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Wednesday 6th October 2004

PC Pro specification change: Mesh Matrix 64 3800+ Ultimate 10:41AM, Wednesday 6th October 2004

Due to a shortage of high-end ATi chips, Mesh has been forced to change the specification of its Matrix 64 3800+ Ultimate, which won PC Pro's Ultimate PCs group test in issue 121. Although assured by ATi that 'Mesh is a priority', Mesh has no concrete allocation of the original graphics card, based on ATi's Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition, and therefore can't guarantee supply to its customers.

The replacement card is based on nVidia's GeForce 6800 GT chipset (the GeForce 6800 Ultra is proving just as difficult to obtain in any volume).

Fortunately, the nVidia-equipped version of this PC is still a great choice for gamers: at 1,280 x 1,024 resolution, it scored 83fps (frames per second) in Unreal Tournament 2004 and 70fps in Halo. That's a decrease of around 10 per cent. We also tested the machine in Doom 3, where it returned 63fps.

Mesh originally reduced the price of the Matrix 64 3800+ Ultimate to Ł1,960 inc



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VAT to reflect the change in cost to the company, but at PC Pro's request it has dropped this to Ł1,949 inc VAT to give a fairer reflection of the drop in performance.

We recalculated our scores from last month's Ultimate PCs group test, and this version of the 3800+ was a clear winner - little wonder considering the rest of the specification, which includes a 20.1in TFT. As such, Mesh retains its place on the A List.

PC Pro wants to make it clear that this is not a case for Shark fishing.

The situation is out of Mesh's control, and the company would supply the machine as reviewed if possible. Readers who are only interested in the original specification can place an order, but will have to wait for Platinum Edition cards to become available.

However, please note that this remains unpredictable, as it appears that any produced Platinum Edition cards are being sent direct to retail shops, not to computer manufacturers.

The PC Pro labs test of the Mesh Matrix 64 3800+ Ultimate

Tim Danton, Editor, PC Pro

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