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-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
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High-End Desktop PCs September 11, 2001 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/desktops/soa/High-End-Desktop-PCs/0,139023402,120259918,00.htm
We review some of the fastest desktop PCs around--all with processor running at 1.3GHz or better. Both Intel and AMD PCs are featured, and we take a close look at the role of memory in overall performance. For this months feature we reviewed some of the fastest desktop PCs around. These machines make awesome games and multimedia PCs but they can also be used as high-end business PCs as well as for video editing and processing.
We asked vendors to submit PCs with a 1.3GHz CPU (minimum, either AMD or Intel). We also asked for each of the PCs to ship with 256MB of SDRAM, a hard drive with a capacity of at least 40GB, a DVD-ROM drive, a CD-RW drive, and a 17in (or bigger) monitor. The majority of PCs we received were Intel machines. Most of them shipped with 1.7GHz processors We also got our first look at a 1.4GHz AMD processor, which proved to be a big winner. We also received two varieties of RAM. Some of the machines came with RDRAM and others shipped with DDR-RAM. None of the machines arrived with SDRAM. RAM plays a major role in improving the overall performance of your PC. Faster RAM and additional memory allow you to open more applications simultaneously while providing the power needed to make them run quickly. There are a couple of different types of RAM. Synchronous DRAM uses a clock on the chip to synchronise signal input and output. The clock is synchronised with the CPU so that the timing of the memory chips and the timing of the CPU are "in sync". DDR (double data rate) SDRAM is a new memory technology derived from SDRAM. The benefit of DDR memory is its ability to perform two data operations in one clock cycle--thus providing twice the throughput of SDRAM. Rambus (RDRAM), on the other hand, offers a series of advantages including higher bandwidth and lower power consumption then SDRAM and DDR-RAM.
We ran all the standard Ziff Davis-based tests on all the machines, as well as MadOnion's 3DMark and Quake 3, and we also tested the memory bandwidth of all the different types of RAM using SiSoft Sandra 2001. As we had predicted, all the machines with RDRAM generated the highest scores then followed DDR-RAM- and SDRAM-based machines. We should point out, however, that more bandwidth is not necessarily a benefit. It depends on how much traffic you have now and how much you expect. Both RDRAM and DDR-RAM have lousy latency. At the moment memory is a fair bit slower than the processor (that's why we have things like L2 caches). Both RDRAM and DDR-RAM handle data flow differently. RDRAM does a little very quickly. DDR-RAM does much more but much more slowly. The two types of RAM have been roughly equivalent up to now. Increases in bandwidth/FSB alone show little proportionate improvement to overall computer performance scale very low in overall computer performance compared to items such as the processor.
How We Tested Content Creation Winstone
Following the lead of real users, Content Creation Winstone 2001 keeps multiple applications open at once and switches among those applications. Content Creation Winstone 2001 is a single large test that runs the above applications through a series of scripted activities and returns a single score. Those activities focus on what we call "hot spots", periods of activity that make your PC really work--the times where you're likely to see an hourglass or a progress bar. Business Winstone
WinBench
3D WinBench
3DMark 2001
Games: Quake 3
CD-R/DVD Playback Test
Editors' Choice This was an exceptionally hard month to pick a single winner. We decided in the end to give the Editors' Choice award to the Peripherals Plus PC. It was jam-packed with features. It included a fast 16x CD writer, a good 17in flat screen display, the flexibility of being able to either use DDR-RAM or SDRAM, and it also included a modem and network card as well as an excellent graphics card and sound card. It was also very fast and it was priced reasonably. The Dell is deserving of a Merit Award for its excellent build quality, awesome monitor and great set of speakers. Dell Computers Dell Dimension 8100
The Dell Dimension 8100 is a beautiful looking machine. It's mainly black in colour, except for the mouse, which is white. Dell decided to submit a 1.5GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with only 128MB of RDRAM. We had to pull out some RAM from another machine so we could test the Dell with 256MB. What stands out from this machine (besides its black colouring) is the big 19in Dell UltraScan P991monitor. The Dell monitor was easily the best in this roundup. It was sharp, bright and bursting with colour. It also uses a Trinitron tube. The system case is very well designed. In order to remove the case you have to remove the front panel first, which reveals a button that pops the side of the case out. There is a locking device on the back of the case, which prevents unauthorised access. There was an unusual bar securing the AGP card. It runs from one side of the case to the other and has to be removed before you