Hi-Grade Ultis PV4 C1.9 PW10

The Ultis PV4 C1.9 PW10 comes with a1.9GHz Pentium 4-based Celeron processor. While this isn't a particularly impressive processor in terms of brute power, it does offer a budget alternative to the Northwood P4.

Hi-Grade has taken a very measured approach to the specs of this PC. The MSI 845E Max motherboard uses an Intel 845E chipset with DDR support.

You get a single 512MB module of PC2100 memory and a spare memory slot so you could upgrade to 1GB. Most users will find that 512MB is plenty.

The AGP slot is filled with an MSI Geforce4 TI4400 graphics card that scored 8,027 in 3Dmark 2001, which is plenty for all but the most hardcore of gamers. You get lots of connectivity options: VGA, DVI and S-Video outputs.

Hi-Grade has blocked the first PCI slot with a rather ugly plug-through bracket that transfers the headphone and mic connections to the front of the case. Two more PCI slots are taken up with the Creative Soundblaster Live 5.1 sound card and generic modem. That leaves three PCI and a CNR slot free. There are two USB2 ports on the rear of the case and two on the front.

Add a large Maxtor hard drive into the equation and you have a very decent PC at a fair price. The Logitech keyboard and mouse are decent quality, and we like the Creative speakers and LG monitor. On the downside, there are two case fans that make rather too much noise for our liking, but that is a minor quibble.

The Ultis PV4 is a solid offering, even though you could get more bangs for your buck by selecting a similarly priced Athlon, rather than a Celeron.

Price: £998.75 (£850 ex VAT)

Specifications:
1.9GHz Celeron
512MB of memory
845E motherboard
80GB hard disk
32x CD-RW
16x DVD-Rom
Geforce4 TI4400 graphics card
LG 775FT monitor
Creative Live 5.1 sound card
DTT2200 speakers
Works Suite 2002
One-year on-site, two-year return to base warranty.

Contact: Hi-Grade 020 8532 6111
www.higrade.com