PC Specialist Spectrum Pro GTX 1050 Ti Gaming PC Review

A Closer Look

The system’s visual design isn’t overly appealing and the chassis’ green coloured frame lacks a certain level of finesse. To be fair, the aesthetic qualities were always going to be limited when opting for cheaper solutions. Plus, the green section is obscured once the side panel has been attached. Even though the chassis sports an unattractive colour scheme, it’s surprisingly well made and feels fairly robust. Also, there’s enough room to route the cables properly and install a decent number of drives. Personally, I’d prefer some kind of PSU cover and rubber grommets. However, you really can’t complain at this price and the chassis serves its purpose rather well.

PC Specialist deployed a 350-watt Corsair unit to power the system which has a decent 80+ bronze rating. The wattage might seem quite low but you have to remember that the GPU doesn’t require a dedicated PCI-E cable and Intel’s latest Skylake architecture is extremely efficient.

The secondary mechanical disk slots into the 3.5-inch drive cage and excess cabling is positioned underneath. This is a cogent tactic to make use of the spare drive bays. On another note, the SSD is professionally installed and the cabling has been obscured to maintain a clean finish.

In a strange turn of events, PC Specialist positioned the Intel stock cooler with the label upside side. Even though it’s far from being the most pressing of issues, the label may annoy those who want every aspect of their system to be perfect. I’m presuming the cooler was mounted in this fashion to achieve a tidier cabling run. Despite this, I’m not keen on the cooler’s orientation and would prefer the label to be facing the right direction. Some users may dislike the Intel heatsinks dull, dreary appearance which doesn’t enthuse a great deal of enthusiasm. Putting the aesthetic argument aside, the cooler is functional and easily capable of contending with the CPU’s thermal output.

To help with system diagnostics, PC Specialist included a speaker and neatly tied down the cabling with a zip-tie. This is an easy way for users to relay information back to the company’s customer service team in case the system fails to boot. The dual-channel 2133MHz memory is a great choice because it complements the H110 chipset and finds a good balance between performance and cost per module. Next up is the Zotac graphics card which employs a tiny form-factor and neutral styling. The GPU has an exposed PCB which makes sense because of the small frame and minimal pressure applied to the PCI-E slot.

Unfortunately, the chassis doesn’t have an integrated cable management hole for the 8-pin EPS cable. This is infuriating and forced PC Specialist to route the cable upwards. It’s a shame because it makes the build look messier than it really is. Apart from this aspect, the cabling has to be completed to a high standard and exceeded my already high expectations.

The Sharkoon VG4-W Green chassis’ front section is made of resilient plastic and doesn’t appear to show many fingerprints or accumulate a large amount of dust. To add a more distinctive appearance, the chassis opts for striking cut-outs around the edges. PC Specialist added their own branding in a subtle way which works alongside the build’s theme. Personally, I’d position the logo in the first drive bay because it seems a better fit. Saying that, they might have selected the third bay so you can easily install an optical drive in the top position. Connectivity-wise, the case has two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and the standard audio jacks.

Once powered once, the fans illuminate in an attractive green hue which brings a new lease of life to the system’s appearance. On the other hand, the rear fan isn’t bright enough to clearly show the internal components. This isn’t necessarily a negative concept because the stock fan isn’t great to look at. While PC Specialist could have added some LED strips, I don’t think it would have been suitable given the component selection. Therefore, they’ve made the right call and provided just enough lighting to help the system stand out.

The system’s cable management is superb when you take into account the non-modular power supply and unbelievably narrow space to route the cables properly. PC Specialist expertly coupled together all the extra cables within the hard drive chamber. Additionally, the cables are secured to the chassis’ cable management holes and flow through a logical cable run. In particular, the large 24-pin cable is perfectly flush with the side panel and secured with multiple zip-ties. This makes it easy to shut the side panel door without any force.

Near the storage portion, we can see the Molex to power the fans’ lighting is tied back in an effective way and shouldn’t come loose over time. The chassis’ front bay cabling is locked together really nicely via multiple zip-ties.

The 24-pin cable slots through a gap where the traditional ATX motherboard would usually cover. In this situation, the compact motherboard provides additional opportunities to directly connect the thickest cable.