can remove the AGP card. This is a good idea and offers good support and protection for your AGP card. We also noticed an intrusion button inside the case. This will let you know if someone has tampered or opened up the machine. The power supply can be pulled upwards to reveal all the memory banks. This also gives you the room to pull out any of the 5.25in drives. Dell's motherboard features a voltage regulator module (VRM), which senses all the CPU voltage requirements and ensures that the correct voltage is maintained. Using a module will save you from having to buy a new motherboard to accommodate your new processor. The Dell also features a big green plastic cover to protect the CPU and the exhaust fan. The CPU does not have its own fan--just a large heatsink. The cover and fan keep the CPU from getting too hot. The Dell features a 12x NEC DVD-ROM drive and a Sony CD-RW CRX160E, which is capable of burning standard CDs at 12x. In the CD-R/DVD Playback test we experienced some hiccups at the start and at the end of the burn process but nothing too serious. The Dell also came with an nVidia Geforce 2 Ultra based graphics card. It produced some pretty high scores in Quake 3 but the Dell's slower CPU let the overall machine down a little in Content Creation Winstone and Business Winstone. The sound system was made up of a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz TB400-2541 sound card and a set of Altec Lansing ADA885 speakers. These were six-channel, Dolby Digital THX-certified, and combine for 120 watts of pure RMS. The speakers were easily the best we heard in this roundup. The ADA885 was made up of four 3in full-range drivers, the two front drivers also had 1in tweeters, each were rated at 10 watts RMS at 0.1% THD for a total of 60 watts. The subwoofer on the other hand was 8in and was rated at 60 watts RMS at 0.1% THD. These specifications are quite awesome to say the least but the actual sound was even more impressive. The Dell also included a couple of other extras like an integrated 3Com 3C920 Fast Ethernet Controller, four USB connectors and a Conexant HCF V.90 56K PCI modem. Dell Dimension 8100
Digital Star IntelliPro BTS 2000 PC
Digital Star Computers submitted an AMD-based machine, submitting a 1.33GHz processor instead of AMD's latest processor 1.4GHz Athlon. The motherboards was an Asus A7M266, which can hold up to 2GB of DDR-RAM. The motherboard only has two DIMM slots, but you can install 1GB modules in each of the banks to give you 2GB. For our tests, we were provided a single 256MB DDR-RAM module. There were no large internal cooling fans or exhaust fans inside the case, which we found strange. We are used to seeing at least one cooling fan for the interior. The only fan present was the CPU fan. The Digital Star PC features a 64MB Leadtek Winfast Geforce 3 graphics card includes an S-video and DVI connector. When we first tested the Digital Star machine, we ended getting some low scores which we couldn't understand. After examining the system we found out that the mini AGP drivers were not installed from the Asus motherboard driver CD. These increased the performance dramatically as you can see in the results chart. It is so important to make sure you have installed all your drivers--they play a vital role in how well your system performs. The Digital Star machine shipped a 40GB Seagate hard disk drive, which performed on par with most of the other hard drives. This PC also shipped with a Ricoh MP7200A CD-RW which happened to be one of our favourite burners because of its speed and stability--it can burn conventional CDs at an incredible 20x. This burner is a real screamer and alone it burnt our 74-minute audio CD in less than five minutes. The Digital Star machine also came with a 16x Pioneer DVD player, an internal Dynamic 56K Rockwell PCI modem, a two-port IEEE 1394 FireWire panel, and a pair of SP168 Flat Panel Stereo Multimedia USB Speakers (which had to be the poorest performing speakers in this roundup). The 17in Digital Star 770FA monitor wasn't bad. It has dot pitch of 0.25 and a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024. The overall picture quality was good but this monitor posed no real threat to most of the others. We didn't see a huge performance difference between the 1.3GHz and the 1.4GHz Athlon as you can see from the test results. In fact, this Digital Star machine was faster than the other two AMD machines in Quake 3 and in 3DMark 2001. In Content Creation Winstone it was fourth fastest overall, and in Business Winstone it was again fourth fastest (it proved to be slightly slower than the other two AMD machines and the Gateway PC). In our CD-R/DVD Playback test we managed to get a good result. There was a slight hiccup at the start of the burn process and right at the end. We did, however, notice that the burn process took slightly longer than it should have. Digital Star IntelliPro BTS 2000 PC
e@Pc Annihilator Series 7
