Product Reviews

It's all very well aiming high, but there's a premium to be paid if you insist on getting the latest and greatest PC. Far better value can be found for under £1,000, where systems provide a better payoff between performance and price. At £845, the Matrix 64 3000+ BTX provides 64-bit computing without a wallet-busting price.

Mesh has managed to pack in some impressive components without making sacrifices in other departments. An AMD Athlon 64 3000+ supported by 512MB of PC3200 RAM sits at the core of the PC. Unusually, the frontside bus runs at 228MHz with a multiplier of nine rather than the standard 200MHz with a multiplier of 10. Although this makes little difference to the core processor speed (2,052MHz rather than 2,000MHz), the 15 per cent increase in bus speed does have a positive effect on system performance. The score of 167 overall in SYSmark2004 is around 10 per cent faster than comparable systems.

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However, 3D performance isn't up to serious gaming - the Radeon 9550 card is responsible for a lowly 2,288 score in 3DMark03 - although it's OK for the casual gamer.

Despite an unattractive plastic surround, the supplied NEC 17" LCD screen is a good one, with vibrant, uniform colours and reasonably faithful greyscales. The 17" LCD is a luxury inclusion for a PC of this price, and you could save money by opting for a 15" or a CRT display - or even upgrade if you are planning high-resolution image processing or graphic design.

One disappointment is the inclusion of just one optical drive. The Sony DVD+/-RW is adequate in its own right, but the lack of a second drive rules out direct disc-to-disc copying and is a clear sign of cost-cutting.

The PC has two FireWire ports mounted alongside four USB ports at the rear and two on the front. The multimedia keyboard and optical mouse are standard issue and nothing to complain about.

When spending this amount of money, you can expect certain standards. A good specification for the price would be an Athlon 64 3000+ (or equivalent Intel processor), 512MB RAM, a 128MB Radeon 9500 graphics card, at least a 100GB hard disk, perhaps a DVD writer and a 15" LCD. On all these points the Matrix 64 3000+ BTX scores well, offering the equivalent or better. Despite a lacklustre gaming performance, this PC delivers the goods in Windows applications. A great way to get in on 64-bit computing without making too many sacrifices in other areas.