The Bottom Line
Pros
- Highly Customizable
- eSATA Port For High Speed External Storage
Cons
- Older Radeon Series Graphics Card
- Phenom Quad Core Processor Lags Behind Intel Offerings
Description
- AMD Phenom X4 9350e Quad Core Processor
- 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory
- Seagate 320GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
- Lite-On 20x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe
- ATI Radeon HD 3870 Graphics Card with 512MB Memory
- 7.1 Audio with Logitech S-120 Stereo Speakers
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Six USB 2.0, Two FireWire, eSATA, 15-in-1 Card Reader
- Vista Home Premium
Guide Review - Polywell Computers Poly 780G Mainstream Desktop Computer
8/12/08 - Polywell's Poly 780G is based around the new AMD Phenom processors that were released to try and compete with Intel's Core 2 processors. While AMD has been able to offer some very competitively priced processors, they just lack the performance compared to Intel's architecture. The Phenom X4 9350e found in the base configuration just can't compete in performance with the Core 2 Quad Q6600 or the newer Q9300.
Most desktop systems seem to come with around a 500GB hard drive these days. Polywell uses a smaller 320GB drive from Seagate for the base 780G system. This may save a little on cost but does reduce the overall storage capacity and performance of the system. Users thankfully have the ability to upgrade to a larger or even multiple drives if they so desire.
Graphics are also a bit below par on the Poly 780G. The system comes with an ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics card with 512MB memory. It would be nice to see Polywell outfit the base setup with the newer Radeon HD 4850 that actually provides stronger performance. This was most likely done to remove excess inventory of the older cards.
One other major thing to consider with the Poly 780G is the expansion ports. While it comes come equipped with a eSATA port for use with the new high speed external SATA drives, they claim it has 12 USB ports but only has six available externally. These ports are used by the majority of peripherals and it is disappointing for them to claim so many when they are so widely used.
Most of the component decisions of the Poly 780G can be overcome through the extensive options for customizing the system. A larger hard drive and high grade processor are two recommended upgrades. The problem is that these upgrades add to the cost and eventually to higher than similarly equipped PCs.
