Trinity International rules the PC roost on our A-List, being the best buy for both the performance PC and best mid-range PC. And right off the bat this value PC makes a good bid for the clean sweep with its state-of-the-art AM2 X2 4000+ dual core processor. With this, 1GB of RAM and a speedy 250GB WD Caviar hard disk with 16MB cache, it romped to a 2D benchmark score of 1.09: nine percent faster than our high-performance reference PC.

This makes it noticeably faster than Dell’s competitor and will immediately suit those who do lots of encoding and other processor-intensive tasks. However, Pacstar’s competitor wasn’t too far behind, also offering noticeably better 3D performance. TI disappointingly supplied an old 6600 GT graphics card, which can still handle the latest games, but with benchmark scores of 23.7fps in Far Cry and 19.1fps in Call of Duty 2 in our mid range tests at 1280 x 1024, you’ll have to drop settings to make the tougher games playable.

In terms of looks, it’s not bad. The black and grey case is smart if not stunning. The supplied 17in BenQ LCD is also a decent performer despite being the smallest on show. The 6ms response time means there’s little lag, it’s well lit and the desktop appears clear and crisp. However, it doesn’t come with a DVI cable despite the DVI connector meaning you’ll have to spend at least another $20 on one. The keyboard and mouse are adequate, if a little ‘plasticy’ – while both are responsive, they’re hardly luxurious.

But we did like the inclusion of a 16x dual-layer DVD-RAM writer, which will cover your disc-burning needs. If you want to expand further there’s generous room for three extra 5.25in drives and three extra hard disks. A floppy drive is already included. There are also four spare PCI slots and two spare 1x PCI-Express slots. Connectivity is good with 7.1 audio, Gigabit Ethernet and FireWire all included. There are also parallel and serial connectors for legacy peripherals, and you’ll also find two audio jacks and two USB ports at the front, and six USB ports at the back.

All in all it’s a good package and the five year RTB warranty is impressive – note that it’s only the first two years that cover parts. However, our major gripe with this system is the noise that the two case fans generate – it will be heard in even noisy rooms. This and the lack of 3D grunt cost it an award, but it’s a good value way of buying into AMD’s latest AM2 platform.