The Annihilator came in as the least expensive machine at only $3499. e@Pc tried a few different things to shave the total price of their PC. Like Peripherals Plus, e@Pc also decided to submit an AMD 1.4GHz processor, but they decided to use an MSI motherboard that only supports SDRAM. Again this would have dropped the overall price a little but it didn't slow down the machine that much. There was no modem or network card but again these don't really cost that much anyway. That said, e@Pc decided to include a second 30GB IBM drive, which they decided to stripe. Thanks to this, the PC managedthe highest score in Business Disk and High-End Disk tests. The system case stands quite tall and all the components inside the case were well arranged. The two 30GB IBM drives were separated by one free 3.5in drive bay. A 5.25in drive bay also separated the Pioneer DVD-105 drive and Ricoh MP7083A writer. This just made it easier to get to these drives and it also would have kept them cooler. The Ricoh writer was only able to burn standard CDs at 8x and burn re-recordable CDs at 8x. In the CD-R/DVD Playback test we managed to successfully burn a audio CD and watch a movie without many interruptions. We did experience short pauses at the start of the burn process--pauses that did not last any longer than a few seconds. During the burn process we did not experience any glitches, not even when the writer was closing off the burn session. Again these guys did what Hallmark did where they made sure the DVD player and CD writer were set to run on separate channels. The hard drives were also plugged into their own separate channels. e@Pc did not have to use a PCI RAID controller like Hallmark because the MSI motherboard features RAID onboard. Inside, a separate cover protects the area around the CPU, and under this cover was a large fan, which was supposed to blow hot air away from the CPU, and another fan at the front of the case, but neither of them worked. The E@PC machine came with a 17in Velta flat screen CRT. It handles resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 but we do recommend you use this display at 1024 x 768 for the bset results. At high resolutions the screen tended to flicker quite a bit even after we had set the refresh rate. The sound card was a Terratec DMX Xfire 1024. This card is awesome--it's just a pity it was paired up with the disappointing MS-898 Multimedia Speakers. The Annihilator didn't actually post any performance speed records (other than in the disk benchmarks). Its scores in Content Creation Winstone and Business Winstone were very good. It was fastest in Business Winstone and third fastest in Content Creation Winstone. Its 2D graphics scores were excellent and we saw how AMD machines have a definite edge in this test over Intel-based machines. It was a different story, however, in Quake 3. The e@Pc machine could manage only 133 frames per second at 1024 x 768. These were pretty much the same frame rates that some of the Intel machines were getting with the Geforce 2 Ultra cards. We should note that we had a few problems running 3D WinBench on this machine. This PC shipped with the 10 series nVidia drivers. With these drivers we could not get this machine to run 3D WinBench at all. We then decided to install the latest 12 series drivers, which actually let us run the tests. We only managed, however, to get a score of 161. All the machines that were submitted made use of the 12 series nVidia drivers. The 10 series drivers actually give you a few more extra settings you can play with. For example you can disable v-sync in all Direct 3D games and benchmarks. For all the latest nVidia driver releases we recommend you goto www.guru3d.com/download. e@Pc Annihilator Series 7
Gateway Performance 1700XL
The Gateway Performance 1700XL is an Intel-based machine featuring a Pentium 4 1.7GHz processor and 256MB of RDRAM and a 40GB Quantum Fireball hard disk drive which was pretty much the standard sized hard drive in this roundup. The Gateway has a beautiful case, which is both attractive and strong. The thing we love about Gateway machines is that they are really easy to upgrade. Inside the Gateway were some very interesting locks that keep all the drives secured into place. There were sliding locks for all the 5.25in and 3.5in drive bays. This means that no screws are needed to secure any of the 5.25in or 3.5in drives, even though Gateway did use one screw to hold each of the 5.25 and 3.5 in drives in place. There was also a card lock at the back of the machine that keeps the AGP and all the PCI cards in place. To pull out any of the cards, you need to pull back on the card lock. (Note: none of the cards were secured into place by single screws but rather held together by the card lock, which incidentally uses one screw to singlehandedly secure all the cards.) Inside the case was a fairly cluttered interior. All the cables and wires could have been tied up and tucked away a little better. There are three PCI cards fitted to this machine. One PCI slot was taken up by the SoundBlaster Live sound card the other by the 56K data/fax/voice modem and the third by a two-port IEEE 1394 FireWire panel. The Gateway also features a single FireWire port on the front of the case and there is also provision for two USB ports. We also noticed that Gateway (like Pioneer Computers) installed four 64MB memory modules. This will obviously limit the expandability of this machine. Gateway decided to use the Intel D850GB motherboard which proved to be somewhat a popular choice with those submitting P4 machines. You can have up to 2GB of RAM in this machine if you use four 512MB modules. The only thing we noticed in the