Six months have passed since the launch of the last graphics processing unit from nVidia. Back then it was the GeForce3 series and now - surprise, surprise - the GeForce4 has arrived.

This month What PC? managed to get its hands on the first two PCs to feature nVidia's latest creation, which is now the latest word in 3D graphics. But first, a bit of background about the new hardware.

This latest series of graphics chips features three 'MX' versions, aimed at the entry-level and upgrade market, and two high-end 'Ti' versions. Usually, graphics chipmakers will launch high-end parts first and attract hardcore gamers willing to spend money on the latest top-performance boards.

This time, nVidia has made its mainstream entry-level versions immediately available and more affordable in order to try and capture some of the budget PC market share, presently taken by its main competitor, ATI.

These two companies are the market leaders in graphics technology and both release new cards on a regular basis in order to keep ahead of the competition. But why release a new range every six months?

The 3D graphics market behaves differently when compared to the latest trends in the microprocessor arena. Nowadays, it is more difficult to justify buying a new chip, because processors from one or even two years ago are still very much up to the job. Hardly anyone really needs, or properly makes use of, the extra performance of the latest 2GHz monsters from AMD and Intel.

The 3D visuals sector is different because there is still plenty of room for improvement. Despite increased frame rates and improved anti-aliasing, we could never mistake current high-resolution 3D graphics for real life.

But at the recent launch of the GeForce4 in Brussels, an nVidia spokesman said that such convincing 'virtual reality' is a realistic target.

The downside is that no matter how good your graphics processing unit is, there will soon be a better one. When you've paid around £350 for a top-of-the-range GeForce3 Ti 500, it is unfortunate that, six months later, the GeForce3 line is discontinued and the new GeForce4 cards released are considerably better in quality and value.

An nVidia insider at the recent GeForce4 launch admitted that the frequency of release for new cards is just as much a marketing tactic as a pursuit of quality. With companies like Mesh and Evesham always ready to include the latest graphics card, nVidia has an almost guaranteed market rise every six months.

That's some of the background to the 3D graphics market, but what about the actual performance of this latest chip and the systems using it? Well, both the Mesh Matrix reviewed here are designed specifically for gaming.

Built around the powerful AMD Athlon XP 2000+ processor, they come with the new top-of-the-line GeForce4 Ti 4600. The system also include a giant 19in monitor, making games look fantastic.

Similarities continue with each machine equipped with 512Mb DDR memory which, combined with the excellent AMD processor, gave two of the best overall performance scores we've seen so far in our Labs tests. The Matrix clocked up 194 in the SYSmark 2001 benchmark and the Axis scored 197.

The system has enough power to deal with any application with plenty left over. As we mentioned before, this power is rarely employed, but it does mean that both systems will cope with all tasks and applications, for many years to come.

In terms of storage, both systems are also well equipped. The Matrix has an 80Gb hard drive and a 24x10x40 Teac CD-RW for backup and data transfers.

The system has a separate DVDRom drive, which combines with the sound facilities and sizeable monitor to make watching films a real treat. The Audigy card also has a FireWire port included for linking up digital camcorders and transferring data at high speed, complementing the large storage capabilities.

It has four free USB ports and the full complement of 'legacy' ports for connecting up your older peripherals, as well as a network card and a modem. If you do want to upgrade - which is unlikely given the quality of the cards and drives - there are two PCI slots available and an external 5.25in drive bay spare.

Where these systems really shine is in their graphics performance. The GeForce4 Ti 4600 has been tuned and tweaked to deliver even better performance than the former GeForce3 Ti 500, and it doesn't disappoint. In our 3DMark 2001 test, the Matrix notched up 9,856 which is a phenomenal score.

This is a vast improvement over the previous high-end GeForce3, and shows just how far nVidia's technology has progressed.

The actual improvements have been made in a few different areas. The bump-mapping (which controls how one surface behaves when in contact with another, like water lapping against rocks) is much improved on this card, making scenery and lighting look even more realistic.

The AccuView Anti-Aliasing is also an important progression. This gets rid of jagged edges on characters and backgrounds and delivers up to five times the anti-aliased performance of previous cards.

In the past, enabling anti-aliasing would adversely affect the performance of a game, but on the new 4600, there is no perceptible decrease in performance. This really helps to give a more 'lifelike' appearance and smoothness to objects.

The Quake III test, which measures how many frames per second the card runs, gave a score of 193 for the Axis. This speed allows games to run extremely smoothly without any shudder or flicker.

Obviously, six months from now it'll be old news but, until that time, it's likely to be the best you can get.

Specifications:

Contact: Mesh
020 8208 4707
www.meshplc.com