Mesh Matrix XP 1600 NF

Two bits of hardware mark out the Matrix XP 1600 NF as being special, and the clues are to be found in the name. As well as shipping with Windows XP Home Edition, this PC is the first we've seen driven by the latest AMD processor, the Athlon XP.

The second novelty is that it's also the first PC to ship with the nVidia nForce chipset, a spin-off from the chipset nVidia developed for Microsoft's Xbox games console.

Formerly known as Crush, the nForce comes in two flavours: the low-end nForce 220, which features a 64bit DDR memory path; and the high-end, which features the radical 128bit DDR memory path.

The nForce comprises two integrated circuits: an IGP (integrated graphics processor) and an MCP (Media and Communications Processor). The IGP houses the GeForce engine, the DDR memory controller, and a Dynamic Adaptive Speculative Preprocessor (DASP) - a device that acts like an eight-way Level 3 data cache which the processor can access at high speeds.

The MCP supports, among other things, Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding and decoding, a soft 56K modem, a 10/100Base-T Ethernet controller and up to six USB ports. Motherboard manufacturers need to fit the appropriate ports for these to be of any use. The ACR card, which carries outputs for 5.1 sound, was not available for this review, so we couldn't test the quality of the Dolby Digital encoding and decoding.

The nForce graphics engine is based on nVidia's 128bit GeForce2 MX400 technology and is equipped with a 128bit memory controller compatible with high-speed DDR memory. Chipsets from Intel and VIA have offered integrated graphics engines, but these products are only capable of puny 3D performance.

While the GeForce2 MX is hardly cutting edge, it's still more powerful than that provided in Intel's i810 and i815 chipsets.

The two chips talk to each other through AMD's HyperTransport technology, a new high-speed data bus which runs at a brisk 800MB/sec. nForce excels when it comes to memory bandwidth, too. Its 128bit DDR 'Intelligent' Memory Interface, utilising nVidia's Crossbar Memory Controller, delivers up to 4.2GB/sec of bandwidth between the IGP and the 266MHz DDR memory, four times the bandwidth supplied by PC133 SDRAM.

The nForce uses two 64bit 'Twin Bank' memory controllers that operate simultaneously, so it's vital to use two PC2100 DIMMs to get the maximum bandwidth. Mesh didn't in our system.

The new Athlon XP is a 0.18micron CPU based on the Palamino core, as featured in the Athlon 4 mobile and Athlon MP processors. It runs at 1.4GHz but carries the '1600' designation, as AMD feels that its performance is on a par with 1.6GHz processors.

This was borne out by our benchmarking: the Mesh's SYSmark score of 166 easily exceeded the Systemax 1.8GHz Pentium 4's score, which goes to show that clock frequency isn't everything. It was also 16 per cent faster than the Mesh 1.4GHz Athlon reviewed in the August issue of Personal Computer World.

But some of this shine is lost when it comes to 3D performance. Let's face it, this isn't a GeForce3 and its scores were on a par with the more modest GeForce2 MX. This makes it the fastest onboard graphics solution, but frankly, that's not saying much.

Our review system arrived with 256MB of PC2100 DDR memory, an 80GB hard drive, 16-speed CD-RW, 16-speed DVD drive; Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 speakers; Windows XP Home Edition and Microsoft Works Suite 2001. Plus there's a three-year warranty, with the first year on site.

Given the nForce's 3D scores, it would make more sense putting it in a lower-priced machine: for an £1,145 machine, even one with a 15in LCD screen, you'd expect a capable games system, and this isn't it. If you're not worried about 3D performance, however, this Mesh is worth considering.

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Mesh Computers: 020 8208 4706 www.meshcomputers.com