Product Reviews

NVidia released its dual-card SLI graphics technology over a year ago, so it was only a matter of time before ATI made its own version. Despite several delays, CrossFire is finally here, and installed in Cube's Serpens PC. Our PCs FAQ tells you all you need to know about CrossFire.

For this system, Cube installed two 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XL graphics cards. This is an excellent choice, as a single X800 XL offers a fine balance between price and performance. Two of these cards working in tandem provide excellent performance, as our benchmark results show. Our test resolution didn't push the cards, so we bumped the Doom 3 test up to 1,280x1,024, and still the Cube managed a score of 73.5 frames per second (fps). One X800 XL is capable of 42.7fps in Doom 3, which makes the CrossFire mode around 70 per cent faster. This is impressive and similar to the speed increase we'd expect

Cube's Serpens can run at 1,600x1,200 too, achieving a score of 54.2fps in Doom 3. This is good, if a bit behind nVidia's GeForce 7800 GTX. But you won't be able to run games at this resolution, as Cube provides only a 19" GNC LCD monitor, with a maximum resolution of 1,280x1,024. For this type of system, a 20" LCD would be more appropriate. That said, the monitor's quality isn't bad and the screen is evenly lit with good viewing angles.

We weren't convinced by Cube's choice of a dual-core AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ processor (two Athlon 3500+ processors on a single chip). It does well in our 2D benchmarks, which take advantage of both processor cores, but today's games use only a single core, so it's like having a single-core Athlon 64 3500+. We'd have preferred a fast single-core processor, such as an Athlon 4000+, and a larger monitor to provide greater balance. Two Seagate 200GB SATA hard disks, configured for RAID 0 striping, provide 400GB of fast storage, though if one disk dies you'll lose all your data. Luckily, the NEC ND3540 two-layer DVD drive provides a handy way of backing things up.

Sound is as important as visuals in a gaming PC, and Cube has recognised this, choosing the excellent combination of Creative's Audigy 2 ZS sound card and 7900 7.1 surround-sound speakers.

The Serpens demonstrates CrossFire's potential well, but Cube could have made better choices for the processor and monitor.