iBUYPOWER Trace 4 9310 Review
Michael C. Smith
$1,089.99
Amazon.com
The iBUYPOWER Trace 4 9310 is one of the best gaming PCs for enthusiast gamers who want to spend under one grand without sacrificing much in the way of power. Packing an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor and AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics card, this rig can run mainstream games at high settings and handle your VR headset hassle free.
Better yet, the Trace 4 9310 is spacious and easy to open up, making it a great starting point for gamers who need to eventually upgrade to more powerful parts in future.
Design
The iBUYPOWER line of gaming desktop PCs has long been a favorite top of the line boutique builder, and for a good reason. In addition to offerings gaming systems with strong performance, and low starting prices, its machines are suave and stable. With the Trace 4 9310, you’re getting a fairly sleek and flashy design, complete with a pair of RGB lit strips on the front, a transparent side panel and RGB fans within the case.
You also get an iBuyPower Gaming Keyboard and RGB Gaming Mouse right out of the box, so you can spend less time fetching extra accessories and more time paying the latest titles online.
Ports
The iBUYPOWER Trace 4 9310 has a diverse number of connectivity ports, with some in the front and a few others around the back, so you have several ways of connecting our accessories and devices. In total, you have four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and a 7.1 audio channel output. For multi-monitor setup, you have an HDMI and DisplayPort; wireless connectivity comes via 802.11AC Wi-Fi.
iBUYPOWER Trace 4 9310: Performance
The iBUYPOWER Trace 4 9310 in this review is billed as a gaming desktop, but looking at its feature set, it’s obvious that this machine can easily double for both gaming and productivity. Our review unit comes with a 3.6GHz AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, and 240GB SSD storage, alongside a capable AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics card. This is enough power for web browsing, photo-editing, medium productivity task and some moderate video encoding.
On the other hand, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (with 4GB) will deliver decent frame rates on most modern games at high settings played at 1080p resolutions. This chip is AMD’s answer to Nvidia’s GTX 1660 Ti graphics card, like the one found on the SkyTech Blaze II, another exciting gaming desktop in the same price range.
The Radeon RX 5500 XT is codenamed Navi 14, and it sure packs a punch at a very competitive price, thanks to its 1408 cores and 88 texture units, which is quite strong for 1080p gaming and sometimes you can do some casual 1440p gaming. Since the Navi 14 is loaded in an entry-level gaming machine, our gaming benchmarks will be based on 1080p gaming.
Now back to gaming, this 1080p-optimized machine handles modern titles pretty well. Played at high graphics settings and 1080p resolution, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey yields 71 fps, Far Cry New Dawn plays at 85 fps, while Shadow of the Tomb Raider plays at 76 fps. The latter’s performance is quite remarkable, since even consoles only run this game at 60 fps (and, not at perfect consistency).
If you compare this machine’s benchmark numbers, you’ll appreciate the over 60 fps on most games, and that’s the much you’d ask of a midrange gaming desktop that can be had at such a reasonable price. If you need to play at higher resolutions, maybe for 4K at Ultra settings, consider the likes of the CyberpowerPC Gamer SLC8260A2 and HP Omen Obelisk 875-1023 that rock Intel ‘s high-end RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080 Super graphics cards, respectively.
Bottom Line
The iBUYPOWER Trace 4 configuration reviewed here is an excellent, midrange gaming machine that looks goods and feels great in-game. Simply-put, it’s an enthusiast gamer’s paradise, capable of running most processor-hungry tasks, modern AAA games seamlessly, ensuring that your gaming experience is completely immersive. That applies to similarly-medium-demanding applications like video editing programs.
Sure, you’ll have to shell out more cash if you’re looking for a 4K-capable gaming PC, but if you’re looking for something affordable and capable, one that can be upgraded with more powerful parts later, then the iBUYPOWER Trace 4 9310 is a great investment for the future as well as the present.
iBUYPOWER Gaming PC Computer Desktop Trace 4 9310 (AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6GHz, AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 4GB, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 240GB SSD, WiFi Ready, Windows 10 Home)
1 used from $1,149.00
