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Photography News Issue 26 absolutephoto.com
First test
ChillblastFusionPhoto OCLite II £1099.98
Specs
Processor Intel Core i7-6700K Quad Core Processor overclocked to up to 4.60GHz, 8MB L2 Cache, Corsair H60 Water Cooler Motherboard Asus Z170-A Motherboard (Intel Z97 Chipset) Memory 16GB DDR4 2133MHz, Configuration 2 x 8GB, Dual Channel Support on 2 DIMMs, 4 x DIMM Slots Hard drive 120GB Samsung SM951 PCIe solid state drive, 2 x 1000GB 7200rpm SATA III Seagate hard disks in RAID 1 Optical drive BluRay burner Software Operating system: Windows 10 Home 64bit (pre-installed and disc included) Display Monitor not included Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 1GB Graphics Card (DirectX 11) Audio On-Board 7.1 High Definition Audio Input devices Keyboard and mouse not included Networking LAN: 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Power supply Corsair 600W 80+ Bronze power supply Dimensions (WxHxD) 210x430x497mm Interfaces 4x USB3.0, 2x USB3.1, 2x USB 2.0, RJ45 LAN Port, DVI Port, HDMI Port, Display Port, PS/2, 5x Audio Jack, SPDIF Optical Output, 17 in 1 Card Reader Expansion 3x 16x PCI Express Slot, 3x 1x PCI Express Slot, PCI Slots, 4x SATA ports, SATA EXpress, M2 Warranty 5 -year Standard Warranty (2-year collect & return, 5 years labour), Lifetime Tech Support by Chillblast Contact chillblast.com
While there’s little doubt the camera system is the key component in any photographer’s kit, the computer can’t be far behind. Like it or not, we spend hours parked in front of our monitors working in post- production, so having the right computer for the job is important. There’s a long-running battle over whether an Apple Mac or a PC is the best tool for the job. Being image- conscious photographers, many of us are won over by Apple’s svelte designs and cool features, but while Macs look stunning, are great to use and function perfectly well, they don’t represent the best value for money. That’s where a PC comes in. Chillblast PCs have been gaining plaudits for years. The company’s machines regularly pick up awards where they overcome the likes of Apple and other PC manufacturers to take coveted crowns. This Fusion Photo OC Lite II is one of three photo-specific models, with a spec that is optimised for photo and video editing. In standard form, this is the cheapest desktop option Chillblast produce for this intended use – there’s also a laptop for £100 more, or the Fusion Photo OC VI, which offers a sizeable leap in terms of spec and performance for an additional £730. I spent a couple of months in the company of theOCVI earlier this year and it certainly proved to be an impressive piece of kit. The age-old concept of going to make a cup of tea while the computer did its thing evaporated thanks to six cores, 32GB of RAM and 4.2GHz of processing power. They were done before I’d filled the kettle!
It’s important to appreciate my use of the term ‘standard form’ when I refer to the Photo OC Lite II as you can take your pick from an extensive menu of options when you come to spec up a PC from Chillblast. I had no reason to want to modify the specification of the unit, trusting the knowledgeable chaps at Chillblast to know the best componentry for the job. But if you know your SSD from your thermal paste, you can choose these options along with 24 other components through the extensive menus on the Chillblast site. Being honest, I was a little surprised to find, however, that no Wi-Fi capability is included in the standardmodel, so you’ll either need to use a cable straight into a router, opt for a dongle of some description or choose one of the optional Wi-Fi extras when you buy. There’s also no keyboard, mouse or monitor included in the price, so be sure to factor those in, too. Although I’m a long-time Mac user, finding my way around Windows 10 operating system didn’t take a huge leap of faith. Windows certainly has its quirks (from a Mac user perspective) but it also has its benefits. I’m not going to start arguing about which system is better, they’re just different. Having started the machine up, I downloaded Adobe’s Creative Cloud applications and got to work, simultaneously firing up both Lightroom and Photoshop. It’s here that I immediately appreciated the speed of the Chillblast machine. Both applications were up and ready to use in less than 15 seconds. With
my Mac I’d have enough time to boil the kettle. It’s a similar speedy performance when you’re in the programs themselves. I tend to spend more time in the dialogue boxes of Lightroom than anything else, but even a simple import was much faster than I’d anticipated. Likewise, magnifying images to check
sharpness is instantaneous, even on hefty files from a Canon EOS 5DS, while exporting edited images to JPEGs was completed impressively swiftly. There’s little doubt in my mind that buying this PC would reduce my computer time down significantly - saving a few seconds on every process will soon add up to minutes and hours. RP
How it rates
Verdict Anything that allows you to spend less time in front of a computer monitor and more time out taking pictures has to be a good thing, right? And to my mind this Chillblast PC is certainly a time saver. As a rough estimate, I’d suggest that the processing power of the machine enables you to save approximately a minute doing basic alterations on an image – that soon adds up if you’re processing, say 100 images in an evening. The pick-and-mix nature of buying the machine also affords maximum flexibility and, with so many components interchangeable, there’s a degree of future-proofing as well. Buy one of these units and when technology moves on you can simply upgrade it.
Features No Wi-Fi, monitor or keyboard, but these and so much more can be added
22/25
24/25
Performance Plenty of processing power for a fast and efficient workflow
Ease of use Windows 10 is a decent OS, but takes some adjustment if you’re a Mac user
22/25
Both applications were up and ready to use in less than 15 seconds
Value for money Temptingly priced, especially if you’re considering an Apple Mac
23/25
91/100
Overall A great machine for photographers with plenty of upgrade options
Pros Speed, Price (compared to a similarly specified Apple Mac), Flexibility and future-proofing, Windows now far more user friendly and visually appealing than it used to be. Cons No Wi-Fi as standard, monitor, keyboard and mouse not included
Left Lightroom CC runs very speedily on the OC Lite II, and magnification to 100% is instantaneous.
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