on the XBC Deluxe, including two easily accessible USB 3.0 ports along the top of the case.
They’re conveniently located and handy for hooking up an external hard drive, charging a smartphone or doing a multitude of other activities. Spin the PC 180 degrees and you’ll find six USB 2.0 ports, an ethernet port and an array of audio connections.
Performance
For the cost, the XBC Deluxe looks the part. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make such an impression when it comes to gaming prowess. Even at 1080p, games struggle to hit the golden 60 frames per second (fps) mark on ‘High’ graphics settings.
Depending on the title, lowering graphics to ‘Medium’ or even ‘Low’ is necessary for a smooth gameplay experience, which is disappointing even after taking the Deluxe’s value into account.
- 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 11,433; Sky Diver: 11,505; Fire Strike: 3,466
- Cinebench R15: CPU: 453 points; Graphics: 77 fps
- PCMark 8 (Home Conventional): 2,608
- GeekBench: 2,435 (single-core); 9,362 (multi-core)
- Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: 31 fps (1080p, Ultra); 70 fps (1080p, Low)
- GTA V: 12 fps (1080p, Ultra); 78 fps (1080p, Low)
Limited by its 2GB of video memory, GTA V struggled to reach anything near playable frame rates on our ‘Ultra’ test at 1080p. For silky-smooth gameplay at 60 fps, you’ll have to start backwards on ‘Low’ quality, upping the game’s graphics options to find a balance between quality and performance.
It’s a similar story for Star Wars: Battlefront. The Deluxe managed a playable, if not particularly enjoyable 40 fps on the Battle of Hoth solo mission on the ‘High’ graphics preset. Lowering the settings to ‘Medium’ bumped frame rates up to between 45 and 55 fps, just out of reach of that perfect 60.
In Battlefield 4, a solid 60 fps is achievable on the ‘Medium’ graphics preset on the game’s solo campaign. That’s unsurprising, as Dice’s latest military shooter was released in 2013 — the same year as the Deluxe’s CPU and GPU. That alone gives you big hint as to what games the machine can handle.
The XBC Deluxe costs the same as the Zoostorm, but the former’s AMD GPU inside can’t match Nvidia hardware inside the latter. The GTX 960 cranked out 109 fps in Cinebench R15’s benchmark compared to the Radeon R7 260X’s 77 fps, and the Zoostorm nearly doubled the XBC’s PCMark 8 Home Test score (4,109 points versus 2,608 points).
These scores indicate that you would be able to eke out more frames in games running on the Zoostorm. That could make all the difference in scratching your 1080p gaming itch.
Outside of gaming, the Deluxe never feels sluggish on the desktop. However, boot and app installation times aren’t as swift as what you would experience using an SSD.
Bundled apps
The XBC Deluxe comes with AMD Catalyst Control Centre pre-installed, in addition to AMD’s Gaming Evolved software, Candy Crush Soda Saga (one that hardcore gamers will immediately delete) and DropBox.
Verdict
Affordability is the XBC Deluxe’s middle name, so don’t expect it to run the latest PC titles in all their splendor. It’ll run them alright, but you’re looking at taking the graphics settings down to ‘Medium’ or ‘Low’ to get hold of silky-smooth performance.
As Battlefield 4 showed, the XBC Deluxe will run 3-year-old games with stable frame rates without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. Anything more modern and the gameplay experience will suffer.
We liked
Even with the graphics detail lowered, games such as Battlefield and Battlefront still look better than they do on the current crop of consoles. And, if you’re the sort of gamer who doesn’t mind taking a hit in frame rates, leaving them on ‘High’ graphics settings means they’ll look far superior.
Housed in an attractive case with smart port placement, the XBC runs nice and quiet and certainly looks the part. Its 1TB hard disk also provides more than enough space to install a decent number of games. At its price, the Deluxe is a good, but not great value machine.
We disliked
If you want to play PC games in pristine detail with the graphics settings dialed up, the XBC Deluxe isn’t for you, even at its reasonable price. Even at 1080p, AMD’s low-performing graphics card can’t pump out enough frames to keep gameplay smooth once settings move beyond ‘Medium’.
For more modern titles, its 2GB of video memory simply isn’t enough. Truly enthusiast PC gamers need not apply here.
Final verdict
If you seek a PC that is suitable for browsing the web, productivity work and playing the occasional game at middling settings, the XBC is a fine-looking choice that won’t whirr away loudly in the background.
Frankly, it’s a much better value than the over-priced Acer Predator G3. But, if you’re more bothered about getting a hold of strong performance in games than you are about a flashy case, then the identically-priced (and Nvidia-equipped) Zoostorm Gaming PC is more worthy of your attention.
Source: techradar.com