Product Reviews

You could be forgiven for thinking that PCs based on AMD's Athlon are the exclusive preserve of the rich. Evesham's Vale Athlon 600, reviewed in October, weighed in at £2,055. A massive sum, but it was the fastest PC we'd ever seen - then. Come November, Mesh answered Evesham's challenge with its Matrix 600F. Again a 600MHz, Athlon-based system - and again expensive, at £1,300. It was even quicker than the Evesham, and is still the fastest machine we've seen, but £1,300 is a lot of money to pay for a PC, even if it is blisteringly quick. So, if you want to look after your bank balance, is it still possible to buy an Athlon system? Well, how about Carrera's Octan, for just £799?

The Octan uses the cheaper 500MHz version of the Athlon, but slots it into the same Microstar MS-6167 motherboard used in the £1,300 Panrix and Mesh machines that we looked at last month.

The board has three SDRAM memory slots, one occupied by a single 64Mb module. Of late, we've become pretty used to seeing 128Mb in all but the cheapest PCs, but with memory prices currently rocketing faster than a rabbit from a fat chef, Carrera's decision to fit only 64Mb is understandable. Doubling the RAM may add £100 to the price of the machine, and the resultant increase in system speed just isn't worth the cash. If you're interested in the whys and wherefores of the spiralling price of RAM, check out this month's News section.

Our benchmarks revealed the 13Gb Seagate Medalist hard disk to be reasonably quick, and the Ultra ATA-66 interface ensures it will perform at its full potential.

The Microstar board has five PCI slots, two ISA and one AGP.

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Two of the PCI slots are occupied, one by a 56K fax modem and the other with a Creative Sound Blaster 128.

The sound card is a sign of costcutting. The Sound Blaster PCI 128 is a basic card, when compared with the likes of the popular Sound Blaster Live! Value. The Live! Value is ideal for composing music, and boasts four-way speaker outputs for genuine surround sound, which really adds a new dimension to modern games. The PCI 128 is a straight stereo card so don't expect too much. That said, the PCI 128 paired with the Altec Lansing ACS90 speakers makes for an acceptable compromise between quality and cost. You can play audio CDs and be treated to adequate bass and sound definition. Still, a set of Yamaha YST-M20 speakers would have been a stronger choice.

We found more evidence of the budget balancing act when we took a look at the Carrera's graphics card. The Octan is fitted with a WinFast 3D S325 from Leadtek. It's based on nVidia's TNT2 chipset which, though fast in both 2D and 3D, does lack the sheer grunt of leaders like the Matrox G400 Max - check out September's graphics card group test for more details.

The combination of a slower processor and a modest graphics card leaves the Carrera lagging behind last month's G400-equipped Athlons in standard Windows applications. 3D performance was also lower. In fact, the score of 4568 in the 3DMark test also trails several £799 Pentium III machines in this month's main Lab Test.

Carrera's Hansol 710A monitor is an excellent choice. Its picture is clear and crisp, maintaining sharpness, focus and stability, even in the extreme corners of the screen. Its controls are commendable too - image adjustments are simple, thanks to an intuitive arrangement of buttons and a clear collection of on screen icons.

So, is Carrera right in thinking you should spend £799 on its 500MHz AMD Athlon system? It's close, but we'd have to say three of this month's Lab Test machines are better buys. What detracts from the Carrera's overall appeal is its fairly basic set of peripherals. Other £799 machines tested this month positively bulge with extras. If only Carrera could have squeezed a 550 or 600MHz Athlon into its £799 system they would have had a winner.