Chi Chillblast Fusion Orion i3

A deskdesktop PC that makes perfect sense

Every year, PC components with the same processing power cost less than before, yet the PC you want to buy never seems to get any cheaper than last time you bought one. If Lewis Carroll were writing Through the Looking-glass today, Alice would surely point out that this doesn’t add up.

The reason, of course, is that as fast as hardware makers improve performance, Microsoft and other software developers add features that eat it up – whether to accommodate innovations like HD and now 4K video, or just to make icons bounce more attractively. As customers, we don’t get much of a say in this arms race, just an awkward choice between mid-range computers that cost a little bit more than we might like, or budget buys that can’t quite cope.

Alice would have liked Intel’s Skylake i3. It’s a relatively cheap processor but, unlike Celerons and Pentiums, entirely adequate for everyday Windows 10 tasks. The Fusion Orion i3 not only makes good use of it, but does so discreetly, thanks to Chillblast’s own-brand ‘Silent’ case. Beneath a stark matt-black finish that you’ll probably want to hide under your desk, it’s sturdily built, each metal panel lined with sound-deadening material. All this makes it quite a lump, despite its modest height.

Inside, though, there’s room to keep the components cool without a lot of noisy fans, and plenty of space to upgrade in the future: perhaps adding a dedicatedicated graphics card if gameses are your thing, or all the SSD andnd hard disk storage you desire.e. If you don’t feel the need for extra parts and their heat, you can swap the rectangle of mesh in the roof for a solid sound-ound-proof shesheetheet – both are supplied, andnd held in placelace with four strong magnets – for even quieter running. There’s a small cooling fan on the i3 chip itself, a large exhaust fan and a another sizeable cooler on the internal power supply, but you’d need to lean in close to hear their unobtrusive whirr.

The 1TB hard drive, a hybrid unit with a small amount of flash memory to boost speed, can be heard chuntering away quietly, but it’s not until more ambitious apapps push the i3 to its limits that the fan spspeed revs up to barely audible. The i3 mamay be at the low end of Intel’s Core rarange, but it has the oomph to push ththrough quite demanding jobs, and whwhile its integrated graphics processor is basic, it’ll run many 3D games with sosome compromises to resolution and ququality settings.

Elsewhere, there’s nothing to blot the Fufusion Orion i3’s copybook. The thick dodoor at the front swings open to reveal a DVDVD writer drive, and along the case’s totop edge you’ll find pairs of USB 2 and USUSB 3 ports, full-size and micro SD card slots, and headphone and microphone sockets, all within easy reach. Round the back are six more USB ports, DVI, HDMI and VGA monitor outputs, and an Ethernet port for wired networks. Wi-fi, often omitted in desktops, is also included, but you only get 802.11n as standard, not the faster 802.11ac.

If it’s time for you to ditch an older PC, plug your monitor, keyboard and mouse into this instead and you’ll have a practical balance of performance, upgradabilty and tranquillity with a tenner to spare from £500. Even Humpty Dumpty would see the sense in that.

It has the oomph to push through quite demanding jobs, and does it without making a lot of noise

Asus Zenbook UX303UA £900 Variousiousus configurations exist, bubut despite an i7 processorr and touchscreen, this modeldelde costs the same