A Review of Chillblast Fusion Gemini gaming PC: a Superb Configuration

A Review of Chillblast Fusion Gemini gaming PC: a Superb Configuration
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Introduction

Often we hear that PC gaming is in decline and that the inevitable rise of consoles like Xbox, Sony Play station and continued threat of piracy will eventually eat away the PC gaming market. But, market research published by Jon Peddie Research (JPR) indicates that, in reality the PC gaming market is far larger, and is still growing at a frantic pace. While we are talking about Gaming PCs, It would be unfair on my part if I don’t mention ChillBlast’s Fusion Gemini Desktop PC. Here is a brief discussion on ChillBlast Fusion Gemini’s configuration.

The Configuration (5 out of 5)

Case

The peripherals reside on a large Antec 1200 gaming cabinet. It’s huge in size and there is plenty of room for upgrades later if you want.

CPU and Motherboard

Processors are often called the heart of the PC and the Gemini sure has a very strong heart. It uses an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 which is over clocked to run at 3.4GHz and includes a 12MB L2 cache. Now that is impressive! The Processor is fitted onto an Asus Rampage Formula motherboard, which is based on Intel’s high-end X48 Northbridge chipset combined with the Raid-enabled ICH9R Southbridge. Copper lumps are used to cool the major power components and the two chipset bridges.

Memory and Video Cards

Two 2GB modules of Corsair PC2 8500 1066MHz DDR2 are placed into four Dimm slots (2 left for further upgrading), hence providing a total 4GB of memory to the machine. All 4GB is available, since Chillblast has pre-installed the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium. Now that’s a machine full of RAM. Propelled with ATI’s dual GPU HD4870 X2, the graphics performance is stunning. I have never seen such improved graphics before, making Gemini an ideal gaming machine. Go gamers go!

Other Features

The machine has a 24 inch Samsung 2443BW widescreen TFT monitor to get full effects while you are gaming. Gemini is fitted with a LG SuperMultiDrive H20L, this combo drive reads and writes Blu-rays, DVDs and has Lightscribe too. To heighten the gaming and movie experience, Chillblast has summed a Creative X-Fi Xtreme 8-channel audio card to the system. An Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooling fan system is installed onto the casing. There are seven fans on the cabinet; still it’s a very quiet system. There is one fan on the roof (20cm diameter) and there are two in the rear panel and three in the front panel which have their speed manually adjusted via discrete controls. While the remaining fan sits in the clear side panel. Due to LEDs on the fans, the case is given a beautiful blue glow. Tons of storage with Samsung F1 1000GB Serial ATA 1 TB Hard Disk, with a spin speed of 7,200 rpm and 32MB cache. Also there are six free 3.5-inch bays if you want to add extra disks at a later date. To run a machine like that you need serious amount of power, hence the Corsair TX750 750W Power Supply Unit is installed at the bottom of the case. A Razer Diamondback 3G mouse, along with a Saitek Eclipse 2 keyboard (a killer combination) is provided with the machine for an extreme gaming experience. There are a total of 8 USB 2.0 ports available, 6 at the rear and 2 at the front. Gemini has one free Firewire, 4 DVI outputs, and 1 S-Video output. Machine is pre installed with Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit and comes with a 2 Year Collect & Return Warranty

Price and Value for money (3 out of 5)

Priced at £1700, Gemini was pretty expensive and now the company has levied an extra £55 because the strength of the pound against the dollar is falling on a daily basis, while US currency itself is losing ground against the East where all components are made.

Performance (5 out of 5)

An over-clocked CPU, a superb graphics cardm and 4 GB of RAM makes Gemini blazingly fast and a genuine performer all the way. Apart from gaming, this machine did extremely well with multimedia and desktop applications. It gave superb performance while watching movies and listening to music, thanks to its sensational graphics card and an exceptional sound card. With a 1 TB hard drive, data storage was never so much fun. Overall, there is no minus component to talk about as far as the performance of the machine is concerned.

Conclusion (4 out of 5)

Fusion Gemini represents a decent desktop gaming PC with stunning performance, good build quality, two year collect and return warranty, pre-installed operating system and good storage space. Apart from being little overpriced (You’re paying a high price for the speed), this machine still is a dream come true for gamers.

This post is part of the series: New Hardware on the Block

A brief review and verdict for newly launched hardware products and technology gadgets. I try to find hardware that gives full value for money and also scores high in Features and Performance. Overall, it’s a guide for all those people who want to know what to buy, how to buy, and where to buy.

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