Although most people these days lavish upon sleek tablets, ultra books, and all-in-one systems, tower desktops have no doubt persisted, whilst bearing less expensive price tags than the headline grabbing devices.
The Acer Aspire ATC-605-UR51 is one example, a Windows 8.1-equipped high-end desktop that totes a reasonable price tag without compromises on decent performance with favorable perks like a powerful 4th Generation Intel Core i5 processor, USB 3.0 ports and a roomy(albeit slow) 2TB hard drive and Windows 10 preinstalled.
Design
The Acer Aspire ATC-605-UR51 is housed in a midrange tower measuring 14.98 x 6.89 x 16.29 (HWD), making it identical in size and design to last year’s Acer Aspire ATC-605-UR2A. At any rate, while its chassis isn’t one of the flashiest in its class, it still comes out with some glamour with somehow aesthetic but not entirely devoid of personality, either. Its matte black chassis is accentuated with a metallic finish and a chrome strip makes the 20.42 lbs. desktop stand out of the crowd.
Like most desktops, it doesn’t ship with a screen but the USB Keyboard and Optical Mouse included in the package aren’t cheap at all-remember this isn’t your typical All-in-One (AIO) PC. On the top is a flat indented surface that can serve as a storage deck where you can stash away your peripherals while recharging or connecting for data transfer.
Ports
Connectivity is excelelnt. You get four USB 2.0 ports at the rear, two USB 3.0 ports at the front, a DVD drive,an HDMI port, a VGA port, 3 expansion slots- PCI Express x1 Slot PCI Express x16 Slot Mini PCI Express Slot. Internet connectivity comes via 802.11bgn wireless and Bluetooth 4.0, alongside the included RJ-45 port. Bluetooth lets you share photos and videos with other wireless devices in the room such as smartphones and cameras.
The system features High Definition Audio with 5.1-Channel Surround Sound Support offer near-studio quality audio output with the right kind of speakers. Media ports can be easily accessed as they are located on the front-Digital Media Card Reader- Secure Digital (SD) Card, headphone and microphone jacks- Audio Line In and Out.
Performance
The Acer Aspire ATC-605-UR51 features a quad core Intel i5-4460 processor (6 MB cache) at 3.2 GHz base speed and the latest Turbo Boost Technology, which is enough to realize clock speeds of up to 3.4GHz 64-bit processing. The processor speeds are boosted by 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM, with enough room for expansion to a maximum of 16GB for super multitasking efficiency.
There is decent room for expansion, including an empty drive bay, which allows for a second drive in addition to 2TB Serial ATA 300 hard drive (5400 rpm). This is enough real estate for your multimedia files with quick read and write times and you are never limited on storage space. The Acer Aspire features AcerCloud that turns your PC into your ultimate Cloud storage for easy access on the easily customizable Windows 10 user-friendly features.
The Aspire ATC-605-UR51 is not your typical gaming horsepower type of PC, but offers decent enough graphics with the only caveat being that the Intel HD 4600 graphics card shares memory with the CPU. In most gaming PCs, there is a dedicated card for smooth gaming but the Intel HD 4600 is quite sufficient for great visuals, subtle image quality, video editing and some gaming performance too. It offers better performance than the Intel HD 4000 and 4400 and can easily compete with NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M/630M.
The Acer Aspire ATC-605-UR51 is an ideal mainstream entertainment PC but is equally a great option for work or school use with stellar functionality and modern design-it will look good in any room. While it isn’t the flashiest system available, it’s nevertheless a good value thanks to its reasonable price tag, USB 3.0 support, and spacious 2TB hard drive.
Recommended Configuration
Acer Aspire TC-885-ACCFLi5O Desktop, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8400, 8GB DDR4 + 16GB Optane Memory, 2TB HDD, 8X DVD, 802.11ac WiFi, Windows 10 Home
However, users looking for greater processing power should first check out the Dell XPS 8700 Desktop, whose robust Core i7 processor, extra RAM, and larger hard drive justify its costlier price tag.