The Bottom Line
Pros
- Well Priced
- Includes 19-inch Monitor
Cons
- Very Small Hard Drive
- Limited 3D Graphics Performance
Description
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor
- 2GB PC2-5400 DDR2 Memory
- 160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
- 16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner
- NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT Graphics Card with 512MB
- 19-inch Wide Screen LCD Monitor
- HDA Audio with 2.1 Speaker System
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Six USB 2.0, FireWire, 9-in-1 Media Card Reader
- Windows Vista Home Premium
Guide Review - Systemax Venture SYXS-DC989879 Desktop PC
2/14/08 – Quad core processor systems are becoming much more common in the mainstream desktop market. It is no surprise that Systemax packaged the Core 2 Quad Q6600 in their Venture desktop. It provides plenty of performance especially for those looking to do heavy multitasking or using of multithreaded applications. The surprisingly part is how inexpensive Systemax is able to sell the system at.
There are sacrifices in making a system so inexpensively. In the case of the Venture DC-989879, the hard drive is one of the smallest found on such a system. The 160GB of storage space is smaller than some of the budget notebooks available on the market these days and will really restrict the amount of digital media that can be stored on the system.
The graphics are mixed on the Systemax Venture. On the one hand, the system does come with a 19-inch LCD monitor that saves extra expense for the buyer. The problem is that those looking to use the system as a gaming platform will be disappointed by the GeForce 8500 GT's 3D performance. It is a good graphics card though for general purpose computer that is really the target audience of this desktop.
What the Systemax Venture DC-989879 really comes down to is how it will be used. If you want a high performance system for a low price and don't really need storage space or 3D graphics, then it is an excellent system. For those looking to use it as a media hub or a PC gaming machine, it probably is not the best option. The price does allows room for user upgrades to the hard drive or graphics, but this pushes the price up to other systems that already provide those features.