past (with this motherboard in particular) is that you don't have many settings to alter to improve the performance of your PC. The Gateway included an LG CED-8120B CD-RW recorder. It can burn conventional CDs at 12x and burn re-recordable CDs at 8x. In our CD-R/DVD Playback test were able to successfully burn an audio CD and watch a DVD movie (though with some slight pauses and jerkiness). As soon as the burner started to close off one of the 13 tracks, the DVD player would stop responding. The sound would go out and the picture would suddenly freeze. These interruptions were very short and once the burner started copying the next track onto the CD the DVD player would once again operate as normal. The Gateway came with a 16x DVD player and Boston Acoustic BA735 digital speakers. These were great little speakers, and they were backed by a subwoofer. We recently found out these speakers are only available through specific Gateway packages but draw upon the same technology and quality of Boston's retail line. The Gateway Performance 1700XL is slightly let down is by its monitor and graphics card. The monitor only has a 15.9in viewable area and its picture quality didn't impress us. The graphics card was based around nVidia's Geforce 2 Ultra processor. This is a fast card but not as fast as the all new Geforce 3 which, we saw blow the competition away in 3D. The Gateway PC performed exceptionally well in Content Creation Winstone. It was actually the second fastest overall and the fastest P4 based machine. It did just as well in Business Winstone, and in WinBench 2D Business and High-End Graphics its performed just as well as the other machines that shipped with Geforce 2 Ultra cards (but a little bit slower in all the 3D benchmarks). Gateway Performance 1700XL
Hallmark Computer International Hallmark eXtrema 75M
The Hallmark machine features an Intel Pentium 4 1.7GHz processor with 256MB of RD-RAM. (This machine initially shipped with 512MB of RD-RAM and we tested it twice with different amounts of memory to see how much of a difference an extra 256MB of RAM made.) The Hallmark uses an impressive case--one you might see on a powerful workstation. The front panel has a door that hides the 5.25in and 3.25 drives. Inside we found a very clean and well-arranged interior. What got our attention as soon as we opened the case were the two huge 120mm fans. One of them brings in cool air from the front of the case and the other one extracts hot air out through the back of the machine. We also noticed that Hallmark had striped two 30GB Seagate drives for RAID-0 level storage. This technique offers the best performance but no fault-tolerance. Hallmark had also nicely positioned the drives by leaving a 3.5in drive bay gap between the two drives to ensure they they don't get too hot. The Hallmark featured an LG CED-8120B 12x/8x/32x CD-RW player and a Panasonic SR-8586B DVD player. This combination did a good job at playing back a movie title and burning an audio CD at the same time. We didn't notice any hiccups during the whole burn process. (The main reason for this was because both the CD writer and DVD player were set up on separate channels.) The Hallmark machine comes with a SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 sound card. This offers Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and comes with a Live!Drive IR drive, which lets you attach MIDI instruments, MiniDiscs, headphones, and other digital audio devices. This was combined with a set of Creative DTT2200 speakers (the same speakers that shipped with the Pioneer PC). The monitor was a 19in Viewmaster MH972--a good monitor but one that lacked the contrast and brightness of the Dell 19in. The Hallmark came with a Creative Geforce 2 Ultra graphics card. Because of the fact that some of the other P4 based machines came with Geforce 3 cards this machine found it a bit hard to compete in Quake 3 and 3DMark 2001. In WinBench 2D Business and High-End Graphics it was faster than some of the Intel-based machines that were equipped with Geforce 3 cards. The overall score in Content Creation Winstone and Business Winstone was a little disappointing as we expected a bit more with the RAID 0 setup. Even with 512MB of RAM we only managed to slightly improve the scores in Content Creation Winstone and Business Winstone. That amount of RAM is probably more suited to someone using extremely large files or someone who may be using CAD. Hallmark eXtrema 75M
Peripherals Plus AXIS 1400XM
This was the first time Peripherals Plus submitted a PC to the TestLab for review, and it left a great first impression on us. This was the first time we had the chance to test an AMD 1.4GHz CPU, and the PC also came with many other components we had not seen before--like the Asus iPanel. The Asus iPanel is a Basic Smart Information Panel that provides connectivity to USB devices and easy access to system status information such as CPU/FSB/memory speeds, CPU/power supply/chassis fan speeds, CPU/power supply/motherboard temperature speeds, just to name a few. You can also personalise user configurable hot keys through the specially developed software that is also provided. The iPanel slots into a spare 5.25in drive and runs a cable to your motherboard. (Note: this panel only works with compatible ASUS motherboards.)
