HP Pavilion Elite HPE-235f: Good Performance, Humdrum Shell

Powered by a 2.6GHz Phenom II X6 1035T processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive, the HPE-235f earned a WorldBench 6 score of 114--a strong result, but on the lower end of the category. Gaming performance was a bit disappointing, too. The HPE-235f's ATI Radeon HD 5570 graphics board failed to produce playable frame rates at any resolution of our Dirt 2 benchmark. On our Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark, it managed a frame rate of 25.6 frames per second (at 2560 by 1600 resolution and the highest quality). Once we dialed the resolution down to 1920 by 1200, Unreal Tournament 3 ran at a respectable 43.4 fps.

Other machines have fared better. For instance, the Dell Studio XPS 7100, equipped with an ATI Radeon 5870, managed a frame rate of 88 fps and earned a slightly higher WorldBench 6 score of 120. The Dell is also marginally more expensive, though, so keep that in mind when comparing the two.

The HPE-235f is housed in HP's standard chassis--it's quite literally a pared-down twin of the company's Pavilion Elite HPE-390t performance desktop. Though it's a bit boxy and plain, ports and the like are readily accessible. A bucket on the top offers a handy spot to rest your gadgets, but competing systems also tend to include a USB port or two in that location, increasing the utility of the space.

On the front of the case you'll find the Blu-ray player/DVD-writer combo drive, as well as three USB ports (two on the multiformat card reader and one hidden behind a panel with the microphone and headphone jacks, on the lower-left side). Six more USB ports are on the rear (for a total of nine), alongside 7.1-channel and optical-audio outputs, a FireWire port, and a gigabit ethernet port. The PC also offers 802.11n Wi-Fi, if you'd like to trim down the cable clutter. The ATI Radeon HD 5570 graphics card provides a DisplayPort connector, an HDMI port, and a single DVI port.

You'll need to break out your screwdriver if you want to tinker inside the machine. It has some room for adding a few extra components (a second hard drive or another 5.25-inch drive), but you'll need to wrestle the wiring into some semblance of order to get in there. The system also offers a pair of open PCIe x1 slots, but inserting a larger graphics card will be a challenge--the 300W power supply won't leave much room for expansion, either.

The bundled keyboard and mouse aren't especially interesting. Although the keyboard offers a few media-shortcut keys, both input devices are wired, and otherwise generic. Both are comfortable to use, but if you're a stickler for additional functionality from your peripherals, you'll want to invest in a set of your own.

The HPE-235f comes with a few HP-branded bits of software. HP's Total Care Advisor keeps you informed on your PC's inner workings, monitoring driver and software updates, and tackling data backup and tech support. It's merely a front-end for tasks that Windows 7 and your applications will handle natively, but it's a useful tool if you're unfamiliar with some of the more arcane elements of your PC.

HP's MediaSmart software supplies media-playback and photo-browsing applications, much like the software provided on the company's all-in-one machines such as the TouchSmart 600 Quad--sans touch functionality, of course. The HPE-235f also sports CyberLink software for taking advantage of the Blu-ray drive, as well as Microsoft's Works 9 productivity software.

Although the limited room for upgrades is a sore point, it's a common handicap for machines outside of the performance category, from the larger PC manufacturers. As it stands, the HP Pavilion Elite HPE-235f is best suited for a user who isn't likely to do much upgrading or enthusiast-level gaming but wants a machine that can churn through high-definition media without skipping a beat. If you're in the mood for something a little meatier, Dell's Studio XPS 7100 may cost a bit more, but it bridges the gap by packing in better graphics performance and a stronger six-core AMD processor.