Evesham Axis FX-51P

Featuring remarkably similar - albeit slightly better - components than the Mesh Matrix64 FX Plus, the Axis FX-51P couldn't be better equipped. Flush with AMD's new flagship chip, the Athlon 64 FX-51, and a whole gigabyte of DDR memory, it screamed through our 2D benchmark tests. Two 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax hard disks play a strong supporting role in this score, as well as providing an almost ridiculous amount of storage space.

Both Sony's dual-format DVD re-writer and its CD-RW match the large black case Evesham has chosen. It's a shame, however, that the CD-RW isn't a combo drive, as this would have allowed for direct DVD-to-DVD copies. Also, while this is quieter than the Mesh, it's still rather noisy and pretty large, despite svelte black outsides.

Anyone looking for a hard-core gaming machine should look no further. Not only does it use ATi's 256MB Radeon 9800 Pro, which earns the Axis an impressive 3DMark score of 14,751, but ViewSonic's 19in TFT displays every pixel in perfect, crystal-clear quality. It's pretty much top of the range when it comes to audio too, as it uses Creative's A-Listed Audigy 2 ZS sound card and the impressive 7.1 Inspire T7700 speakers (see p79).

As it's so well equipped, there's little room to expand inside, but there are three spare PCI slots and a spare DIMM socket for each memory channel. However, the SK8N nForce3 Pro 150 motherboard from Asus offers more USB ports than you could find uses for, as well as the traditional serial and parallel ports.

Although the Evesham is a fantastic machine, the extra wow factor that the larger monitor and improved graphics card give this over the Mesh don't add up to £300. So unless money's no object and you simply must have the latest and greatest components, we recommend the Matrix64 FX over the Axis.

Author: Mark Walsh