The Fastest of the Fast
- — 18 January, 2000 13:43
Five slightly more affordable, almost as powerful and more readily available 600MHz machines:
Dell Dimension XPS T600
Digital Star PowerPro P3-600B
Gateway Performance 600
IBM Aptiva 75A
Peripherals Plus Intel PIII 600
Digital Star PowerPro P3-600B
Built around the Asus P3B-F motherboard, this machine should please enthusiasts who like to fiddle with settings and need a lot of expansion space. It features six PCI slots, memory can be expanded up to 1024MB via four DIMM slots, while the ‘jumperless' design allows you to easily change the clock and bus settings of the system through the BIOS. Power comes from a Pentium III 600MHz processor running at 133MHz front side bus speed, and the system's 128MB of PC-133 compliant SDRAM. In PC WorldBench 98 the machine recorded a score of 253. The graphics subsystem comprises a Matrox Millennium G400 dual-head graphics adapter, helping the PowerPro P3-600B achieve 5803 3D marks in 3DMark 99 Max. In our frame rate tests, which were conducted at a resolution of 1024 x 768, Quake II scored 62 frames per second and KingPin returned 38 frames per second.
The system includes a 17in Videocom monitor, and the 6x DVD drive gives it the ability to play back DVD movies. Sound is handled by a Sound Blaster Live Value card, which outputs the signal to a small pair of tinny sounding speakers. A multimedia keyboard is also supplied, giving you control over your DVD and CD player, and you can program it with your favourite shortcuts. Windows 98 SE comes pre-installed on the system but bundled software is lacking. It costs $3150 and ships with a 3-year return to base warranty.
Configuration: Intel Pentium III 600MHz CPU, 128MB SDRAM, 13.5GB hard drive, 32MB Matrox Millennium G400 dual-head graphics adapter.
Extra features: 17in Videocom monitor, 6x DVD-ROM drive, internal 56Kbps modem, SB Live Value sound card, speakers.
Price: $3150
Warranty: 3 years: 2 years parts, 1 year labour.
Vendor: Digital Star
Phone: (02) 9748 2915
URL: www.digitalstar.com.au
