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Editors' note: This review is part of our 2009 Retail Laptop and Desktop Back-to-School roundup, covering specific fixed configurations of popular systems that can be found in retail stores.
In our review of the Pavilion p6130y, we suggested that the $630 Asus Essentio CM5570-AP006 would be a compelling alternative to that desktop from HP at the same price. Now that we narrow our sights on the Asus Essentio CM5570-AP006, we find that while we're generally satisfied with it, its performance actually makes a more affordable, Editor's Choice-winning Gateway system seem like an even better deal than we originally thought. The Essentio CM5570-AP006 is no gaming system, but we'll give Asus credit for selling perhaps the most affordable PC we've seen yet with a discrete graphics card. But even in the $600 price range, your best bet might be Gateway's $510 SX2800-01.
The Essentio CM5570-AP006 mirrors the design of the $510 Asus Essentio CM5570-AP002 exactly. The serviceable, glossy, black, plastic face and roomy-enough midtower interior have no glaring problems. You might fail to notice the drop-down panel on the front of the case that hides a media card reader and a set of USB and analog audio jacks.
| Asus Essentio CM5570-AP006 | HP Pavilion p6130y | |
| Price | $630 | $630 |
| CPU | 2.3GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 | 2.4GHz AMD Phenom X4 9750 |
| Memory | 6GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM | 8GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM |
| Graphics | 512MB Nvidia GeForce G100 | 256MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 9100 integrated graphics |
| Hard drives | 750GB 7,200rpm | 750GB 7,200rpm |
| Networking | Gigabit Ethernet; 802.11b/g/n wireless | 10/100 Ethernet; 802.11b/g wireless |
| Optical drive | dual-layer DVD burner | dual-layer DVD burner |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) |
Next to the HP Pavilion p6130y, the Essentio also looks like a good deal. The HP has more RAM, but you'll see from our relatively aggressive consumer-level digital media benchmark tests that the Asus still outperforms the HP. Each system has the same-size hard drive, and each also boasts wireless networking, a feature not previously common in most desktops at this price. The Asus pulls away from the HP by offering a 512MB Nvidia GeForce G100 graphics card. That entry-level card doesn't make this a gaming PC, but, at the very least, it frees up some of the system memory that would otherwise be dedicated to graphics processing.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Rendering Multi-CPU | |
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The Asus system is faster than the HP on every test, which leaves us little to discuss as far the Essentio's most obvious competitor. The Gateway SX2800-01 complicates matters. While the Asus is a midtower PC, with all the expandability that entails, the slimtower Gateway offers a decent degree of upgradability of its own, as well as occasionally better performance on a few tests. The Gateway is also $100 less than the Asus system. The only major omission for the Gateway is its lack of wireless networking, although that's easy enough to add after the fact, and you'd still likely be under the cost of the Asus. The Asus offers respectable performance, but it has few material advantages over the less expensive Gateway.
We understand if you still like the idea of an affordable midtower to use for upgrading. The Asus has two PCI slots to spare, next to occupied PCI Express graphics card and 1X slots. You only get a 300-watt power supply, which limits your 3D card upgrade options. Given that the GeForce G100 card managed only 16 frames per second on our low-end Unreal Tournament 3 test, you wouldn't lose much gaming performance by swapping it out for a more robust GPU.
