ASUS PRIME X470-PRO AM4 ATX Motherboard

“ORDERING

Ordered Sentinel fanless PC with monitor and speakers. Original estimate to assemble my order was 10 days, but it was ready in about 5. Was kept well informed of delivery progress by emails and texts. Products very well packaged and arrived in tip-top condition in a single large carton.

Sentinel PC a beautiful piece of kit - thick aluminium case that could withstand a regional nuclear war, top-quality components throughout, elegant and very compact design - resembles a top-end hi-fi amplifier.

So nice to get the Windows OS disk and all driver disks included as well. Shouldn’t ever need them, but great to have them just in case. Good Quiet PC manual supplied that explains what all the components are and how to fit additional ones should you desire to.

SETUP

Two teething problems during initial set-up:

1. BenQ monitor did not default to HDMI so had no picture when I plugged in. One phone call to Quiet PC put this right in seconds - just needed to find monitor button to change input mode.

2. Cable to connect secondary hard-drive had been omitted. Again, one phone call and was straight through to a very apologetic and knowledgeable service engineer who talked me through identifying the problem. Cable arrived by post the next day and I fitted it myself - not that I needed it to set-up and use the PC anyway.

Despite these minor glitches, PC so much more pleasant to set up than any other I have owned because totally free from junkware - no trial versions of antivirus programs or other unwanted craplications nagging you to buy and upgrade, no pre-installed browser toolbars or homepages that default to the manufacturer or try to force you to use some absurd search engine or “app store” just because someone bunged someone a wodge of cash, etc. You get the OS and that’s it - pure and clean.

Also, how fantastic to be able to pick up the phone and call the engineers directly. No queues, no call centres, no impenetrable accents, no read-from-a-set-menu answers; you’re directly through to the people who built your PC.

IN USE

PC is as quiet as a Trappist monk on a sponsored silence walking in soft shoes on deep-pile carpet. Can’t even hear a mains hum. Only the optical drive makes any (brief) noises (when it has a CD/DVD/BlueRay disk inside).

It’s amazing what a difference this lack of noise makes to a room in a house. After this, I’ll never go back to a PC with fans - failure-prone, humming, buzzing dust-suckers. Fan-free is the future.

Fitted with a SSD primary drive, the speed of the PC is astonishing. Goes like slop off a shovel. Reboot? Blink and you’ll miss it.

CONCLUSION

Pricey, but a truly top-quality unit and terrific customer support. Worth every penny.”