70 MAY2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE387
Youcould argue we’re using ‘home office
PC’ interchangeably with ‘general purpose PC’
here,but whatever you want to call these
systems, maintaining productivity is key.
That’s true whether you’re an accountant
running bookkeeping software, an amateur
photographer editing your own pictures or
just acasual user wanting to browse and
stream video at the same time.
First and foremost, you’ll want agood CPU.
The emphasis with these PCs is on multitasking
prowess,ashaving aprocessorthat can capably
handle multiple applications at once will avoid
slowing you down in more general terms –
even if you’re not trying to do serious work.
That said, because we’ll be running our
standard 4K application benchmarks, we’ll also
be measuring single-core CPU performance,as
SYSTEM REFRESH
Home office PCs
Usingalaptopathomeisfineforsendingtheoccasional
email,butformoreintensivework,youcan’t beat a
well-speccedPC.Here,weputsixcompletehomeoffice
desktops–allcostingnomorethan£600–tothetest
CONTENT REVIEWS
Page 72
ALPHABETAPCAMDRyzen
53400GGamingDesktopPC
Page73
ARIAGladiatorParadigm
Page74
CHILLBLASTFusion
DauntlessFamilyPC
Page75
PALICOMPInteli5Mercury
Page76
PCSPECIALISTMagmaS1
Page77
WIRED2FIREUltimaWS
NOTEVERYONE HASahomeoffice,but you
could still benefit from having an office PC in
your home.While conventional wisdom
suggests that alaptop or 2-in-1 would be a
more convenient choice,there aremany good
reasons to find room foradesktop system
instead. They’re more customisable and
upgradable,theyoffer agreater range of
connectivity and they’re invariably more
powerful than alaptop of the same price.
On that note, it’s easily possible to get an
excellent bargain when taking the PC route. To
prove it, we asked six UK-based PC building
companies to createafull home office system
costing amaximum of £600,Windows included.
We’ve tested the results later in this feature,
following our guide to what makes agreat PC
and what to look forwhen buying one.
