PC Review: Mesh Elite Fire X1950 PCW

The Elite Fire X1950 PCW houses the first ATI graphics card to arrive since it was bought by AMD back in July. Just like the Nvidia Geforce 7950, the Radeon X1950 XTX houses two GPUs, which allows for Crossfire graphics without the need for two separate cards.

AMD obviously won't be over the moon that Mesh has gone for an Intel-based system to sit the card in, but with the performance of the new Core 2 Duo processors we can't blame Mesh for this decision.

Although it can't match the Core 2 Extreme X6800 model which runs at 2.93GHz, the 2.66GHz E6700 that powers this Mesh is the fastest of the Core 2 Duo processors.

Read more about Intel's new Core 2 Duo processors .

In our processor-intensive Sysmark 2004 SE test, the Elite Fire X1950 PCW powered to a score of 341, while in 3Dmark05 the dual-GPU graphics pushed 3Dmark05 to 9,664; both extremely impressive.

A 20.1in Viewsonic VP2030B is included in the package and, with a native resolution of 1,600x1,200, it gives the graphics card plenty of opportunity to demonstrate its power.

Other components worthy of mention include a decent-sized hard drive (300GB), 2GB of DDR2 Ram, Creative X-Fi sound card and 7.1 speakers.

Although you're unlikely to hear it while playing a game or watching a movie, if you're looking for a quiet PC the noise generated by this model might be a concern.

The standard Intel CPU fan isn't the quietest, but matters aren't helped by the Chieftec case fan adding to the noise. Things quietened down when we disconnected it, but with limited space inside the case, it needs all the help it can get keeping the airflow moving.

As far as value for money goes, this system is reasonably priced but certainly nothing outstanding. Mesh does, however, include a decent three-year onsite warranty, but it's also worth noting UK mainland delivery will set you back £39.95.

Also consider:
Hi-Grade Ultis Tachyon Core 2 Extreme PC
A super-fast PC with decent components supporting the Core 2 Extreme processor

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