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A glance at the XBC Deluxe's spec sheet reveals a host of components that were selected to keep costs down. Unlike the Zoostorm gaming Desktop PC, which pairs an Intel Core i5-4460 CPU with Nvidia's GTX 960, the Deluxe has its feet firmly in the AMD camp where its main components are concerned.
Spec sheet
Here is the configuration of the XBC Deluxe sample provided to techradar for review:
- CPU: 3.90GHz AMD FX-6350 (hexa-core, 8MB Cache, Boost up to 4.2GHz)
- Graphics: AMD Radeon R7 260X (2GB GDDR5)
- RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (DDR3, 1,600Mhz, 2 x 4GB)
- Storage: 1TB Seagate Barracuda Sata HDD (6Gb/s, 64MB cache, 7,200 rpm)
- Optical Drive: No
- Ports: 1 x PS/2 keyboard port, 6 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x RJ-45 LAN, HD Audio Jack: Side speaker/ rear speaker/ central/ bass/ line-in/front speaker/microphone
- Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
The Deluxe is powered by AMD's FX-6530 six-core processor, a gaming chip based on AMD's Bulldozer architecture that targeted budget-conscious buyers when it launched in 2013. XBC has paired it with the company's Radeon R7 260X from the same year. Featuring 2GB of GDDR5 video memory, it's an entry-level GPU that's only suitable for modest gaming.
The processor is backed up by two 4GB sticks of 1,600MHz DDR3 memory. Although the RAM is slow in speed, it's on the borderline for the recommended amount of memory for gaming.
Storage is taken care of via a roomy, 1TB spinning hard drive. So far, so standard.
There's no optical drive or Wi-Fi card inside the machine, so you'll need to purchase an external drive to use CDs and DVDs. The Deluxe's ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 motherboard has two PCIe 2.0 (16-pin) slots, one of which is taken up by the graphics card, leaving the other free.
Ports
A healthy selection of ports can be found on the XBC Deluxe, including two easily accessible USB 3.0 ports along the top of the case.
They're conveniently located and handy for hooking up an external hard drive, charging a smartphone or doing a multitude of other activities. Spin the PC 180 degrees and you'll find six USB 2.0 ports, an ethernet port and an array of audio connections.
Performance
For the cost, the XBC Deluxe looks the part. Unfortunately, it doesn't make such an impression when it comes to gaming prowess. Even at 1080p, games struggle to hit the golden 60 frames per second (fps) mark on 'High' graphics settings.
Depending on the title, lowering graphics to 'Medium' or even 'Low' is necessary for a smooth gameplay experience, which is disappointing even after taking the Deluxe's value into account.
- 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 11,433; Sky Diver: 11,505; Fire Strike: 3,466
- Cinebench R15: CPU: 453 points; Graphics: 77 fps
- PCMark 8 (Home Conventional): 2,608
- GeekBench: 2,435 (single-core); 9,362 (multi-core)
- Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: 31 fps (1080p, Ultra); 70 fps (1080p, Low)
- GTA V: 12 fps (1080p, Ultra); 78 fps (1080p, Low)
Limited by its 2GB of video memory, GTA V struggled to reach anything near playable frame rates on our 'Ultra' test at 1080p. For silky-smooth gameplay at 60 fps, you'll have to start backwards on 'Low' quality, upping the game's graphics options to find a balance between quality and performance.
It's a similar story for Star Wars: Battlefront. The Deluxe managed a playable, if not particularly enjoyable 40 fps on the Battle of Hoth solo mission on the 'High' graphics preset. Lowering the settings to 'Medium' bumped frame rates up to between 45 and 55 fps, just out of reach of that perfect 60.
In Battlefield 4, a solid 60 fps is achievable on the 'Medium' graphics preset on the game's solo campaign. That's unsurprising, as Dice's latest military shooter was released in 2013 — the same year as the Deluxe's CPU and GPU. That alone gives you big hint as to what games the machine can handle.
The XBC Deluxe costs the same as the Zoostorm, but the former's AMD GPU inside can't match Nvidia hardware inside the latter. The GTX 960 cranked out 109 fps in Cinebench R15's benchmark compared to the Radeon R7 260X's 77 fps, and the Zoostorm nearly doubled the XBC's PCMark 8 Home Test score (4,109 points versus 2,608 points).
These scores indicate that you would be able to eke out more frames in games running on the Zoostorm. That could make all the difference in scratching your 1080p gaming itch.
Outside of gaming, the Deluxe never feels sluggish on the desktop. However, boot and app installation times aren't as swift as what you would experience using an SSD.
Bundled apps
The XBC Deluxe comes with AMD Catalyst Control Centre pre-installed, in addition to AMD's Gaming Evolved software, Candy Crush Soda Saga (one that hardcore gamers will immediately delete) and DropBox.
