Hi.
I'm Rich Brown, Senior Editor for CNET.
Today we're gonna take a look at the Origin Chronos.
This is an editor's choice winning small format for gaming PC.
Our config here cost about $11.99.
So it comes with an overclock core 5 CPU as well as a fast mid range Gforce gtx 560TI graphics card from In Video.
So overall, I really like this PC for a few reasons, it's fast, it's small, it's really affordable and it also has some nice expandability which you don't necessarily expect in such a small system.
So if you go over the features in the front of the case, you can see there's a bluray burner here, as well as USB 3 ports and a couple of analog audio jacks in the front.
Now, in the back of the case, you got a nice selection of ports, and the graphic card over here, you've got 2DVI's as well as mini HD my output.
Over here you have some 2.0 jacks.
You've got a couple of ports for wireless antenna.
USB 3.0.
7.1 analog audio.
As well as digital optical output.
Now you might see a few video outputs here but those actually don't work because they are connected to the embed graph ship which is over written by the graphics card.
So going inside the case, you'll see Origin has done a nice job of keeping the system tidy.
So, that gives us a Core 5 CPU and it actually had a liquid cooler on it which is pretty impressive given the size of the size of the case.
You'll see the memory slots here, they're both occupied and here is the hard drive bay.
It can actually take a couple of solid state drives, if you go for that option.
This config though has a 750 gig mechanical hard drive and it takes up all the hard drive expansion space.
So swinging on the other side, you can see here's the graphics card.
It's a double slot model and takes up all the cards expansion slots.
What's particularly cool about this is Origin is throwing a 600 watt power supply in this system.
That means that not only can this PC take a nice large dual slot cards but it can also go up to a very high cards if you wanna upgrade down the road.
As an important comparison, we wanna show the Origin next the Alienware 651.
So this system has gotten press lately.l Alienware just released it back in January.
It's a nice design and it also has a full size graphics card inside it which is pretty aware for a slim tower case.
The limitation for the Alienware thought is it doesn't have quite as many upgrade options as the Origin does.
Alieware won't overclock and because it has a small power supply, it actually has relatively limited upgrade options.
The fact that Alieware got a full size card in here at all is pretty impressive but it's limited power supply means that the system is only gonna be so fast.
You look at the performance comparison between the two, this Origin out performs Alienware on every performance test, from gaming or applications.
When you look at the performance charts, you'll see the Origin out performs the Alienware on every test from gaming to applications by a healthy margin.
If we're gonna spend upwards of a thousand bucks on a gaming PC, the Origin is the clear choice here.
So, it's compact, it's upgradable, it's also one of the fastest PC's in it's price range.
So, I'm Rich Brown.
This is the Editor's choice learning Origin Chronos.
