Dell Dimension 8100 1.7GHz

But things don't look so rosy in our standard 2D benchmarks. With an overall score of 3.64, the Dell is noticeably slower than NEC's Athlon-based beauty, and many other Athlon-based systems. Of course, our benchmark applications don't support the enhanced Pentium 4 architecture with SIMD 2. However, there isn't a lot of software that does at the moment, but who knows what the future holds.

In this case, it's worth taking the gamble. The Dimension 8100 is a well-built system, and despite the 1.7GHz chip it weighs in at a competitive price of £1,449, although delivery is an extra £49. The three-year warranty is also good value, with the first year on-site, and a collect, repair and return service for the second two years. If you want the very fastest 2D-application performance, you should think seriously about taking the Athlon route, but for high-end 3D speed and good all-round specifications, this is an excellent deal.

Author: Stuart Andrews