The Axis 1400XM shipped with an Asus A7A266 motherboard, which uses the ALi M1627 chipset. This was the most flexible motherboard of all those we looked at in this review. It supports both SDRAM and DDR-RAM (a maximum of 3GB of SDRAM and 2GB of DDR-RAM).We tested this machine with only DDR-RAM (we did, however, use this machine to test the bandwidth of SDRAM using SiSoft Sandra 2001). The Asus motherboard also offers much in the way of expansion. It has five PCI slots, three of which were already used up--one by the soundcard and the others by the modem and network card. The Axis 1400XM also had a two-port USB connector which, was mounted to an open slot on the back of the chassis. This brought the total number of USB connectors to six. Inside the Axis 1400XM, things were a little messy and cluttered. There were cables running around everywhere--the technicians at Peripherals Plus could have done a better job routing and tying up all the loose cables. Inside the case we also found a Hercules 3D Prophet III with S-video and DVI--a Geforce 3 type card. The PC also featured a TDK 16xW, 10xRW, 40xCD CD-RW drive and a 16x Pioneer DVD-ROM drive. Rounding out the unit was a 40GB Western Digital hard disk drive and a Terratec 512i 4-channel digital sound card. The Terratec is a very impressive sound card in itself but it was only combined with two-channel speakers, which was a bit of a shame. The three-piece Altec Lansing speakers were good but we felt that if you were going to pay so much for a PC (and the system actually ships with a four-channel soundcard) you would expect the machine to come with at least four speakers. The Axis 1400XM shipped with two displays. One was a 17in Samsung Syncmaster 753DF CRT monitor, which we looked at last month, and the other was a 24in Samung Syncmaster 240T TFT. The 17in monitor was a flat screen display using shadow mask technology. It has a low dot pitch and a good on screen display. Colour was not all that vibrant but the image quality was reasonably sharp. The 24in display, on the other hand, was awesome. You can set the resolution all the way up to 1920 x 1200 and you can even use picture in picture, which means you can watch PC and video side by side. The 240T was an absolute pleasure to work with. The only down side is the price which is AU$13,990. On the performance side, the Axis 1400XM was one of the machines to beat. It managed to score the highest in Content Creation Winstone and it was second fastest in Business Winstone. It wasn't too bad in Business Disk but it scored a little low in High-End Disk test. In Business and High-End Graphics it again produced some really high scores, scoring just as high as all the other machines with Geforce 3 cards in 3DMark 2001. In Quake 3, however, it could not match any of the Intel machines that shipped with Geforce 3 cards. In the CD-R/ DVD Playback test we could not manage to record and audio CD and play back a movie. The DVD software kept crashing on us and we even got a few blue screens up on the display. Peripherals Plus AXIS 1400XM
Pioneer Power PC
Pioneer Computers have a good reputation for submitting solid, well-built machines at very competitive prices, and this machine was no different. The Power PC features the all-new Intel Pentium 4 1.7GHz processor, an Intel D850GB motherboard, and 256MB of RDRAM. There was nothing special about the case; it was of the plain and simple variety. The chassis can hold up to three 5.25in drives and two 3.5in drives. Inside it can hold an additional 3.5in drive (which was taken up by the 40GB IBM hard disk drive). The chassis is strong overall and the case is very easy to open. You only have to remove one panel to get inside, unlike some of the other cases, which required the front and side panels to be removed. When we had a look inside we found a very neat interior. We also noticed that all the memory banks were used up--Pioneer shipped four 64MB RDRAM modules. We do not know whether this was due to the supply they had of RDRAM but by doing this it does cut down on expandability. Most of the other vendors supplied two 128MB modules and left two banks free. (Note: RDRAM can only be installed in pairs--e.g. 2 x 64, 2 x 128, 2 x 256, or 2 x 512MB). If you have two remaining banks you have to insert RIMM terminators which should come with your RDRAM motherboard. The Power PC also features a Pioneer 16x DVD-ROM drive and a Mitsubishi Diamond Data 10x/4x/32x CD-RW drive. The Mitsubishi CD-RW drive was a little slow at rewriting. Burning at 10x is reasonably fast--you should be able to burn a 74-minute audio CD in about eight minutes. We did, however, get a lot of other faster alternatives like 12x, 16x and 20x write drives. The 64MB Leadtek Winfast Geforce 3 graphics card includes an S-video and DVI connector. We