The Value G31 is certainly the best-looking computer we've seen in a
while. Its black-and-white NZXT case lends the G31 a class we don't
often see in a desktop PC, and is ideal for showing off Microsoft's
flashy new Windows 8 operating system.
Things are just as impressive inside. We don't often see PCs that are
untidy behind their side panels, but rarely is everything so neatly
routed as in the Value G31. It's also full of good-quality branded
components, such as a 600W Corsair power supply, OCZ SSD, EVGA graphics
card and an enormous Thermalright processor cooler. There's more cooling
than in many PCs, thanks to an extra top-mounted 120mm fan to
supplement the standard rear 120mm model, and it's a quiet computer.
Like all the Windows 8 PCs we've seen so far, the G31 has an Intel
processor. The Core i5-3570K is the most popular Ivy Bridge chip among
PC manufacturers, and it isn’t hard to see why. It's a fast processor
out of the box, and its unlocked multiplier means it’s ripe for
overclocking. Scan has pushed this one up to 4.5GHz, which is a
respectable rather than spectacular overclock, but a score of 148
overall in our benchmarks shows that the G31 will have absolutely no
problem with any desktop Windows application, and its 8GB of RAM is
plenty for multitasking.
The PC's graphics card is an Nvidia GeForce GTX 660, which is running
66MHz faster than the card's stock 980MHz. The added megahertz led to
an extra 3fps in our 1,920x1,080 Ultra detail Crysis 2 test compared to
our tests of the stock GTX 660, which pushed the game into playable
30fps territory. Our Dirt 3 benchmark doesn't currently run under
Windows 8, so for a second game test we ran Dirt Showdown. This is a
newer title that’s much more technically challenging than Dirt 3; at
1,920x1,080, 4x anti-aliasing and Ultra detail we only saw 24.5fps,
which is too jerky to be properly playable. However, setting the detail
to High gave us 119.7fps, so you don’t have to worry too much about
playable the latest games at decent detail settings.
The graphics card gives you plenty of choice when it comes to
connecting monitors, with twin DVI outputs and HDMI and DisplayPort
sockets. The motherboard's rear panel has a generous assortment of four
USB and four USB3 sockets, and there are USB and USB3 ports on the front
panel. Scan has fitted a high-quality Asus Xonar DG sound card to the
PC; this gives you 5.1 audio outputs as well as optical S/PDIF, and has a
built-in headphone amplifier to help your cans sound their best. A
dedicated sound card can make a significant difference to how much you
enjoy music and games, and it’s good to see one included.
The PC's storage is taken care of with a 120GB SSD boot disk and a
1TB mechanical hard disk for your files. The combination of an SSD, a
modern UEFI BIOS and Windows 8 leads to very fast boot times; Windows 8
was fully booted just 16 seconds after we pressed the PC's power button.
We're used to seeing Blu-ray readers in PCs of this price, but the
Value G31 makes do with a simple DVD rewriter.
If you’d like to upgrade the storage, there's plenty of room inside
the PC. You get two free 5 1/4in drive bays and six free 3 1/2in bays,
and there are three free SATA2 ports for your storage. SATA2’s quick
enough for normal hard disks but not SSDs. There are two spare USB
headers to add another four USB ports using backplates, and a couple of
free memory slots. The dedicated sound card consumes one of the two
spare PCI slots, but there are also a couple of free PCI Express x1
slots and a spare PCI Express x16 slot, which can also take PCI Express
x1 and x4 cards.
Scan hasn't skimped on the PC's peripherals, either. The Logitech
MK120 bundle is a perfectly acceptable wired keyboard and mouse set, and
we're fans of the AOC i2352Vh monitor. This is a 23in IPS panel with a
1,920x1,080 resolution, and has both impressive colour accuracy and wide
viewing angles. Out of the box, our Dispcalgui calibration software
reported slightly too much green in the picture, but this was easily
fixed and once calibrated the monitor came within 97.2% of the sRGB
colour gamut.
Scan's Value G31 is a classy PC with a great-looking case and
high-quality components. It's also quick in desktop tasks and has
reasonable gaming performance and a useful dedicated sound card. It’s
just pipped to the post among the Windows 8 PCs we've seen by the Palicomp Alpha Blade
thanks to that PC's faster graphics and 2TB of storage. However, the
Palicomp PC doesn’t have such a classy case and has a slightly inferior
monitor, so if games aren’t so important to you the Value G31’s a great
buy.
| Part Code |
Value G31 |
| Review Date |
14 Oct 2012 |
| Rating |
|
| Processor |
Intel Core i5-3570K
|
| Processor external bus |
100MHz
|
| Processor multiplier |
x45
|
| Processor clock speed |
4.5GHz
|
| Processor socket |
LGA1155
|
| Memory |
8
|
| Memory type |
DDR3
|
| Maximum memory |
32GB
|
| Motherboard |
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
|
| Motherboard chipset |
Intel Z77 Express
|
| USB2 ports (front/rear) |
2/8
|
| Firewire ports (front/rear) |
0/0
|
| eSATA ports (front/rear) |
0/0
|
| Wired network ports |
1x 10/100/1000
|
| Wireless networking support |
none
|
| Case |
midi tower
|
| PCI-E x1 slots (free) |
3 (2)
|
| PCI-E x16 slots (free) |
2 (1)
|
| Free Serial ATA ports |
3
|
| Free memory slots |
2
|
| Free 3.5in drive bays |
6
|
| Hard disk model(s) |
OCZ Vertex Plus SSD + Seagate ST1000DM003-9YN162
|
| Interface |
SATA3 + SATA2
|
| Total storage capacity |
1,120GB
|
| Graphics card(s) |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 660
|
| Graphics/video ports |
2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort
|
| Sound |
Asus Xonar DG
|
| Sound outputs |
5.1 line out, optical S/PDIF out
|
| Speakers |
none
|
| Supported memory cards |
none
|
| Optical drive type(s) |
DVD+/-RW +/-DL
|
| Viewable size |
23 in
|
| Screen model |
AOC i2352Vh
|
| Native resolution |
1,920x1,080
|
| Screen inputs |
DVI, VGA, HDMI
|
| Keyboard |
Logitech MK120
|
| Mouse |
Logitech MK120
|
| Software included |
none
|
| Operating system restore option |
Windows 8 disc
|
| Warranty |
two years RTB
|
| Price |
£1,000
|
| Supplier |
http://www.scan.co.uk
|
| Details |
www.scan.co.uk
|
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