Mesh Titan Dual X2 Pro

If you've been keeping up with the latest technology developments on the PCW Test Bed you'll already be aware of the new Athlon 64 X2 - a range of AMD processors with two cores on a single die.

The Matrix Titan X2 is the first consumer PC to make use of an X2 processor, in this case the 4800+ model. This CPU has 2MB of L2 cache. Mainstream versions of the X2 have 512KB of L2 cache per core.

Unlike Intel, AMD has not had to reduce clock speeds in order to operate two cores on a single die. Both cores in the 4800+ run at 2.4GHz. In contrast, the fastest single-core Intel CPU runs at 3.8GHz, whereas its fastest dual-core CPU peaks at just 3.2GHz.

This affords the Matrix Titan X2 performance far in advance of any desktop computer we've seen to date. Clearly, multi-core processors won't help you type Word documents any quicker, but they provide several benefits over their single-core counterparts - primarily in processor-intensive applications or when multitasking.

Similar performance can be achieved by using a pair of (single core) CPUs, but this causes higher power consumption, greater heat generation and increased noise from multiple cooling fans. Dual-core CPUs promise similar performance benefits without the aforementioned drawbacks.

Aside from its evolutionary new CPU, the rest of the PC is quite ordinary. Its X2 processor has the same socket 939 connector as a standard Athlon 64 CPU. This has allowed Mesh to use the familiar Asus A8N SLI Deluxe motherboard.

Like all Athlon-based PCs, this gives the Titan X2 a performance disadvantage when running applications such as video editing. Mesh has supplied 2GB of PC3200 Ram in a dual-channel configuration, but this is no real substitute to DDR2.

Mesh has not fully exploited the performance potential of this PC by using a single 300GB Maxtor 6L300S0 hard drive. More demanding users may wish to u pgrade the PC with a Raid 0 hard disk configuration, which provides faster disk access.

Despite this drawback, the Titan Dual X2 Pro delivered excellent performance. Its Sysmark 2004 score of 266 is around 35 percent faster than a similarly equipped PC running an Athlon 64 4000+ CPU. It also encoded our 1GB mpeg4 test video in 10 minutes, 19 seconds.

The majority of this performance increase can be seen in the Internet Content Creation section of our tests, where the X2 processor performed more than 20 per cent faster than anything previously reviewed in PCW.

In contrast, this PC's graphics performance was somewhat disappointing. Mesh has installed a pair of 128MB Geforce 6600GT graphics cards working in a Scalable Link Interface (SLI) configuration. Individually, these cards are aimed at mainstream users but, even when working in tandem, they're not as potent in some games as a single 256MB Radeon X850 XT.

Other features include the impressive 19in Viewsonic VX912 monitor and a host of software for video editing and DVD authoring. Mesh has also provided a Oneclick Intelligent Mains Panel, which switches off the mains power to all your PC peripherals whenever the PC is shut down.

In trying to keep the Matrix Dual X2 Pro affordable, Mesh has failed to fully exploit the performance potential of its dual-core CPU. It is still extremely fast though and even greater performance can be extracted should you wish to upgrade. On the whole, this PC is a shining example that brand new technology with groundbreaking performance doesn't have to cost the earth.