were surprised that this machine did score as high as all the AMD machines in Business Graphics and High-End Graphics which tests 2D graphics performance. However, in Quake 3, the Power PC tore apart all the AMD machines and all the other Intel-based machines except for the Xenon machine. In 3D WinBench it managed the highest score. The Power PC performed quite well in Content Creation and Business Winstone but there were faster machines in 2D. The Power PC also came with a Creative Sound Blaster Live DE 5.1 card coupled with Creative DTT2200 speakers. The speakers are designed to produce six discrete channels when combined with a SoundBlaster Live card. Each of the five speakers were six watts in RMS and the subwoofer was 19 watts in RMS. This setup is excellent for gaming or home theatre speakers. They are, however, not in the same league as the Altec Lansing ADA330 speakers that were supplied by Dell. The 17in Hitachi CM615U monitor that shipped with the Power PC wasn't too bad. Most of the other vendors shipped with flat screen displays which makes them a little more attractive but also increased the overall price of the PC substantially. The only thing missing from this PC was a modem and network card. In our CD-R/DVD Playback test the Power PC managed to play our movie and burn a CD. We did notice the movie start and stop for a few seconds at the start of the burn process and at the end. This however did not affect our burn process and we were able to successfully burn the CD. Pioneer Power PC
Total Peripherals Group TPG Hercules
The TPG machine was yet another Intel P4 1.7GHz-based machine. However, TPG decided to go against the trend and use an MSI motherboard (most of the Intel machines were built on Intel motherboards). The MSI can hold up to five PCI slots, and we were quite surprised to see all these PCI slots empty on what is supposed to be a high-end PC. There were four memory slots, two of which were used up by 128MB RD-RAM modules. The other two banks had RIMM terminators installed. The system case is large and everything inside had heaps of breathing space. However we found it a little difficult getting to the memory banks. The board's power connector was located right above them, which means there were lots of cables and wires hanging in the way. There were also some loose data cables, which could have been folded instead of left hanging about. An area where this PC is let down is video and sound. The TPG machine only used a nVidia Geforce 2 MX-based card. Its not a bad card and it actually did quite well in 2D but it is definitely not a high-end graphics card. It recorded well below average scores in all the 3D tests. Sound was found on-board the motherboard and the speakers that we received with this machine were a pair of Yamaha YST-M15 speakers (these, again, don't really fit the high end PC specifications). TPG used a fair few Mitsubishi products to build this machine. The DVD-ROM drive was by Mitsubishi and so was the CD-RW drive. The CD-RW was capable of burning standard CDs at a speedy 12x (average time to burn a 74 min audio CD is about seven minutes). The monitor was also from Mitsubishi--a Diamond View DV17NF--and we found it did very well at 1600 x 1200. This monitor ranked quite highly in last month's 17in flatscreen monitor review and it was definitely one of the better monitors that were submitted to us this month. The TPG machine even shipped with a Mitsubishi keyboard--quite nifty in that it lets you control your CD player from the keyboard. The TPG machine was no speed demon--it was one of the slower machines in this review and its overall scores in Content Creation Winstone and Business Winstone could have been improved slightly if it shipped with at least a Geforce 2 Ultra card. In 3D it would have also scored substantially higher. We encountered a few problems in the CD-R/DVD Playback test but none that were too serious. There was a short pause in sound and video as soon as we started to burn the CD. After a few seconds everything returned to normal. The movie was quite smooth throughout the burn process but the burner seems to have slowed right down. Just as the session was closing the visual blurred all over the screen and no sound came from the speakers. A few seconds later the CD ejected and the player returned to normal. Total Peripherals Group TPG Hercules
Westan ArmaPro P4
