PC technology marches on and the clamour to have the most powerful PC in the showroom is as strong as ever. That makes Intel's decision to bring out a crippled version of its flagship processor platform a bit puzzling. After all, fastest is best so what's the point in spending time developing anything less powerful?

Dell's Dimension 4300 is the first PC we've seen that houses a Pentium 4 processor in a motherboard that doesn't use super-fast, super-expensive RDRam or 'Rambus' memory. The majority of Pentium III and AMD-based systems use SDRam, which performs poorly compared with Rambus but is much cheaper. Opting for budget memory helps drop the overall price of the PC but does so at the expense of performance.

The 4300 has a 1.7GHz version of the P4 processor and 256Mb of memory, so it should be a good performer nonetheless. We subjected it to our regular battery of tests and, as expected, it fell short of the performance of Rambus Pentium 4s but not greatly. In everyday use for surfing, writing letters and playing the odd game, you wouldn't notice any difference.

Gaming performance is more dependent on the quality of the PC's graphics card than the speed of the memory, so we expected to get good graphics scores. We weren't disappointed. The 64Mb GeForce3-powered card indicates fast, smooth performance on any game you install. It's hooked up to a 17in Dell-branded monitor that looks smart and has a flat screen which minimises reflections. The screen image is sharp and clear.

The Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card is something of a rarity, as nearly every well-heeled PC sports a Creative Labs sound card. The Santa Cruz is a fine performer, though, supporting 5.1 surround sound, although only normal stereo speakers are supplied as standard with the machine.

The Dimension's case is a new Dell design and is a great improvement on the old one. The dark colour scheme is nicer than the insipid magnolia most makers favour. Understatement is very much in style at Dell. The keyboard, mouse and monitor are all finished in the same stylish hue.

Both the input devices are pleasant enough to use but supplying a USB keyboard is a bit silly as it leaves a vacant PS/2 port and uses one of the four valuable USB ports.

Two empty PCI slots are useful and two 3.5in drive bays are similarly so. With DVD and CD-RW drives in place, there is little else to add although a Zip drive is an option. However, the lack of a vacant memory slot is very disappointing. The 256Mb of memory installed comprises two sticks of 128Mb Dimms occupying both available berths.

Therefore, adding memory will mean throwing some of the existing stuff in the bin. At least getting into the case is simple, thanks to a screw-less, clamshell design. All the wiring is kept well out of the way, giving good access to the innards.

The 4300 is a solid performer but, ultimately, you don't save enough money by switching to cheaper memory. Pay the extra £100 to £200 for better performance unless the purse strings are really tight.

Contact: Dell
0870 907 5863
www.dell.com/uk.

ALSO CONSIDER: Hi-Grade Ultis. Well-stocked and powerful, this is a games monster. £1,761.