Product Reviews

PC hardware advancements continue to march to a rousing beat, with recent improvements like the 1.2GHz Athlon pushing the PC performance envelope. The Mesh Matrix 1.2GT Pro (reviewed issue 75, p154) was one such example, boasting an uncompromising specification and a price tag to match. But, with the top end of PC hardware advancing so quickly, we invariably see more powerful components filtering through to lower price brackets. The Mesh Matrix 1GHz Plus is a prime example, boasting an impressive specification, including a 1GHz processor and 128Mb of PC133 SDRAM for under £1,000.

Considering this machine is less than half the price of the Matrix 1.2GT Pro, we were impressed by the quality of the components. Sitting proudly in the top two drive bays are a 16-speed Pioneer DVD-ROM and Teac CD-RW, which offer a modest quad-speed write and re-write speed, but constitute a good basic inclusion to provide data backup.

The core is a 1GHz Athlon processor, supported by 128Mb of PC133 SDRAM. This is more than enough to run any of today's multimedia and office applications, and allows some headroom for the future too. With recent price drops in mind, it shouldn't be long before we see 1GHz DDR systems fall below the £1,000 mark either.

A fast hard disk is often the next key to system speed. So Mesh has included a powerful 30Gb, 7,200rpm IBM Deskstar 75GXP with UltraATA/100 support. This powerful disk is supported by an integrated Promise UltraATA/100 controller, and offers enough capacity for office applications as well as multimedia and file storage duties. The peripheral card additions also provide all the necessary functionality without cutting corners, with a Conexant V.90 modem and Sound Blaster Live! 1024 sound card.

The fast hard disk and powerful processor

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helped the Mesh Matrix 1GHz Plus turn in an impressive overall 2D benchmark score of 3.27 - exceptional for the money. By comparison the Evesham 1000MXKP (reviewed opposite), which features an almost identical specification, scored 3.17, giving the Mesh a slight performance edge on office applications.

As with the Evesham, cost savings are more evident when you examine the graphics subsystem, handled by a 32Mb Hercules Prophet II MX (reviewed issue 73, p178). But while this is a budget card, it's still a capable performer in both 2D and 3D applications. Running 3DMark2000 at a resolution of 1,024 x 768 in 32-bit colour, the Matrix 1GHz Plus scored an impressive 3,220. This is enough to run current multimedia titles, leaving a reserve to cope with future releases. The Evesham 1000MXKP was again slower, scoring 3,046 at the same resolution and colour depth, although this could be due to the different graphics card and slight performance trade-off between Windows 98 and Windows ME.

Mesh has chosen Iiyama's budget 19in S900MT1 to display the visuals. This is a curved shadow-mask tube as opposed to the flat aperture-grille of the Evesham's Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 720. The S900MT1 has a maximum resolution of 1,600 x 1,200 at 75Hz, although it's far happier in 1,024 x 768 at a flicker-free 85Hz. It's impressive to squeeze a 19in CRT into a £1,000 budget, but it results in a trade-off between screen area and tube quality.

Getting inside the case is a simple matter of removing a screw and lifting a lever on the side panel. Inside, everything is neat and accessible with cables kept away from the main components. There are three free PCI slots available for future upgrades, and the two extra DIMM slots provide plenty of scope to upgrade memory at a later date. There's also another spare 5.25in external drive bay in case you want to add any other drives, and there's room inside for another hard disk if required.

The quality of components and performance is outstanding for the price, and with Mesh's three-year warranty and a copy of Microsoft Works Suite 2000 also included the 1GHz offers incredible value for money. The only issue is with the monitor, as we'd have preferred a higher quality tube at the expense of screen area. This gives the Evesham the slight edge. However, the Mesh is an excellent system overall, and one well worth considering.