Arbico CD 8467 XL Custom Built PC - PC ADVISOR BEST BUY, JULY 2009

Once again, Arbico has topped our charts with a system whose sheer speed belies its £499 price tag. The firm has eked out every last bit of performance from this PC’s Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 chip, with the CD 8467 XL scoring 120 points in WorldBench 6. The machine turns in some pretty tasty gaming results, too.

Arbico storms ahead of the competition with an ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card – and at no extra cost. With overall system specification being so similar, there’s no reason to put up with an HD 4650 or nVidia GeForce 9500GT. The PC comes with a 19in monitor which is standard at this price point. The CD 8467 XL’s audio is provided by the monitor’s built-in speakers. A 250GB hard drive comes preinstalled with OpenOffice and Nero, the latter complementing the machine’s 22-speed DVD burner. Although 250GB may seem a relatively limited amount of storage space, it will be adequate for most users.

This is a superb system overall.

Arbico Elite i750 Pro Custom Built PC - PC ADVISOR RECOMMENED, JULY 2009

Yet again, Arbico has delivered the best performance score in our WorldBench 6 real-world speed test. The Elite i750 Pro’s 131-point tally nudges it ahead of the other PCs in this chart. The 1GB Radeon HD 4870 graphics card is an excellent performer. All but one of the PCs here use a version of this graphics chip.

Arbico has once again opted for the Cooler Master Elite 330 case. This is a smart but basic housing that incorporates a pair of audio sockets and twin USB ports. The Gigabyte motherboard supports CrossFireX, allowing you to add a second graphics card later.

The 22in GNR monitor is standard fare, although it does support both VGA and DVI inputs, giving it a distinct advantage over the analogue-only model supplied by others. The set of five Trust speakers and a subwoofer aren’t exactly top of the range, but they add surround sound to movies and games that support it.

Overall, this system performs very well, with its large hard drive and surround-sound speakers all counting in its favour.

Arbico Elite i7 RSX Custom Built PC – PC ADVISOR BEST BUY, JUNE 2009

A single point shy of the 140- point mark in our WorldBench 6 test suite, the Elite i7 RSX is one of the fastest-scoring PCs to grace our Test Centre. Based on Intel’s i7 920 processor, this is a quad-core system that performs well across the board, whether or not you’re running apps designed to take advantage of its multiprocessing capabilities. With 3GB of RAM installed, the Arbico offers only half the amount of memory supplied with the other i7-based PCs here. It also ships with the 32bit version of Vista Home Premium.

Arbico’s decision to employ three 500GB hard drives in a Raid 0 configuration sets this PC apart from the pack. This setup provides 1.5 terabytes (TB) of hard-disk space, and theoretically offers three times the performance of a single hard drive. However, be aware that spreading your data in this way means that if one drive fails, you’ll lose all your data.

Arbico CD 8850 XL Custom Built PC – PC ADVISOR BEST BUY, JUNE 2009

Arbico seems to have hit on a winning formula in this price category. The CD 8850 XL remains our Best Buy after two months at the top. Intel’s Core 2 Duo E8600 chip is used to full effect, bringing the Arbico an impressive130 points in our WorldBench 6 real-world speed test. The ASRock 4Core 1600-D800 motherboard also performs well., An ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card delivers excellent gaming performance. Arbico has again selected the Cooler Master Elite 330 case. This well-built chassis offers plenty of expansion space and tidy looks. The 22in monitor is fi tted with digital and analogue inputs, thus ensuring a better quality image than analogue-only displays. Whether you want to play games or listen to music, the Creative Audigy SE 7.1 sound card, combined with a set of Logitech speakers and subwoofer, offers a vastly improved listening experience over some of its rivals.

The Arbico delivers excellent performance and value for money.

Arbico Elite i748 XL Custom Built PC
PC ADVISOR BEST BUY, MAY 2009

Arbico has once again delivered a top performer powered by Intel’s 2.66GHz Core i7 920 processor. This CPU is set to dominate PC performance charts in this price category for some time to come, combining the flexibility of quad-core multiprocessing with excellent raw speed.

The Arbico Elite i748 XL pulled clear of the competition by a considerable margin in our WorldBench 6 real-world speed test, scoring an excellent 133 points. And this strong general performance is backed up by very good gaming credentials: an HD 4870 graphics card helped this PC achieve the fastest framerates in our most challenging tests.

Arbico has housed the Elite i748 XL in a Cooler Master Elite 330 system case, which is smart and roomy.

There’s plenty of potential for upgrades. The Gigabyte motherboard supports CrossFireX technology, which means you can add a second graphics card later. Useful options are also available for enthusiasts who want to overclock the machine, but note that the Arbico Elite i748 XL comes with only four memory slots – three of which are filled with the supplied 3GB of memory. Upgrading to 6GB (the next step for Core i7 processors) would therefore require you to replace all three memory sticks at additional expense.

Arbico’s inclusion of a 460W power supply seems a little weak given the power of the Elite i748 XL’s processor and graphics card. You may find you need to upgrade the PSU in the future, particularly if you opt to overclock the system or upgrade the graphics card. We certainly wouldn’t recommend adding a second graphics card without first upgrading the PSU.