The Westan ArmaPro was another Intel P4-based machine. It came with a 1.7GHz processor, an Intel D850GB motherboard, 256MB of RDRAM, and a massive 60GB Western Digital hard disk drive. The ArmaPro case houses four 5.25in drive bays and two 3.5in drives. You can also mount two 3.5in internal drive bays (one of these was taken up by the hard disk). There was plenty of room inside the case and all the cables and wiring was tucked neatly out of the way. We found two fans inside the case. One blows heat out of the case and the other one is used to bring in cool air from outside. Westan also seems to have run into the problem of only being able to get their hands on 64MB RDRAM modules. They filled all the available slots with 64MB modules, limiting the expandability of this machine by doing so. The Westan features a Sparkle SP6900 graphics accelerator card with S-video and DVI. This card is based around the nVidia Geforce 2 Ultra processor. The Sparkle performed a little better in all the graphics benchmarks than the other Geforce 2 Ultra cards. In Content Creation Winstone and in Business Winstone it managed to score slightly better than most, and we think it's a Geforce 3 away from being one of the fastest PCs. We didn't have too many problems burning a CD and playing a DVD movie at the same time. There was one small hiccup at the start of the burn process--a small glitch in sound and video right at the start of the burn process, but that was all. We were successfully able to close the disk session without affecting any of the movie. Like Pioneer Computers, Westan also shipped their PC with a Mitsubishi CD-RW drive--not one of the fastest drives around. The Creative Sound Blaster card was matched with a pair of OZ Rock-2188 speakers. This combination did not prove to be a good one. The speakers did not offer clear sound and the bass was muddy, to say the least. When we turned the volume right up, the sound was even more distorted though the speakers were quite loud. The monitor supplied was a Samsung Syncmaster 753DF CRT. It's a good monitor and it does a good job but it's outclassed by some of the other displays like the Dell, Mitsubishi and Philips. The Westan ArmaPro also shipped with a cute external Mitsubishi 56K modem, which is smaller than the size of most cigarette boxes. There was not much included in the way of software. We only received Nero Burning Software and driver CDs and not even a blank CD or CD-RW disc. Westan ArmaPro P4
Metro 860 Multimedia PC
The Xenon machine featured an Intel Pentium 4 1.7GHz processor with 256MB of RD-RAM and a 40GB Seagate hard disk drive. The package includes a built-in Ethernet adaptor with 56K modem and ships with the Asus V8200 Deluxe graphics card (featuring 64MB of DDR-RAM, TV out, and TV in connectors as well as a VR glasses connector). This card alone is worth around AU$1,000. The Xenon was assembled very nicely. It probably had the cleanest looking inside of all the machines. It was quite obvious that a lot of emphasis was placed on making sure all the wiring and cabling was out of way. Xenon uses quite a small case so it was important to make sure things like data cables and wires are tucked well away. The power supply was placed in an interesting position over the CPU. It actually works well there because it draws the hot air from the CPU. And it is attached to a sliding panel that slides the power supply out of the case to give you lots of room to access the CPU. The Xenon ships with a Philips 107P monitor. This was one of the better monitors in this review. It uses a Mitsubishi Diamondtron tube and is capable of resolutions of 1920 x 1440. The overall picture quality was excellent and the OSD was very easy to use and included control settings like moiré and convergence adjustments which come in very handy. Xenon uses onboard sound instead of a designated sound card. This drives a set of Creative SoundBlaster PCI128 Digital speakers, which are good games speakers. However we could only manage to get sound out of the two front speakers and not all four speakers because we didn't have a second line out port. Xenon also supplied an AOpen DVD-1240 and an AOpen CRW-1232PRO. The CD-RW drive can burn standard CDs at 12x and write on re-recordable CDs at 10x. As with most of the other machines we noticed that a couple of glitches when we started writing and closing a CD whilst watching a movie. However the glitches were not that bad and we were able to tolerate the few pauses that we experienced. The Xenon also included a cordless mouse and keyboard (both require two AAA batteries). This worked well--both the keyboard and mouse were comfortable to use. In our speed tests the Xenon performed well. It wasn't the fastest P4 in 2D but in 3D it was the fastest overall. It scored a little over 160 frames in Quake 3 at 1024 x 768 and a bit over 120 frames at 1280 x 1024. There seems to be a definite advantage in using an Intel-based processor and running Quake 3. OpenGL-type games have in the past run much faster on Intel machines than on AMD based machines. We found this to be the case again in this review. Metro 860 Multimedia PC
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Peripherals Plus AXIS 1400XM