Arbico Elite i7 Pro Custom Built PC
PC ADVISOR RECOMMENED, APRIL 2009

The Arbico’s Elite i7 Pro offers excellent value for money.

Despite having 3GB of DDR3 RAM installed, the Arbico Elite i7 Pro is very nearly as fast as the Best Buy machine. The Arbico scored 132 points in WorldBench 6 – just three points fewer than the Best Buy, which costs £400 more.

Aside from the reduced cost of the memory, this system also uses powerful, nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics card. Arbico has opted for an overclocked model, with performance boosted closer to that of the costlier GTX 280. At very demanding quality settings? the 280 starts to outperform the 260, but the savings are considerable.

The LG W2252TQ is a smart-looking monitor that offers decent performance and a good set of features. But the best 24in displays – or 16:9 22in monitors – would have enabled full HD playback from the Blu-ray drive, and taken full advantage of the powerful graphics system.

Very nearly as fast as our Best Buy Power PC machine, Arbico’s Elite i7 Pro offers excellent value for money.

Arbico CD 8850 XL Custom Built PC
PC ADVISOR RECOMMENED, APRIL 2009

A close contender for our Best Buy award is Arbico’s CD8850 XL.

Intel’s Core 2 Duo E8600 processor is combined with an ASRock 4Core 1600-D800 motherboard to devastating effect.

In common with the Elite 8850 Pro, Arbico’s CD8850 XL uses an HD 4850 graphics card to deliver very good gaming performance.

The Cooler Master Elite 330 system case has plenty of expansion room and tidy looks. A 22in Acer display, fitted with both digital and analogue inputs, finishes off the Arbico CD8850 XL’s smart exterior.

The Arbico CD8850 XL comes with a pair of Logitech speakers and a subwoofer. Alongside the system’s Creative Audigy SE 7.1 sound card, this allows for a vastly improved listening experience compared with rival systems in our chart.

Arbico Elite 8260 XL Power Desktop PCs
PC ADVISOR RECOMMENED, MARCH 2009

Quad-core systems are gaining ground, but a fast dual-core machine is still a safe bet. With higher clock speeds, dual-core systems such as the Arbico Elite 8260 XL can still outpace their quad-core rivals on single-threaded applications and the majority of games.

The current king of the dual-core CPUs, Intel’s 3.33GHz Core 2 Duo E8600, powers Arbico’s Elite 8260 XL to an impressive 126 points in WorldBench 6. The money saved on the processor also allows for such extras as Logitech 2.1-channel speakers (two speakers and a subwoofer) and a Blu-ray drive, so you can watch HD movies on your desktop.

Arbico supplies a high-quality 22in LG monitor with the Elite 8260 XL, which is a considerable step up from some of the cheaper models in the chart such as Digimate and Hanton.

Graphics are powered by an nVidia GeForce GTX 260 – an excellent graphics card that’s capable of playing current games at good-quality settings. In our gaming tests, the Arbico Elite 8260 XL was consistently top of the pile.

Arbico has achieved a high-level of build quality and accessibility with the Cooler Master Elite 330 system case. No sound card is fitted, leaving ample room for upgrades.

The general-purpose performance and gaming speeds of the Arbico Elite 8260 XL are excellent, and Arbico bundles better quality peripherals and multimedia capability than other entries at this price point.

Arbico CD 8465 EX Budget Desktop PCs PC ADVISOR RECOMMENED, MARCH 2009

Arbico’s machines are well known in PC Advisor’s Test Centre for their superb performance. Once again the firm delivers, with its CD8465 EX notching up a top score of 120 points in WorldBench 6.

The 1GB HD 4650 graphics card delivers excellent performance at a good price, making the Arbico CD8465 EX our top performer in both general-purpose and gaming tests.

The Arbico CD8465 EX’s ever-popular 19in Hannspree XM New York monitor provides relatively good image quality, robust build quality and dual analogue and digital connections.

The Asrock is a compact motherboard, fitted with only two memory slots. Two PCI slots are available for upgrades, such as a sound card. Note, however, that external speakers are not provided with the Arbico CD8465 EX.

The Arbico CD8465 EX topped our results tables for both general-purpose use and gaming.

Arbico Elite 8850 PRO Budget desktop PC
PC ADVISOR RECOMMENED, FEBRUARY 2009

The Arbico Elite 8850 Pro is a speedy, inexpensive desktop PC that excels itself with a top score of 131 points in WorldBench 6.

Arbico has always done well in our performance tests and this month it has excelled itself yet again with its Elite 8850 Pro achieving a joint-top score of 131 points in WorldBench 6, thanks to the Core 2 Duo E8600 from Intel.

The Arbico Elite 8850 Pro delivers excellent gaming scores. Again, the ATI Radeon HD 4850 shows itself to be an impressive graphics card at this price; it offers a satisfying gaming experience on many less demanding titles and a passable one on trickier games if you’re willing to drop the quality settings a little.

The Arbico Elite 8850 Pro represents just about the best performance you could expect for the money.